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.
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Precision Refractory Services
Scaffold-alteration item vacated and falling-object item affirmed
Precision Refractory Services performed fireproof-brick work inside a furnace in Cantonment, Florida. The company assigned an employee to clean debris on the ground below workers handling bricks and tools on a scaffold 12 to 14 feet above him, and a scaffold component fell and fractured his wrist…
Preferred Roofing, LLC
Subcontractor fall citations vacated
Preferred Roofing hired Valor Roofing to reroof a home in Jacksonville, Florida. OSHA observed Valor employees working without fall protection and using a ladder whose rails did not extend three feet above the roof, then cited Preferred as the controlling employer under the multi-employer worksite…
Wildcat Renovation, LLC
EAJA fee application denied after citations were vacated
OSHA cited Wildcat Renovation after a concrete wall fell during demolition and struck an employee, who died from his injuries. The judge later vacated both demolition citations, and Wildcat applied for attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Although Wildcat was allowed to…
Americold Logistics, LLC
Powered-vehicle aisle and training citations vacated
Americold operated powered industrial vehicles in a large Georgia cold-storage facility where pedestrians and vehicles shared the loading-dock floor. An untrained and unauthorized employee drove a vehicle and severely injured his ankle while trying to avoid a bollard. The judge vacated the aisle…
Joshua Herion dba ECS Roofing Professionals, Inc.
Citations affirmed by default
OSHA issued ECS Roofing Professionals 14 construction citations after inspecting worksites in Illinois and Wisconsin, including one willful violation, four repeat violations, and nine serious violations. After its attorney withdrew, ECS repeatedly failed to provide contact information, respond to…
Wildcat Renovation, LLC
Demolition survey and inspection citation vacated
Wildcat Renovation was demolishing concrete bridge-support walls at a Florida waterpark when a wall fell on an employee, causing fatal injuries. OSHA alleged that Wildcat failed to conduct an adequate pre-demolition engineering survey and failed to make continuing inspections as work progressed…
Rene Silverio Gonzalez/RG Roofing
Late contest dismissed and relief from final order denied
OSHA issued RG Roofing three serious citations involving head protection, residential fall protection, and ladder use, with a proposed penalty of $8,097. The company received the citation but did not submit a written notice of contest within 15 working days, so the citation became a final…
Southern Hydro Vac, LLC
Tailgate crushing-hazard citation vacated
A Southern Hydro Vac employee died after being caught between a hydro-vacuum truck's closing tailgate and tank body during dumping and washout work. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause and proposed a $13,494 penalty. The judge found that the tailgate presented a serious crushing…
SIP Insulation Professionals, LLC
Three construction items vacated because company was not the employer
Workers were erecting a building with structural insulated panels at an Alabama construction site when OSHA observed alleged aerial-lift, roof fall-protection, and equipment-modification violations. OSHA issued the three-item citation to SIP Insulation Professionals, LLC. The central issue was…
L & C General Contractors, Inc.
Late contest dismissed for lack of excusable neglect
OSHA issued L & C General Contractors three serious citations after inspecting an Alabama worksite. The company received the citation but sent only a letter requesting an informal conference during the 15-working-day contest period. The judge found that the letter did not express a clear intent to…
Stone House Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Jacksonville Granite
Late notice of contest dismissed
Stone House Enterprises fabricates and installs granite countertops. OSHA issued citations from two inspections addressing fire-extinguisher maintenance, forklift and hazard-communication training, and silica-related conditions. The company received both citation packages on June 6, 2019, but did…
Guaranteed Home Improvements, LLC
Ladder citations split after employee fall
Guaranteed Home Improvements used an extension ladder to access a snow-covered convenience-store roof. The ladder slid on wet, snowy pavement while an employee descended, causing a fall that resulted in multiple serious injuries. The judge vacated the allegation that the ladder failed to extend…
North Shore Strapping Company
Four roofing fall-protection violations affirmed
North Shore Strapping used employees and company managers to replace the roof of its Ohio manufacturing facility. OSHA observed an employee riding an aerial lift without tying off and workers installing roofing material near a 25-foot roof edge without an effective fall-protection system. The judge…
Tower King II, Inc.
