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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Yantis Company
Repeat trench citation vacated for unforeseeable misconduct
A Yantis Company crew installed a sewer line in San Antonio using a trench about 9 to 10 feet deep with vertical, unprotected walls. OSHA observed an employee and later the crew foreman entering the trench without shoring, sloping, or another cave-in protection system. The judge found that OSHA…
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…
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…
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…
Barnard Construction Company, Incorporated
Grinder and floor-cover items partly affirmed
Barnard Construction faced safety and health citations arising from work at a federally owned Kentucky power project. The judge affirmed a serious bench-grinder item because its work rests exceeded the permitted gap and the accessible machine had not been effectively tagged or removed from employee…
True Value Company
Incomplete settlement order set aside and remanded
OSHA issued True Value Company two serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $8,000. The parties' settlement withdrew Item 1 but accidentally failed to address Item 2, and the judge's approval order later became final without resolving the entire case. The Secretary then asked to…
Manson Construction Company
Platform-securing item withdrawn and remaining rulings left unreviewed
Manson Construction Company was cited after OSHA inspected work at the Vashon Island Ferry Terminal, where employees used a crane-suspended personnel platform and worked atop a group of pilings called a dolphin. The judge vacated three scaffold-based items but affirmed fall protection violations…
Peacock Engineering, Inc.
Forklift-modification item left vacated after split vote
Peacock Engineering replaced a forklift's forks with a custom attachment so it could hoist burial crypts suspended from wire rope slings. OSHA alleged that the unapproved modification affected the forklift's safe operation in violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.602(c)(1)(ii). The judge vacated the item…
Peacock Engineering, Inc.
General duty citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement
Peacock Engineering installed burial crypts at Miramar National Cemetery using an excavator and wire rope slings. An employee's thumb was amputated by a sling while he guided a suspended crypt into place by hand, and OSHA cited Peacock under the general duty clause for amputation, struck-by, and…
Evergreen Construction Company
Fall protection citation left affirmed after split vote
Evergreen Construction Company was the general contractor for an Atlanta hotel project where a subcontractor's employees worked near fourth-floor edges without fall protection. OSHA cited Evergreen as the controlling employer under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.501(b)(1), and the judge found constructive…
K.M. Davis Contracting, Inc.
Cave-in citation remains serious after split vote
K.M. Davis Contracting installed an underground water line beside a highway, where OSHA found an employee working in a deep excavation without cave-in protection. OSHA alleged a willful violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652(a)(1) and proposed a $53,900 penalty. The judge affirmed the violation but…
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…
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…
Juan Guillen
Scaffold-training citation affirmed on summary judgment
OSHA cited Juan Guillen for failing to provide required scaffold-hazard training under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.454(a). An employee working from a mobile scaffold fell and died from his injuries. Guillen did not answer the Secretary's complaint or requests for admissions, so the material allegations were…
Vulcan Industrial Contractors Co., LLC
Asbestos cleanup citation vacated
Vulcan Industrial Contractors performed asbestos abatement on boiler piping at an Alabama power plant using glove bags, sealed work areas, HEPA vacuuming, and disposal controls. OSHA later found a small piece of asbestos-containing debris embedded in a scaffold plank after Vulcan had deregulated…
Capitol Concrete Contractors, Inc.
Skid-steer and injury-reporting citations vacated
A Capitol Concrete trainer fractured his wrist when skid-steer loader arms descended as he reached into the cab during operator training. OSHA alleged a general duty clause violation based on trainers approaching operational skid-steers and also alleged that the hospitalization was reported late…
Adam Zembrzuski dba A to Z Construction
Mistaken citation withdrawal remanded for review
OSHA issued A to Z Construction three serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $2,000. The employer later said it no longer wished to contest, but the Secretary mistakenly filed a withdrawal of the citation instead of a withdrawal of the employer's notice of contest. The judge…
Samsson Construction, Incorporated
Scaffold violations affirmed with $30,000 in penalties
Samsson Construction was the general contractor for a Florida retail construction project where employees used an incompletely planked scaffold without required guardrails and climbed the scaffold frame for access. A stucco-crew supervisor knew the planking and guardrail setup did not comply with…
Accurate Elevator Fire Door Corp.
Citations affirmed after contest dismissed by default
OSHA cited Accurate Elevator Fire Door after an elevator technician was struck by falling brick while working below façade work and later died. The citation alleged inadequate hazard instruction and failure to protect employees from falling objects. After contesting, Accurate repeatedly failed to…
Employment 2000 Corp.
