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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
23 decisions Keith E. Bell

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ALJ

Ireland Contracting, LLC

Roofing citations vacated because subcontractors controlled the work

Ireland Contracting sold and scheduled two residential roof replacements in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, then hired separate subcontractors to supply and supervise the roofing crews. OSHA cited Ireland Contracting for fall protection, eye protection, powered-industrial-truck, and scaffold violations…

October 12, 2023 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations vacated
ALJ

Link General Contracting Corp.

Scaffold access and fall-protection citations affirmed

Link General Contracting employees performed facade repairs from scaffold platforms at the fifth and sixth floors of a Brooklyn building. OSHA observed an employee using scaffold crossbracing and building formwork to move between platforms more than two feet apart. Employees also wore harnesses but…

February 16, 2023 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Framing Specialist, Inc.

Five residential-construction items affirmed

Two inspections of Framing Specialist residential projects found employees working without eye protection, using an access ladder that extended only two feet above the landing, standing on the top of a stepladder, and working at heights of 8 to 25 feet without effective fall protection. The judge…

April 4, 2022 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

U.S. Postal Service

Injury-report retaliation citation remains vacated on remand

U.S. Postal Service disciplined two mail carriers after they reported work-related injuries, and OSHA cited the agency under the recordkeeping rule that bars discrimination for reporting an injury or illness. The original decision vacated the citation and its proposed $5,432 penalty, but the…

January 20, 2021 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations vacated
ALJ

Houran USA Construction, LLC

Three serious construction citations affirmed

Houran USA Construction renovated a three-story building using a four-tier scaffold. OSHA cited the company after an inspector observed an employee without a hard hat below scaffold work, employees using a scaffold with a missing guardrail about 24 feet above the ground, and an access ladder that…

March 9, 2020 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Terence Froman, Inc.

Attorney-fee application denied

OSHA cited Terence Froman under the general duty clause over spring clips on a concrete-pump boom coupling, then withdrew the citation before adjudication. The company applied under the Equal Access to Justice Act for $4,999.10 in attorney fees and expenses. The judge found that the Secretary's…

January 16, 2020 ·Keith E. Bell
Procedural
ALJ

Speedy Rooter/Capital Plumbing, Inc.

Trench violations affirmed

Speedy Rooter replaced a residential sewer line using a trench more than six feet deep. The judge found that the two workers were company employees, not independent contractors, because Speedy Rooter obtained and assigned the work, paid them by the hour, and supplied tools and permits. OSHA proved…

December 23, 2019 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Coastal Drilling East, LLC

Unsecured rig-brake citation affirmed

A drilling employee's finger was amputated when suspended pipe drifted downward after a supervisor left the rig controls without securing the drawworks brake. Coastal and the industry recognized the crushing hazard and the practice of tying down or locking the brake before leaving the controls. The…

January 14, 2019 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Frame Q, LLC

Late contest dismissed after address change

Frame Q received serious, willful, and repeat citations with $20,680 in proposed penalties after an OSHA inspection of a New Jersey construction site. The company filed its notice of contest long after the deadline and claimed it had moved and did not receive the citation package. The judge found…

March 7, 2018 ·Keith E. Bell
Procedural
ALJ

Guzzo Masonry Inc.

Scaffold safety items mostly affirmed

Guzzo Masonry employees performed stucco repair from a two-level scaffold at a Delaware home. OSHA observed an employee working about 14 feet above the ground on a partially planked platform without guardrails, and another employee used the scaffold cross-braces for access because no ladder was…

January 26, 2018 ·Keith E. Bell
Mixed result
ALJ

Urban Erectors, LLC

Late notice of contest dismissed

OSHA mailed Urban Erectors a two-item serious citation with $9,240 in proposed penalties. The company’s secretary signed for the citation, but the company said she did not open the envelope and misplaced or discarded it. Urban Erectors filed its notice of contest about four months after the…

October 19, 2017 ·Keith E. Bell
Procedural
ALJ

Lloyd Industries, Inc.

