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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Riverdale Mills Corporation
EAJA fee application denied
Riverdale Mills manufactures coated wire mesh at a facility in Northbridge, Massachusetts. The underlying OSHA cases followed an employee's serious injury in a coating line and produced a mixed merits decision that affirmed three citation items and vacated several lockout/tagout and…
Exxon Mobil Baytown Refinery
One mental-illness recordkeeping instance affirmed
A pipe rupture at ExxonMobil's Baytown refinery caused an explosion that injured three contractors and a fire that burned for nearly eight hours. Three process technicians who responded later received mental-illness diagnoses and missed work, but ExxonMobil declined to record the cases on its OSHA…
Quick Roofing, LLC
Repeat ladder-access violation affirmed
Quick Roofing employees used an extension ladder to reach the roof of a three-story apartment building under construction in Winter Garden, Florida. OSHA photographs showed that the ladder extended only about 24 inches above the roof rather than the required three feet. Even if a rope visible in…
Sofidel America Corp.
Rewinder lockout and training violations affirmed
Sofidel operated a paper-products rewinder at its Circleville, Ohio, facility, where operators routinely entered the machine and used its jogging controls to clear jams. An employee's hand was caught between a moving roller and a guide plate while two employees cleared a jam, causing a degloving…
Williams Brothers Construction Co., Inc.
Highway work-zone citation vacated
Williams Brothers Construction was preparing new traffic lanes at the I-69 and I-610 interchange in Houston during an overnight highway closure. A vehicle entered the closed work zone and struck three workers, including a Williams Brothers employee who suffered hip and rib fractures and other…
Donghee Alabama, LLC
Machine-safety violations affirmed, one instance reclassified
Donghee manufactured automotive fuel tanks at an Auburn, Alabama facility using blow-molding and testing machines. A production manager entered an operating blow-mold machine and suffered a broken foot, while light curtains and laser scanners on four other machines were not functioning. The judge…
Mar-Jac Poultry MS, LLC
Eviscerator guarding and warning-sign violations affirmed
Mar-Jac operated poultry eviscerators at its Hattiesburg, Mississippi processing plant. An employee cleaning chicken parts and viscera around an operating eviscerator was caught in the machine and suffered fatal injuries. The judge found that the machine was unguarded, lacked safety-instruction…
Denaka Partners, LP, dba Home Rubber Company
Machine-guarding and bloodborne-pathogen violations affirmed
Denaka manufactured rubber products at a New Jersey facility where an employee's sleeve became caught in an operating slitter mill, pulling his arm into the machine and resulting in an amputation. OSHA cited the company for inadequate machine guarding and for failures involving hepatitis B…
the Broken iPhone, LLC
COVID-19 general duty clause violation affirmed
The Broken iPhone operated a two-person cell-phone repair store in Mobile, Alabama, where employees worked near a steady flow of customers. OSHA observed unmasked employees and customers at close distances, and the owner required masked customers to remove their face coverings before entering. The…
Riverdale Mills Corporation
Lockout items mostly vacated, health items affirmed
Riverdale Mills manufactures coated wire mesh on a long production line at its Massachusetts facility. After an employee suffered a severe arm injury while adjusting moving mesh, OSHA issued safety and health citations involving lockout/tagout, machine guarding, chemical training, and access to…
The L.E. Myers Co.
Electrical-safety citations vacated
A journeyman lineman was electrocuted while working near energized 7.62-kilovolt distribution lines at a Florida worksite. His foreman had instructed him to raise a conductive mechanical jumper only high enough to check its length, but the lineman entered the 2-foot-2-inch minimum approach…
S & R Enterprises, LLC
Steel-hoisting citations vacated
S & R Enterprises attempted to hoist a five-ton steel grappler into a renovated power plant so it could hang as a decorative hotel-lobby feature. A padeye tore through an old overhead-crane girder during the lift, causing the load and rigging to fall and seriously injure three employees. OSHA cited…
North American Crane & Rigging LLC
Crane swing-radius citation vacated
North American Crane & Rigging used a lattice-boom crane and an assist crane while dismantling a crane at a Massachusetts construction site. OSHA alleged that the company failed to mark the boundaries of the cranes' swing-radius hazard areas. The judge found no swing-radius hazard at the…
Harvestland Constructors, Inc.