Late contest dismissed and settlement left unapproved
OSHA mailed Employment 2000 a five-item serious citation with proposed penalties totaling $25,200, and a sales manager signed for it. The company filed its notice of contest months after the statutory deadline and did not show excusable neglect despite receiving another opportunity after a…
Best Touch Tub & Tile, LLC
Citation affirmed after repeated failure to answer
OSHA issued Best Touch Tub & Tile a citation alleging serious violations with proposed penalties totaling $25,200. After contesting, the company did not answer the Secretary's complaint. The judge sent three orders to show cause, including notices to updated counsel and directly to the company's…
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…
BML Construction
Contest dismissed after company abandoned case
OSHA cited BML Construction for two serious violations at a Missouri construction site and proposed penalties totaling $4,320. After filing a notice of contest, BML did not communicate with the Secretary, attend the pretrial conference, respond to a sanctions motion, or answer the judge's order to…
Brower Dental Health, P.C.
Exposure-control-plan violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Brower Dental Health operated dental offices where employees encountered blood and other potentially infectious material in their daily work. During OSHA's inspection, employees could not locate or identify the required written exposure control plan, and the owner did not produce one until about…
Perdue Foods, Inc.
Partial settlement order remanded for unresolved item
Perdue Foods and the Secretary submitted a settlement agreement that expressly excluded Citation 1, Item 2 because Perdue intended to continue contesting it. The judge nevertheless approved the settlement and the order was docketed, even though the agreement did not resolve the entire case. Within…
Caldwell Coatings, LLC
Incomplete consolidated settlement remanded
OSHA issued Caldwell Coatings separate sets of citations in two cases that were later consolidated. The parties' settlement withdrew the citations in Docket 15-1216 but accidentally omitted all citations in Docket 15-1217, and the judge's approval order became final without resolving the…
Aldridge Electric, Inc.
Excessive-heat general duty citation vacated
An Aldridge Electric employee suffered heat stroke while working on a Chicago transit construction project and died the next day. OSHA alleged that Aldridge exposed workers to excessive heat in violation of the general duty clause. After an extensive hearing, the judge found that the Secretary did…
Payton Roofing, Inc.
Safety-monitor violation affirmed with increased penalty
Payton Roofing employees worked on a low-slope commercial roof about nine feet above the ground without personal fall protection. A company officer said he was serving as the safety monitor, but he remained on the ground and could not see employees working on the back side of the roof. The judge…
F & H Coatings, LLC
Unsecured pressure-vessel hazard citation affirmed
F & H Coatings prepared to sandblast and paint a 12,000-pound cylindrical pressure vessel that rested unsecured on round pipe racks. The vessel became unstable, rolled off the racks, and fatally crushed an employee who was partly inside its manway. The judge found that the setup created a…
Briones Utility Company
Trench cave-in citation reinstated with reduced penalty
Briones Utility Company used hydraulic shoring while employees exposed underground utility lines in a seven-foot-deep trench. The judge vacated OSHA's cave-in protection citation after finding that employee exposure was not proven and that entering the trench was necessary to install another shore…
Jim Boyd Construction, Inc.
Trench violation reclassified as willful
Jim Boyd Construction used trench shields that did not extend above vertical trench walls and did not slope the soil above the shields as required by 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652(a)(1). The superintendent knew the requirement, considered stacking the shields, and chose not to comply because he believed…
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…
Matsu Ohio, Inc.
Lockout and power-press citation items vacated
Matsu Ohio manufactured stamped automotive parts using partial-revolution mechanical power presses. OSHA alleged several lockout/tagout and power-press violations involving servicing procedures, employee training, lock identification, die-setting procedures, and operating-mode selectors. The judge…
United Contractors Midwest, Inc. d/b/a R.A. Cullinan & Son
Willful trench citation left affirmed after split vote
United Contractors Midwest employees worked in a seven-to-eight-foot-deep excavation whose Type B soil walls were not properly sloped or benched. The judge affirmed a willful violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.652(a)(1) and rejected the company's unpreventable employee misconduct defense. The Commission…
Latshaw Drilling and Exploration, LLC
Extension-cord strain-relief citation vacated
OSHA found that the outer sheathing on an energized extension cord had pulled away from a floodlight connection on Latshaw Drilling's oil rig, exposing the insulated inner conductors. The judge found that the strain-relief device was not functioning as required and that employees had access to a…
Triumph Construction Corp.
Repeat cave-in violation affirmed and loose-soil item vacated
Triumph Construction replaced a water main in lower Manhattan using an excavation without a cave-in protective system. An employee was injured when part of the excavation collapsed. The judge found that the excavation was at least five feet deep where the employee worked, so the shallow-excavation…
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…
Nortek Powder Coating LLC
Repeat citations affirmed by default
OSHA issued Nortek Powder Coating repeat citations with proposed penalties totaling $3,400. Nortek filed a notice of contest but did not answer the Secretary's complaint. The judge sent an order to show cause by regular and certified mail, and Commission staff also called and emailed the company's…
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…
Jessica Hicks dba Logs to Lumber and Beyond
Default set aside and settlement approved
OSHA issued Logs to Lumber and Beyond serious and other-than-serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $1,360. The judge entered default after the employer did not respond to a show-cause order or timely file the parties' settlement agreement. The Commission found that a single missed…
Empire Roofing Company Southeast, LLC
Aerial-lift fall protection citation affirmed
An Empire Roofing foreman and two employees used an aerial lift without tying off to the boom or basket. The foreman admitted he skipped the harness because he was in a hurry, and he knew the two employees also rode in the lift without fall protection. The Commission held that the foreman's…
Employment 2000 Corp.