Machine guarding and health violations largely affirmed

Lloyd Industries manufactured fire dampers and HVAC products at a Pennsylvania plant where a former employee's fingers were amputated by a press brake. OSHA's safety and health inspections identified unguarded machine points of operation and power-transmission parts, improperly closed electrical…

July 21, 2017 ·Keith E. Bell
Mixed result
ALJ

SJ Pyo Corp

Nine-item citation affirmed by default

SJ Pyo Corp. stopped participating in its citation contest despite repeated court communications, conference calls, scheduling requirements, and two show-cause orders. Because the owner had limited English proficiency, the court provided Korean interpretation for calls and issued court documents in…

June 23, 2017 ·Keith E. Bell
Procedural
ALJ

The Reybold Group of Companies, Inc

Young worker fall violations affirmed and willful item reduced

Reybold employed a 17-year-old vocational-school student at a Delaware residential construction project where balconies remained open and unguarded. The student regularly accessed balconies for cleanup work and was hospitalized after falling 11 feet while receiving trim passed down from the floor…

May 15, 2017 ·Keith E. Bell
Modified
ALJ

Grismer Tire Co.

Three serious items vacated after fatal backhoe accident

A tire technician died while changing rear tires on a backhoe, but no one witnessed the accident and emergency crews disturbed the scene before OSHA's investigation. The judge found that Grismer gave the technician adequate tire-service training. The Secretary also failed to prove that the ground…

September 8, 2016 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations vacated
ALJ

Horst Construction dba Horst Group, Inc.

EAJA fee request denied after citation withdrawal

The Secretary withdrew a serious fall-protection citation against Horst Construction, making the company the prevailing party for Equal Access to Justice Act purposes. Horst then sought $484.10 in fees. The judge found OSHA was substantially justified because the superintendent was near…

July 14, 2016 ·Keith E. Bell
Procedural
ALJ

Richard Snader Installation Partners

Roofing violations affirmed for $33,600

Richard Snader Installation Partners performed roofing work at an apartment building with three workers on the roof. The judge found that the workers were employees under the OSH Act because Richard Snader controlled their work and pay, despite his claim that they were partners. The inspection did…

May 12, 2016 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

David Dzenutis d/b/a Royal Construction Company

Roofing and ladder violations affirmed

Royal Construction employees performed roofing work without a compliant hazard communication program, a nearby fire extinguisher, or adequate fall protection. OSHA also cited unsafe roof access, insufficient ladder extension, carrying a load while descending, and failure to keep one hand on the…

March 17, 2016 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Mahle Engine Components USA, Inc.

Three lead-standard items vacated for insufficient proof

Mahle Engine Components produced lead-coated steel for automotive parts at its McConnelsville, Ohio facility. OSHA alleged deficient lead housekeeping in a break room, an unclean change room, and failures to provide six-month blood-lead monitoring to certain employees. The judge found the…

June 22, 2015 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations vacated
ALJ

Vitakraft Sunseed, Inc.

Housekeeping and warning-sign violations affirmed, general duty item vacated

Vitakraft Sunseed manufactured small-animal products at a facility where its dust collection system deposited agricultural dust into a wagon inside a dust room. OSHA cited accumulated combustible dust, the absence of warning signs, and an alleged general duty clause violation based on fire and…

October 30, 2014 ·Keith E. Bell
Mixed result
ALJ

Stoltzfus Welding & Rentals, LLC

Late contest relief denied

OSHA issued Stoltzfus Welding & Rentals two serious citations and one repeat citation with proposed penalties totaling $8,360. The employer argued that it missed the contest deadline because an OSHA letter said no citation would be issued for one item. The judge found that the actual citations…

August 26, 2013 ·Keith E. Bell
Procedural
ALJ

Bryan Martin, d/b/a Terra Reclamation

Demolition fall and survey items affirmed

Terra Reclamation was demolishing a three-story building in New Holland, Pennsylvania. Two workers used an aerial lift about 28 feet high without lanyards or harnesses, and other workers performed demolition near an unprotected upper-floor edge without fall protection. The company also began…

February 11, 2013 ·Keith E. Bell
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Federal Construction Group

Disqualification motion denied

The Commission remanded the case for the judge to consider Federal Construction Group's motion seeking his disqualification. The company alleged improper ex parte contact because the judge ate lunch with an OSHA compliance officer and the court reporter during the hearing. The judge found that the…

February 11, 2013 ·Keith E. Bell
Procedural

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.