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Federal agency decisions, searchable in plain English.

Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) and mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.

5,577 decisions and counting · Latest decision July 17, 2026
19 decisions Christopher D. Helms

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ALJ

STIS, Inc., dba Southeast Texas Industrial Services

Crane overload and operator-evaluation violations affirmed

STIS was a construction subcontractor working at a steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado. OSHA cited the company after a carry deck crane tipped while lifting four pipes weighing about 800 pounds each, resulting in the crane operator's death. The judge found that the crane exceeded its rated capacity when…

July 15, 2026 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Brigade Energy Services LLC

Explosive-handling citation vacated

Brigade Energy Services was the general contractor for work to plug and abandon an oil well in Grassy Butte, North Dakota. A surface explosion occurred while a Brigade worker held a wireline component as a specialty contractor connected it to a steel tube loaded with explosives, injuring three…

January 20, 2026 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

Magic Valley Crushing & Excavation, LLC, dba The Rock Yard

Unstable shelving storage violation affirmed

Magic Valley Crushing operated The Rock Yard, an Idaho landscaping-supply store with an overstock storage area. After a manager relocated several metal shelving units, the units were not bolted back together and heavy boxes of hardware were stacked more heavily on the upper shelves. One unit leaned…

May 28, 2025 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Bobcat Contracting, LLC

Pipeline pigging citation vacated

Bobcat Contracting was loading a pipeline inspection device into a natural-gas launcher in Farmersville, Texas, when residual gas ignited and an explosion ejected the device and a steel push pole. Two workers were killed and two were seriously injured. OSHA cited Bobcat under the General Duty…

April 4, 2025 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

MFA Enterprises Inc., dba West Central Agri Services

Willful railcar fall-protection violation affirmed

MFA Enterprises operated a grain-storage and railcar-loading facility in Adrian, Missouri. Employees regularly walked on top of railcars about 15 feet above the ground without using the installed fall-protection system, including an employee who was on a railcar when a grain-elevator explosion…

August 22, 2024 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations affirmed
ALJ

U.S. Postal Service, dba Portland Processing and Distribution Center

Lockout and machine-guarding citations vacated

OSHA inspected the U.S. Postal Service's Portland processing and distribution center after a complaint and cited lockout, lockout-training, and machine-guarding conditions. The three contested items carried proposed penalties totaling $148,137. The judge found the lock-removal standard did not…

April 1, 2024 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

Cedar Springs Hospital, Inc. / UHS of Delaware, Inc., dba Cedar Springs Hospital

Workplace-violence and records citations affirmed

Cedar Springs operated a behavioral health hospital in Colorado Springs where employees were frequently assaulted by patients and suffered serious injuries. The judge found that Cedar Springs and UHS of Delaware functioned as a single employer at the worksite through a common workplace, integrated…

February 5, 2024 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Asplundh Tree Expert, LLC

Dead-tree trimming citation vacated

Asplundh trimmed dead cottonwood trees near power lines in New Castle, Colorado. A climber fell about 35 feet after a cut tree section struck the branch supporting him, causing a broken leg and permanently disabling spinal injuries. The judge found that Asplundh and its industry recognized fall and…

November 1, 2023 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

Arrow Plumbing, LLC

Three excavation violations affirmed, spoil-pile item vacated

Arrow Plumbing replaced a residential sewer line in Grain Valley, Missouri, using an excavation more than nine feet deep. Its owner and project supervisor worked inside without hard hats, with exposed utilities and a near-vertical wall but no trench box or other cave-in protection. The judge…

September 28, 2023 ·Christopher D. Helms
Mixed result
ALJ

Texas Underground Utilities, Inc.

Repeat cave-in violation affirmed, two items vacated

OSHA found two Texas Underground Utilities employees working in a trench at a construction site in Houston. The judge affirmed a repeat-serious cave-in-protection violation because the trench reached seven feet in Type B soil and was not properly sloped, benched, or protected by a trench box. A…

September 6, 2023 ·Christopher D. Helms
Mixed result
ALJ

Good Food Concepts, LLC d/b/a Ranch Foods Direct

Meat-grinder guarding and reporting citations affirmed

Good Food Concepts operated a retail meat business where an employee's hand was caught in a meat grinder, resulting in the amputation of four fingers and inpatient hospitalization. OSHA cited the company for failing to guard the grinder and for failing to report the hospitalization within 24 hours…

June 22, 2023 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Raymond – San Diego, Inc.

Gate-inspection and hazard-training citations vacated

Raymond employees were preparing to paint a large sliding gate at a California casino when one 3,000-pound panel moved beyond the roller guide holding it upright and fell, causing fatal injuries to an employee. Another subcontractor had installed the gate, its motor was not yet installed, and…

April 6, 2023 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

COVID-19 respirator citation vacated

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium co-managed an Anchorage healthcare facility where employees treated patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. OSHA alleged that employees caring for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients were given surgical masks rather than NIOSH-certified respirators…

March 17, 2023 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

J.D. Abrams, L.P.

Trench and ladder violations affirmed

J.D. Abrams was installing a waterline at a highway construction project in Austin, Texas. OSHA found an employee working in an unprotected trench measured at more than five feet deep and using a ladder that extended only two feet eight inches above the landing surface. The judge found that the…

October 3, 2022 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Miller Insulation Co., Inc.

Mezzanine fall citation vacated

A Miller Insulation employee fell from an unprotected mezzanine edge onto the floor below and later died. OSHA cited the company under a general-industry fall standard and, in the alternative, a construction fall-protection standard. The judge found that the general-industry standard did not apply…

February 28, 2022 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

George Weis Company

Guardrail-strength citation vacated for insufficient proof

George Weis Company employees were installing soffits at a Missouri hotel construction project. An employee used a wire-rope guardrail midrail for support while standing up, fell through the midrail and top rail, and landed on an aerial lift below, suffering serious injuries. OSHA alleged that the…

April 16, 2021 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

Purvis Industries, LLC, d/b/a Snake River Supply

Conveyor nip-point citation vacated for lack of predictable access

Snake River Supply employees installed a replacement conveyor belt on a customer's potato truck in Idaho. While kneeling near the operating belt to observe its tracking, an employee reached toward the truck for support and mistakenly placed his hand into an unguarded roller nip point, sustaining…

February 10, 2021 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated
ALJ

New River Electrical Corporation

Electrical deenergizing and grounding items affirmed

New River Electrical used multiple crews to replace underground distribution cable during a planned outage at a residential subdivision. After part of the system was reenergized, a crew moved cable at a transformer without proper testing, tagging, and grounding, which energized new cable being…

October 15, 2020 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Dade Builders Contractors, Inc.

Inspection and fall-protection citations vacated for insufficient proof

Dade Builders subcontracted a masonry crew that worked near an unprotected edge about 16 feet above ground. OSHA cited Dade as a controlling employer for inadequate jobsite inspections and lack of fall protection, proposing $13,260 in total penalties. The judge found that the Secretary did not show…

May 15, 2020 ·Christopher D. Helms
Citations vacated

What these documents are

  • Commission decisions: Rulings by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission itself, the highest level of agency review. These are citable as Commission precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
  • ALJ decisions: Rulings by OSHRC Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.
  • Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
  • Where they come from: Every page links the official OSHRC public release, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.