Communications-tower rigging citation vacated
Tower King performed antenna work about 1,000 feet above ground on a communications tower. A gin pole detached from the tower, and three employees who were tied to it fell and died. OSHA cited Tower King under the general duty clause, alleging that an incomplete rigging plan created fall and…
Henry Marine Service, Inc.
Attorney-fee application denied
Henry Marine previously won summary judgment vacating OSHA citations concerning safe access to a tugboat and personal flotation devices. The company then sought $92,402.64 in attorney fees, expert fees, and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge found Henry Marine eligible and a…
Henry Marine Service, Inc.
Tugboat access and flotation citations vacated
Henry Marine operated a tugboat on the Mobile River, where an employee was found dead in the water near the vessel. OSHA cited the company for an unsafe means of boarding and leaving the vessel and for failing to provide a personal flotation device. The judge granted Henry Marine summary judgment…
Norman W. Fries, Inc. d/b/a Claxton Poultry Farms
Conveyor guarding citation vacated
A poultry-processing employee suffered a compound forearm fracture when his glove and arm were pulled into the underside of a seasoning-line conveyor. OSHA cited Claxton Poultry for failing to guard the conveyor’s ingoing nip-point. The judge found that the accident alone did not establish that…
Nissan North America, Inc.
Conveyor lockout training violation affirmed
Three Nissan maintenance technicians inspected an overhead conveyor while a contract mechanic worked elsewhere and later restarted the conveyor, causing one technician’s hand to be pulled into a belt. The judge vacated a lockout-removal notification item because OSHA did not establish that the…
Century Communities, Inc., dba Century Communities of GA
Crane power-line violation affirmed
Century Communities was the developer and construction manager for a residential subdivision where subcontractors used a crane to place roof trusses. The crane came within 20 feet of energized overhead lines rated at approximately 119.15 kV, causing an electrical arc that seriously injured one…
General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc.
Stacked-crate citation vacated
General Dynamics Land Systems stored Stryker vehicle parts in stacked crates at an Alabama warehouse. Seven crates fell from an 11-foot stack while an employee was taking inventory, causing serious injuries. The judge found that the crates were not interlocked and that the stack was not stable and…
Prime Pak Foods, Inc.
Late contest dismissed
Prime Pak Foods received a serious OSHA citation by certified mail on November 6, 2017, but did not file its notice of contest by the November 29 deadline. The company argued that OSHA failed to hold a closing conference and should have sent the citation to its counsel. The judge held that service…
Southern Hens, Inc.
Lockout and machine-guarding items split
Southern Hens operated a poultry-processing facility where sanitation employees cleaned production machinery during the night shift. An employee's hand was caught in an operating tumbler drive mechanism while she cleaned it, resulting in the permanent loss of part of her thumb. The judge vacated…
Masis Multi Services, Inc.
Default entered after contest abandoned
Masis Multi Services timely contested a serious OSHA citation carrying a proposed $3,622 penalty. The company then failed to appear for two scheduled prehearing conferences and did not respond to repeated communications or two orders to show cause. The judge found that Masis displayed a pattern of…
Trinity Marine Products, Inc.
Welding-fume items vacated
Trinity Marine Products builds barges at a Tennessee facility where OSHA sampled welders for airborne contaminants. The samples showed exposures above limits for zinc oxide, total dust, and a zinc oxide and copper mixture. The judge found that the cited maritime standards did not specify a…
CME Corporation
Pit fall and reporting items affirmed
A CME Corporation employee fell more than 10 feet through an unguarded opening into a construction pit and required multiple surgeries. CME argued that the opening was an access point that did not require a guardrail, but the judge found it was not being used for access when the employee worked…
Austal USA, LLC
Unsafe miller tool item affirmed
Austal USA used angle grinders fitted with toothed saw blades, known at its shipyard as miller tools, for cutting and finishing aluminum. The grinder manufacturer did not approve toothed blades for the tools, and the combination created a heightened kickback risk. The judge found that Austal knew…
Harvey-Cleary Builders
Late notice of contest dismissed
Harvey-Cleary Builders was the general contractor at a Georgia construction site where OSHA issued an other-than-serious hazard communication citation. OSHA sent the citation by certified mail to the Maryland main-office address that the site superintendent had provided, and a company…
Empire Roofing Company of Georgia, Inc.