Fatal fall citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
Harvestland Constructors was building a feed mill in Georgia when an experienced carpenter fell 38 feet through an uncovered floor opening and died from his injuries. The carpenter had been assigned to cover the openings and was not using the available personal fall-arrest system when he fell. The…
Elmer Julio Perez Mendez d/b/a Julio Perez
Late contest dismissed because mail neglect was not excusable
OSHA issued willful fall-protection and grouped injury-reporting citations after an employee fell approximately eight feet from a residential roof and died. The citations proposed a total penalty of $138,118 and were delivered by certified mail to the address Perez had supplied, where a temporary…
Turner Construction, Inc. of Naples
Repeat fall-protection citation affirmed
An employee of Turner Construction handled a concrete hose on a narrow upper-level surface without a harness, guardrail, safety net, or other fall protection. The employee was 11 feet 5 inches above the next concrete surface and near an outside edge approximately 20 to 22 feet above the ground. The…
Latite Roofing & Sheet Metal, LLC
Repeat roof fall citation affirmed
Latite employees removed and transported roof tiles on a low-slope commercial roof with unprotected edges 16 feet above the ground. A safety monitor was present, but he faced away from an employee pushing a wheelbarrow near the edge, and no warning line or personal fall-arrest system was in use…
Midwest Equipment Company
Four crane assembly violations affirmed
Midwest Equipment assembled a mobile crane for a cell-tower project when a 3,400-pound jib fell and seriously injured a crew member. The judge found that attaching the jib was crane assembly, not an uncovered setup activity. Midwest failed to follow the manufacturer's procedures by omitting a…
FreightCar America, Inc.
Railcar assembly hazard citation vacated
Workers assembled railcars by positioning top-heavy end panels with a crane and securing them to side panels with corner pins. An end panel fell after the crane was detached and an employee removed the remaining pins, seriously injuring two workers. The judge found that FreightCar America was…
FabArc Steel Supply, Inc.
Lockout and forklift violations affirmed
FabArc Steel Supply manufactured fabricated steel products at its Oxford, Alabama facility. OSHA cited the company after an inspection found issues involving fall-protection training, hazardous-energy controls during motor removal, and a forklift operated with a broken horn and fluid leaks. The…
New Finish Construction, LLC
Electrical and conductive-ladder violations affirmed
New Finish Construction installed a metal roof at a Pennsylvania residence. After the owner threw a steel roof anchor from the roof and it caught on a 12,000-volt power line, an employee climbed an aluminum ladder and used a metal pole to try to dislodge it; he was electrocuted and died. The judge…
Apollo Auto Sales & Service, Inc.
Late contests denied
OSHA issued Apollo Auto citations with $6,652 in proposed penalties and later issued a $25,868 failure-to-abate notification. Apollo Auto missed both 15-working-day contest deadlines and filed its contest months after receiving the original citation. The judge found no deception by OSHA, excusable…
Packers Sanitation Services, Inc.
