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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Central Building & Preservation
Unprotected 200-foot roof edge results in serious citation
A foreman and laborer worked inches from the edge of a Chicago building about 200 feet above the ground with their harnesses unattached. OSHA personnel observed and photographed the condition from an office across the street. The foreman's participation established employer knowledge, and the…
Denny Maize Construction
Eight serious construction items affirmed
Denny Maize Construction did not appear at the hearing, and OSHA's inspection evidence was undisputed. Workers lacked hard hats and eye protection, used circular saws with blade guards wedged open, and used damaged or improperly spliced extension cords. OSHA also documented an undersized scaffold…
Jose Luna Roofing
Serious fall-protection citation affirmed after roofers worked 41 feet above ground
OSHA observed Jose Luna Roofing employees performing roofing work without fall protection on a low-slope roof approximately 41 feet above the ground. The owner was present during the inspection and confirmed that the workers were his employees and that he knew they were on the roof. The company did…
Marine Terminals Corp.
Four longshoring citation items vacated
Marine Terminals handled container cargo aboard the M/V Ever Deluxe at a California terminal. A hatch boss was killed when descending crane lifting gear struck him while he was on top of a container, although the record did not establish why he entered that location. OSHA cited the company for…
Earl F. Douglass Roofing Co.
Roofing fall-protection citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
OSHA found three Earl F. Douglass Roofing employees working more than 21 feet above the ground without tying off their fall-protection harnesses. The foreman knew the crew was still working after the roof anchors had been removed, but the employer argued that the conduct violated its established…
Earl F. Douglass Roofing Co.
Roofing fall-protection citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
OSHA found three Earl F. Douglass Roofing employees working more than 21 feet above the ground without tying off their fall-protection harnesses. The foreman knew the crew was still working after the roof anchors had been removed, but the employer argued that the conduct violated its established…
Benson Associates
Scaffold foundation, inspection, and fall-protection items affirmed
Benson Associates used a pump-jack scaffold and planks 13 to 14 feet above the ground while installing soffit and fascia on a Denver house. OSHA found that the scaffold legs lacked proper base plates and that the makeshift fall protection consisted of an Alumibench and boards attached with…
Western National Construction
Late contest dismissed after nonappearance
Western National Construction received an OSHA citation but did not contest it before the deadline, so it became a final Commission order. Months later, a safety representative asked to file late, stating only that the citation had not reached the appropriate person and had fallen through the…
Stuck in the Mud
Scaffold violations affirmed after jurisdiction challenge
Thomas Slingluff, doing business as Stuck in the Mud, performed stucco work from an inadequately protected scaffold in Colorado. He admitted the scaffold conditions but argued that he was not an employer engaged in commerce and therefore was outside the OSH Act. The judge found that Slingluff hired…
Vandervoort's Dairy Foods Company
Lockout/tagout training citation vacated
Vandervoort's Dairy Foods Company distributed dairy products and fruit drinks at a Fort Worth plant where an employee died after being caught in a depalletizer. OSHA cited the company for inadequate training under the lockout/tagout standard. The judge found the cited standard inapplicable to the…
Calhar Construction, Inc.
Trench and backup-alarm violations affirmed
Employees worked in a trench more than seven feet deep with the access ladder over 60 feet away and set at an improper angle. The trench lacked an adequate cave-in protection system, and laboratory testing confirmed that the soil was not stable rock. OSHA also observed a front-end loader backing…
Parisi Construction, Inc.