Roof and aerial-lift fall violations affirmed
An Empire Roofing crew repaired a hotel roof about 40 feet above the ground using an aerial lift for access. Near the end of the day, the four workers removed their harnesses and continued working on the sloped metal roof for about 10 to 15 minutes, then descended in the lift without being tied…
Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, d/b/a Walmart Distribution Center #7035
Hepatitis B vaccination violations affirmed
Walmart operated a volunteer Serious Injury Response Team at a Florida distribution center to provide first aid until emergency medical personnel arrived. Because team members could contact blood while treating injured employees, the judge found that they had occupational exposure to bloodborne…
Berardi's Fresh Roast
Coffee bagger guarding violation affirmed
Berardi's Fresh Roast used an automatic machine to fill, heat-seal, and cut foil coffee bags. Bags regularly stuck near the machine's heated jaws and knife, and operators often reached through a gap beneath the interlocked doors to remove them while the machine kept running. An operator's fingertip…
Martin Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
Willful skylight fall protection violation affirmed
Martin Mechanical Contractors sent a three-person crew to replace rooftop HVAC equipment at a Georgia warehouse. The roof had eight unguarded skylights, and no crew member used a personal fall arrest system or other protection. One employee fell about 15 feet through a skylight and died from his…
Tarkett Alabama, Inc.
Turret-winder guarding citation vacated
Tarkett Alabama used turret winders to roll flooring products onto large cardboard cores. An employee entered a malfunctioning winder and became entangled in a spinning shaft, suffering multiple serious injuries. OSHA cited two winders under the general machine-guarding standard for caught-in and…
Benton-Georgia, LLC
Attorney-fee application denied after citation withdrawal
OSHA cited Benton-Georgia after an employee was seriously injured by a vehicle while performing roadway work, but later withdrew the citation because the available evidence did not appear to sustain it. Benton-Georgia then sought $9,846.25 in attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to…
Heat Transfer Products Group, LLC.
Faded aisle-marking citation affirmed with reduced penalty
Heat Transfer Products used permanent aisles shared by forklifts and pedestrians at its Alabama manufacturing plant. Painted orange lines separated pedestrian routes from forklift lanes, but the markings had become severely faded or disappeared in some areas. The judge found that the standard…
Prestige Roofing, Inc.
Late contest dismissed and $2,000 citation affirmed
Prestige Roofing received a serious citation but did not file a written notice of contest within 15 working days. Its formal contest arrived almost a year after the citation, and the company did not respond to repeated orders inviting evidence for relief. The judge found no deception by OSHA…
Southern Pan Services Company
Two willful formwork violations affirmed for $125,000
Southern Pan Services Company was the concrete formwork contractor on a six-story parking structure that partially collapsed during a concrete pour. One Southern Pan employee died, another was seriously injured, and more than twenty other workers were injured. After the Commission remanded the…
Jack Durham d/b/a Jack Durham and Company
Awning safety citation vacated because workers were independent contractors
Jack Durham and Company hired a handyman to repair a leaking metal awning at a strip mall. OSHA cited alleged roof fall, training, and ladder violations after inspectors saw two people working on the awning. The judge found that the handyman controlled how to perform the repair, worked for multiple…
Peco Foods, Inc.