Drain, machine-guarding, and recordkeeping items partly affirmed
Packers Sanitation cleaned equipment at a poultry processing plant where an employee's hand was caught in an operating quill puller, causing a fingertip amputation. The judge affirmed one walking-surface instance because managers stepped over inadequately covered drains in the normal route to the…
Swisslog Logistics, Inc., and Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. d/b/a Distribution Center 7019
Lockout citations vacated
A Swisslog employee sustained a serious leg injury when an automated trolley moved while he was working inside Wal-Mart's monorail system. OSHA cited both companies for willfully failing to use documented lockout procedures. The judge found that the lockout standard did not apply because the…
Excel Modular Scaffold & Leasing Company dba Excel Scaffold & Leasing
Skiff violation affirmed, anchorage item vacated
Excel employees erected hanging scaffolds a few inches above Galveston Bay, and one employee drowned after a scaffold component collapsed and pulled him underwater. The company stipulated that it lacked an immediately available lifesaving skiff, and the judge held that the violation was serious…
TMD Staffing
Machine-guarding violations affirmed
TMD Staffing supplied most of the workers at Hightower Metal Works' steel fabrication shop. TMD employees regularly operated an ironworker punch station, two press brakes, and a bending roll without required point-of-operation guards. One employee's finger was crushed while operating the bending…
Action Electric Company, Inc.
Lockout citation reinstated on remand
Action Electric employees entered a steel mill's cooling-bed basement to prepare for fan replacement before the required lockout procedure was completed. A counterweight moved to its de-energized position, striking and killing an apprentice and narrowly missing the lead worker. An earlier judge had…
Lang Masonry Contractors, Inc.
Limited-access-zone citation vacated
Lang Masonry performed masonry work around an elevator opening during a high-rise renovation. A six-pound piece of concrete block fell from the fourteenth floor down the elevator shaft and struck an elevator mechanic, causing fractured vertebrae and other serious injuries. The judge found that the…
T. E. Stevens Company, Inc.
Trench cave-in item affirmed
T. E. Stevens Company installed drain lines in a blasted and excavated trench at a grocery-store construction project. Testing classified the disturbed soil as Type B, and OSHA measured the trench at seven feet four inches deep and fourteen feet wide where two employees were working. The resulting…
The Lane Construction Corporation
Work-zone traffic citation vacated
A dump truck backing through a nighttime highway milling operation struck and killed a Lane Construction superintendent. OSHA alleged that Lane failed to implement an effective internal traffic control plan separating pedestrians from moving vehicles. The judge found that OSHA did not prove its…
HBD / Thermoid, Inc.
Repeat catapuller guarding violation affirmed
HBD / Thermoid manufactured hose using catapuller machines with moving belts that created ingoing nip points. An employee’s arm was caught and crushed in one machine after employees had regularly lifted its small hinged Plexiglas side guard during operation to see and adjust the hose. The judge…
Camarata Masonry Systems, LTD
Crate-handling training citation vacated
Camarata Masonry Systems installed stone at a Houston construction project where an experienced forklift operator unloaded a damaged crate containing nearly 3,000 pounds of marble slabs. The operator removed a stabilizing strap while the load remained unstable, and the crate fell and injured him…
Solares Electrical Services, Inc.
Arc-flash PPE and insulated-tool citations vacated
Solares Electrical Services updated an energy-monitoring system at a Miami hospital where an electrician was burned by an arc flash after entering an energized transfer-switch cabinet. The employee first caused a spark and fire alarm, was told by his foreman to wait, but reentered the locked work…
Jesco, Inc.
Demolition power-line citation vacated
Jesco replaced an 80-to-85-foot bucket conveyor system at a Mississippi pet food plant while employees used the top of an electrically powered man lift as a work platform. During removal, a lifted conveyor casing struck electrical conduit serving the lift, causing the lift to rise and fatally crush…
A.C. Castle Construction Co., Inc. / Daryl J. Provencher, d/b/a Provencher Home Improvement
Roofing violations yield $173,500 in penalties
A.C. Castle Construction contracted with homeowners for roofing work and assigned projects to Provencher Home Improvement. At a Massachusetts house, at least two roofers fell about 20 feet after a wooden scaffold plank snapped, and OSHA cited scaffold, ladder, training, anchorage, and fall…
United Launch Alliance, LLC
Launchpad machine-guarding violation affirmed
United Launch Alliance technicians used compressed air to test a piston in a launchpad strut-capture component at Cape Canaveral. A technician's hand slipped into the moving component while he connected an energized air hose, resulting in the amputation of two fingers. The judge found that the…
Sanderson Farms, Inc.