Late-contest dismissal set aside for address error
Employment 2000 filed a late notice of contest after OSHA mailed its citation to an address with an incorrect ZIP code. The same incorrect ZIP code appeared on the Secretary's dismissal motion, the judge's decision, and other case notices, leaving the record unclear whether the company received or…
Longhorn Service Company
Remand to vacate Item 2A and set Item 2B penalty
The Tenth Circuit directed the Commission to vacate Citation 1, Item 2A and enter a separate penalty for Citation 1, Item 2B. The Commission sent the case back to the administrative law judge for proceedings consistent with the court's opinion.
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…
J and M Miller Construction, LLC
Worker-status defense rejected and $13,800 assessed
OSHA cited J and M Miller Construction after two residential construction inspections found unprotected roof work, inadequate fall-hazard training, missing eye protection, and a narrow scaffold platform. The judge found that the workers were employees, not independent contractors, because the…
PM Construction & Rehab, L.P., a Subsidiary of Inland Pipe Rehabilitation, LLC
Manhole safety citations and $14,700 vacated
A pipe-replacement crew member suffered a fatal injury after entering a manhole against instructions, but the record did not establish the accident's cause. The judge found that the Secretary did not prove other workers were exposed to the manhole edge and that the worker inside used a fall-arrest…
3 Dimension Construction Management, Inc.
General contractor held responsible for asbestos demolition controls
3 Dimension Construction Management served as general contractor for converting a building into a self-storage facility and hired KIPI to perform interior demolition before asbestos abatement. OSHA cited the company for failing to ensure that the demolition contractor complied with the asbestos…
Thomas G. Gallagher, Inc.
Crane rigging violations affirmed with reduced penalties
A pipefitter suffered a serious hand injury when a weld broke during a crane lift of a 5,000-pound pipe assembly. The load was improperly rigged, and the employee placed his hand directly on the suspended assembly. The judge found constructive knowledge because Gallagher had not adequately…
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…
Central Florida Equipment Rentals, Inc.
Unsafe berm operation affirmed after dump-truck fatality
Central Florida used a 25-ton articulated dump truck to carry fill along a narrow berm beside a retention pond. The truck fell into the pond and its operator died. The Commission found that the company did not accurately determine the truck's clearance or whether the berm could support its loaded…
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…
All Erection and Crane Rental Corp.
Crane wire-rope citations and $21,000 vacated
A crawler crane's boom-hoist wire rope broke, causing the boom to collapse and killing two workers. All Erection owned the crane but had leased it without an operating crew to Beaver Excavating, which employed the operators and controlled routine inspection, maintenance, and lubrication. The judge…
Flintlock Construction Services LLC
Willful scaffold violations and $249,920 affirmed
OSHA found workers using inadequately planked, braced, accessed, and guarded scaffolds at a hotel construction project. Flintlock controlled the worksite and had authority to stop work, but its managers repeatedly ignored documented scaffold warnings from the onsite safety manager. The judge found…
Tower Maintenance Corp.
Alternative training violations remanded for clarification
OSHA cited Tower Maintenance after a fatal accident during painting work on an electrical transmission tower. For one training item, the Secretary pleaded power-transmission standards and general PPE and electrical standards in the alternative, but the pleadings and later briefs reversed which set…
Action Electric Company
Divided Commission leaves lockout citation vacated
An Action Electric apprentice was fatally struck by a steel mill cooling-bed counterweight before the facility's lockout process was complete. The judge vacated the group lockout citation after finding the cited rule did not apply to the fan-replacement work. The two Commission members disagreed on…
James Rutledge d/b/a Rutledge Roofing
Inadequate roof safety monitor draws $2,000 penalty
Rutledge Roofing used no guardrails, nets, or personal fall-arrest systems while two people installed metal roofing more than eight feet above hard surfaces. The owner claimed he served as a safety monitor, but he performed roofing work, moved between roof levels, and sometimes worked from the…
The Davey Tree Surgery Company
Logging items vacated and $300 reporting penalty affirmed
A Davey Tree employee was fatally struck during tree removal in a utility right-of-way. Following Commission precedent in companion Davey Tree cases, the judge found the work was line clearance rather than logging, so the logging standard did not apply. The evidence also showed training on tree…
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…
TKO, Inc. dba TKO Custom Homes
Willful stairway violations affirmed after worker fall
A plumbing subcontractor employee fell from an unguarded apartment stairway and suffered serious injuries. TKO stipulated that its worksite had debris, missing bottom treads, and stairways and landings without required rails. The judge found the railing violations willful because the foreman knew…
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.