Eye-protection citation affirmed on poultry debone line
Peco Foods did not allow employees on its poultry debone line to wear safety glasses, although liquid and chicken residue splattered around the work area. OSHA inspected after an employee cut his eyelid with a knife, but the judge found that knives were not among the hazards covered by the cited…
Mauricio Diaz Construction
Repeat residential fall violation affirmed
Three Mauricio Diaz Construction workers performed framing work near the peak of a two-story duplex roof. OSHA photographs showed that harnesses were not connected to lifelines or anchor points, despite the owner's claim that workers stayed tied off. The judge credited the inspector and found the…
Richard Hargrove d/b/a R. H. Construction
Five repeat construction items vacated for lack of employer coverage
OSHA cited R. H. Construction after observing framing work from a narrow, unsecured forklift-supported platform nearly ten feet above the ground. The workers also lacked cited head, eye, and fall protection, and OSHA alleged that one worker had not received required scaffold training. All five…
David Stillwell d/b/a David Stillwell Roofing
Roofing citations affirmed after default
OSHA observed David Stillwell and three other individuals installing shingles on a commercial roof in Northport, Alabama without fall protection or eye protection while using pneumatic nail guns. Stillwell argued that he had no employees, but two workers told OSHA they worked for him and the…
Cooper T. Smith, Inc.
Unsafe cargo-hold access violation affirmed
Cooper T. Smith loaded large sacks from a ship into a barge on the Mississippi River near Darrow, Louisiana. Employees entered the 12-to-14-foot-deep hold by climbing stacked sacks weighing one to two tons instead of using the available extension ladder. A sack shifted while an employee descended…
Peacock Timber Company, Inc.
Lockout, respirator, and noise items affirmed
Peacock Timber operated a seven-employee sawmill in Troy, Alabama. The judge affirmed a serious lockout/tagout item because employees serviced multi-energy-source mill equipment without documented machine-specific procedures. An other-than-serious respirator item was affirmed because employees…
Gestamp Alabama, LLC
Lockout citation vacated for lack of hazard exposure proof
Gestamp Alabama manufactured auto parts with a 400-ton mechanical blanking press at its McCalla facility. Operators periodically entered a fenced scrap area to remove rejected metal, normally using a captive-key system that powered down the press before opening the gate. OSHA observed an operator…
The Home Depot #8954
Forklift-light violation reduced from repeat to serious
Home Depot used an electric reach truck to unload trailers at its Dublin, Georgia store after the truck's optional headlights stopped working. The receiving manager knew about the defect for at least a week but kept the truck in service, even though testing showed trailer illumination was below two…
Turpin, Inc.
Unprotected excavation violation reduced from willful to serious
A newly hired Turpin employee entered an 8.7-foot excavation in unstable soil to mark grade points before a trench box was installed. The judge found constructive employer knowledge because Turpin rarely inspected jobsites, inadequately trained workers, and showed no credible system for monitoring…
M.A. Mortenson Company
Fire-extinguisher hazard-communication items vacated under consumer-product exception
OSHA cited Mortenson for omitting ten-pound ABC fire extinguishers from its hazardous-chemical list and for not keeping their safety data sheets onsite. The judge found that the extinguishers qualified for the hazard communication standard's consumer-product exception. They were sold for consumer…
Florida LeMark Corporation
General-duty citation affirmed for ungrouted garage columns
Four people died and others were injured when part of a precast concrete parking garage under construction collapsed. OSHA cited Florida LeMark, the subcontractor responsible for grouting column bases, for leaving two load-bearing columns ungrouted while construction continued. The judge found that…
DeMouy General Contracting, Inc.
Scaffold fall-protection item affirmed against owner and employee
The owner of DeMouy General Contracting and an employee worked about 20 feet above ground on a pump-jack scaffold without effective fall protection. The judge held that the owner was an employee under the OSH Act while performing construction work for the corporation, despite his belief that owners…
G. Santos Masonry, Inc. d/b/a Roberto Santos
Late contest dismissed despite shutdown confusion
OSHA issued G. Santos Masonry ten serious items with $13,600 in proposed penalties. An informal conference was canceled during the 2013 federal government shutdown, and OSHA internally extended the contest deadline but did not notify the company of the new date. The judge recognized that this…
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.