Poultry-line guarding citation vacated
Sanderson Farms operated poultry-processing cone lines with a small gap between a splashguard and a moving conveyor. An employee reached for trapped chicken material and suffered an amputated finger when her hand became caught. OSHA amended its citation to allege a machine-guarding violation under…
Durco Contractors, Inc., formally J.R. Durham d/b/a Durco Contractors, Inc.
Five renovation hazards affirmed for $10,600
During a hotel renovation, employees used nearly dark stairs, worked near exposed energized wires, used an extension cord as fixed wiring, rode on a forklift pallet, and operated forklifts without verified training. Durco stopped participating in the case and did not appear at the hearing, leaving…
Film Allman, LLC
Willful train-trestle hazard citation affirmed
Film Allman directed twenty to twenty-three employees to film a movie scene on an active railroad trestle. The company knew the railroad had twice denied permission, had no railroad representative controlling train traffic, and did not create a workable emergency exit plan. When a train approached…
Georgia Carolina Stucco, Inc.
Three repeat scaffold violations affirmed
Georgia Carolina Stucco used another contractor's scaffolds while applying stucco to an assisted-living facility in Evans, Georgia. Three employees, including the company's foreman and competent person, worked as high as 20 feet 9 inches on platforms that were not fully planked and had no…
Globe Energy Services, LLC
Stair-rail item affirmed and exit-route item vacated
Globe Energy Services employees used a metal stairway to reach a platform about 20 feet above oil and saltwater tanks at a Henderson, Texas worksite. The stair rails were 40.5 inches high and lacked an intermediate rail, contrary to the general-industry stairway requirements. Globe's field…
Ramco Erectors, Inc.
Repeat fall-protection item vacated for lack of employer knowledge
A Ramco Erectors employee fell about 28 feet from a building under construction in Spring, Texas and sustained a broken elbow and femur. The employee wore a harness and double lanyard and had proper attachment points available, but a gust lifted insulation and distracted him as he mistakenly…
Quandel Construction Group, Inc.
Attorney-fee application denied despite citation victory
Quandel prevailed in the underlying case when the judge vacated an aerial-lift fall-protection citation based on unpreventable employee misconduct. It then sought $8,929 in attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge denied the application because OSHA had photographic evidence…
Sanderson Farms, Inc.
Two poultry-plant shaft-guarding items affirmed with reduced penalty
OSHA found unguarded rotating shafts on chicken-cutting saws and an unguarded projecting shaft end at a Sanderson Farms processing plant. The judge held that the saw arbor was an integral part of the power-transmission shaft and that the specific guarding standards required physical guards without…
Dave's Plumbing, Inc.
Four serious ladder violations affirmed
Dave's Plumbing used an extension ladder to reach a roof at a construction site. The ladder extended only a few inches above the landing, was unsecured near an active doorway, and was climbed by an employee carrying an acetylene tank. The judge also found that the employee had not received…
Alcides Avelar
Late contest dismissed for lack of excusable neglect
OSHA issued Alcides Avelar two serious scaffold-related items with $5,900 in proposed penalties. The citation was received at the company's record address, but the owner was out of town and did not submit a written notice of contest until several weeks after the 15-working-day deadline. The judge…
GP Roofing & Construction, LLC
Willful residential fall violation affirmed
Four GP Roofing employees installed shingles on townhomes while wearing harnesses but remaining untied on roof sections as high as 19.5 feet. The judge rejected claims that fall protection created a greater hazard or was infeasible because the company did not seek a variance, prove the claimed…
KSP Enterprises, Inc.