Safety penalties reduced to $3,000
Parisi Construction did not dispute five citation items involving high-visibility clothing and several silica and respiratory-protection requirements. The only issue was the amount of the proposed penalties, which totaled $9,000. The judge considered that the road workers had partial protection…
Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and its successors
Fall-protection violations affirmed with reduced penalty
OSHA observed Hensel Phelps employees working more than 25 feet above a lower level with deficient fall protection. The cited conditions included work before guardrails were properly installed, a guardrail that deflected below the required height, unflagged wire-rope rails, and floor-hole exposure…
Rodriquez Cornice Construction Co., and its successors
Five construction violations affirmed
Rodriquez Cornice contested OSHA's citation but did not appear for the scheduled hearing. OSHA's compliance officer testified that employees installing cornice worked about 21 feet above the ground without guardrails or personal fall arrest systems and had not received scaffold training. The…
Guerrero Masonry, Inc., and its successors
A notice of contest filed 20 months late was dismissed, so the citations became final
Guerrero Masonry, Inc. was inspected by OSHA and received two citations in November 1998, a serious citation with a proposed penalty of $16,800 and a non-serious citation with a proposed penalty of $300. Employers have 15 working days to contest citations, and the paperwork Guerrero received said…
Elgin Roofing Company
Five roof fall-protection violations affirmed as serious, skylight item vacated
OSHA inspected an Elgin Roofing worksite where employees were working on roofs 16 to 20 feet above grade. The judge affirmed violations involving a missing warning-line access path, tools stored near a roof edge without guardrails, unprotected work in a hoist area, roofing near an unprotected edge…
William Rhodes Construction Co. and its successors
Late contest dismissed after partial payment and abatement certification
OSHA issued William Rhodes Construction two citations that explained the 15-working-day deadline for filing a notice of contest. The company did not contest within that period; its president later arranged installment payments, delivered a $1,000 check, and certified corrective action involving…
B & B Plumbing, Inc.
Trench violations reduced from willful to serious
B & B Plumbing was installing sanitation plumbing at a school on the White Mountain Apache reservation in Arizona. Employees worked in a trench with vertical sides that reached about eight feet deep and had no protective system or adequate means of egress; an employee died in a cave-in. The judge…
Seven Seventeen HBE Colorado Corporation d/b/a/ Antler's Adam's Mark
Late refund request denied
Seven Seventeen HBE Colorado Corporation operated the Antler's Adam's Mark hotel in Colorado Springs. The company corrected the cited conditions and paid the full $9,000 penalty without filing a timely contest, then later asked for a refund. It argued that it had not operated the hotel at the time…
FPC, Inc., and its successors
Unguarded balcony violation affirmed
FPC was the general contractor constructing an apartment complex in Houston. OSHA observed upper-floor balconies without guardrails and an employee clearing trash from a second-floor balcony without other fall protection. FPC disputed that any employee worked near the edge and said trash was…
RNC, Inc.
Companion-case stipulation yields split result
OSHA cited RNC, Inc. after investigating a workplace fatality. RNC and the Secretary stipulated that the outcome of the related Summit Habitats, Inc. case would control RNC's citation. After deciding the companion case, the judge applied that result to RNC. Citation Item 1 was vacated, while Items…
Summit Habitats, Inc.
Floor-cover violations affirmed, training item vacated after a fatal fall
Summit Habitats was a Colorado home builder. During construction of a custom home in December 1998, a two foot by three foot opening in the main floor was covered with a stapled plastic sheet to hold heat in the basement. The next day a subcontractor's employee walked between the wall studs…
Grayhawk of America, Inc.
Four construction safety violations affirmed after employer failed to appear
OSHA cited Grayhawk of America for four serious construction safety violations involving head protection, eye and face protection, unprotected deck edges, and unguarded floor openings. The employer received notice of the hearing but did not appear or request a postponement. The compliance officer…
JHL Constructors, Inc.
Subcontractor fall-protection citation vacated
JHL Constructors was the general contractor for construction of a middle school. OSHA cited JHL after a masonry subcontractor employee worked near an unprotected edge about 14 feet above the ground without fall protection. The Secretary proved that the standard applied, its terms were not met, and…
Metal Buildings of Wisconsin, Inc.