Willful excavation violation affirmed
KSP Enterprises had workers in a 6.7-foot-deep excavation with nearly vertical Type B soil walls and no cave-in protection. The company argued that it was a family business without employees, but the judge found that a working co-owner was an employee and that another worker was also an employee…
J. Reed Constructors, Inc.
Repeat aerial-lift tie-off violation affirmed
Two J. Reed Constructors employees installed exterior sheeting from an aerial lift about 35 feet above the ground without tying off. The company conceded the violation but disputed knowledge and asserted unpreventable employee misconduct. The judge found constructive knowledge because the condition…
Copomon Enterprises, LLC
Formaldehyde-label citation barred by prior settlement
Copomon Enterprises distributed hair straightening and smoothing products that could release formaldehyde when heated during use. OSHA cited the company because its product labels did not state that the products contained formaldehyde, even though the labels used exact language negotiated in an…
Imperial Aluminum
Furnace-explosion citation vacated
Imperial Aluminum was installing a new rotary furnace when an outside contractor troubleshooting its gas-flow controls allowed natural gas to accumulate and then opened the furnace door while the pilot remained lit. The resulting explosion damaged ductwork and released a fireball, but no employees…
Tire Centers, LLC
Tire-rim trajectory citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
A Tire Centers technician died when a large off-road tire and multi-piece rim exploded while he was working alone at the company's Alabama service center. The evidence showed that he was inside the rim-component trajectory zone, contrary to a clear company rule. The judge found that Tire Centers…
Toby Bell d/b/a South Texas Pigeon Removal
Late contest dismissed despite employer-status defense
OSHA issued Toby Bell d/b/a South Texas Pigeon Removal a serious citation with a proposed $2,800 penalty. Bell personally received the citation, which clearly stated the 15-working-day contest deadline, but did not submit a contest until after the deadline. Bell later asserted that the exposed…
Roofing Concepts Unlimited/Florida, Inc.
Late contest dismissed after citation was misplaced
OSHA mailed Roofing Concepts Unlimited/Florida a citation proposing $24,640 in penalties after inspecting a condominium roofing project. The company's receptionist signed for the certified mailing, but the citation was misplaced and management did not learn of it until after the 15-working-day…
Sunland Construction, Inc.
Trench egress item affirmed and cave-in item vacated
Sunland Construction employees installed sandbag trench breaks around a high-pressure gas pipeline. They worked in a trench more than five feet deep without a ladder, stairway, or ramp, and Sunland did not show that climbing over the pipe and sandbags provided safe egress. The judge affirmed the…
Subzero Technologies, Inc.
Late contest relief denied
OSHA issued Subzero Technologies twenty-one serious and two other-than-serious violations with proposed penalties totaling $37,800. The company missed the 15-working-day contest deadline, contacted OSHA only after receiving a payment demand, and then waited several more months before asking the…
Brocato Construction, Inc.
Trench citations affirmed by default
OSHA cited Brocato Construction at two Mississippi worksites for employees working in excavations without cave-in protection and, at one site, without safe egress. The company timely contested but did not answer discovery, attend scheduled conferences, respond to orders, claim certified mail, or…
Roberts Sand Company, LLLP
Clay-pit highwall violation affirmed
Roberts Sand Company operated an intermittent clay pit with a nearly vertical highwall more than 20 feet high. An equipment operator was working near the wall when it collapsed onto the excavator cab, causing his death. The judge found a recognized collapse hazard and concluded that feasible…
All American Concrete, Inc.
One excavation citation vacated and one affirmed as serious
All American Concrete was upgrading a storm-water system when an excavator bucket rolled into an excavation and broke an employee's ankle. OSHA cited the contractor for materials or equipment near the excavation edge and for inadequate cave-in protection. The judge vacated the falling-materials…
Lucky Plastering Corporation
Late scaffold contest dismissed
OSHA cited Lucky Plastering for four scaffold violations at a Florida construction site and proposed $12,000 in penalties. The company filed its notice of contest more than seven weeks after the 15-working-day deadline. Its president cited a family emergency, difficulty reading English, reduced…
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.