Willful fall-protection citation reduced to serious
Metal Buildings of Wisconsin employees installed steel decking about 37 feet above the ground without nets, safety lines, belts, or other fall protection, and one worker died after falling through a gap. The company used a safety monitor because it considered nets a fire hazard and other methods…
Kenko, Inc.
Two trench hazards affirmed and egress item vacated
Kenko employees were laying and connecting pipe in a trench more than 11 feet deep. OSHA cited the company for inadequate egress, loose rock or soil on the excavation face, and insufficient cave-in protection. The judge vacated the egress item because the backfill provided a safe way out and the…
Royal Gorge Publishing d/b/a Daily Record
Forklift citation vacated where a maintenance expert outweighed the inspector
Royal Gorge Publishing, which runs the Daily Record newspaper in Canon City, Colorado, was cited after an OSHA compliance officer inspected a forklift used to move pallets of newspaper inserts. The officer found damaged insulation on electrical and hydraulic cables, exposed copper wire, cuts…
R.W. Dunteman Co.
General contractor willfully ignored a subcontractor's trench hazard
R.W. Dunteman Co. was the general contractor on an Illinois road and underground construction project, while a subcontractor performed the below-grade work. Employees of the subcontractor worked in a trench more than six feet deep without adequate sloping, shoring, or a trench box. The judge found…
Johnson Masonry, Inc.
Fees allowed after cited regulation was deleted
Johnson Masonry, Inc. sought fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after OSHA withdrew a citation. An earlier order denied the application, and the company asked the judge to reopen the record or award costs incurred after the cited regulation was deleted on August 12, 1996. The…
Triple J Construction
Repeat residential fall-protection violations affirmed
Triple J Construction had three workers removing shingles and tar paper from a steep residential roof about 12 feet above the ground without required fall protection. The company also lacked a training program for workers exposed to fall hazards and had previously received final citations for the…
M & W Roofing Co., Inc.
Scaffold access, guardrail, and hard-hat violations affirmed for $1,100
M & W Roofing Co., Inc. worked from scaffold platforms at a Walgreens construction site in Wisconsin. An employee reached the scaffold by climbing its cross members because no ladder or equivalent safe access was provided. The 12-foot and 18-foot platforms also lacked required guardrails and…
Pro-Drive, Inc.
Four commercial-diving safety items affirmed
Pro-Drive, Inc. performed a commercial dive to seal an underwater valve at a power plant in Illinois. The diver died after completing the repair, and the pathology and coroner report attributed the death to asphyxia caused by malfunctioning diving equipment. Administrative Law Judge Sidney J…
Classic Homes Div. of Elite, Inc.
Fall-protection items affirmed, penalties reduced to $1,600
Classic Homes was the general contractor for a house under construction in Colorado Springs. A roofing subcontractor's employees worked on a 17-foot-high roof without the required catch platform and near second-floor wall openings without adequate guardrails. Classic Homes argued that it did not…
Marino Midwest, Inc.
Crane limit-switch violation affirmed, penalty cut to $2,000
Marino Midwest, an underground construction contractor, used a Bucyrus-Erie crawler crane to hoist loads to workers at the bottom of a shaft in Evanston, Illinois. OSHA cited the company because the crane lacked a limit switch to prevent the load from overtraveling past the boom tip, in violation…
Cherry Hill Tune & Lube, Inc.
Citations affirmed after employer failed to appear
OSHA issued Cherry Hill Tune & Lube two citations involving machinery and hazardous chemicals. The company filed a notice of contest, but mail sent to its address was returned after it moved without leaving a forwarding address. A later hearing was postponed at the request of the person who signed…
Dempsey Darcy Oldsmobile
Penalties reduced for good faith and inspection history
Dempsey D'Arcy Oldsmobile purchased the assets of a dealership after OSHA had cited the prior owner. OSHA later cited the new company for conditions that had not been corrected, and the parties settled the violations but disputed the penalty amounts. The judge found that the company deserved…
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.