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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Allen's Casing Crews, Inc.
Lanyard item remanded for review of the correct evidence
OSHA inspected Allen's Casing Crews after an employee fell from an oil-drilling rig and died. One citation item concerned a lanyard used later by a replacement crew member whose snap-hook spring was missing, while a separate item concerned the longer lanyard used by the employee who fell. The judge…
Armour Food Company
Two guarding items affirmed and six items vacated
OSHA cited multiple conditions at Armour's meat-processing plant, and the Commission reviewed selected personal-protective-equipment, machine-guarding, power-transmission, centrifuge, and compressed-gas items. It vacated the mesh-glove item because OSHA did not prove that sharpening slicer blades…
General Electric Co.
Settlement remanded for employee-union input
GE and the Secretary submitted a settlement stating that the employee union had participated in negotiations, but the union told the ALJ that it had been excluded. The ALJ approved the agreement only five days after it was mailed to the union, without allowing the required ten-day response period…
Stone Container Corporation
Repeated crane manbasket violation affirmed
Stone Container used cranes to lift employees in personnel baskets under a prior settlement that required a full-cycle test lift carrying twice the intended load before employees were raised. Crane operators testified that the required weighted tests were not performed on several occasions and that…
Union Oil Company of California
Refinery explosion penalties reduced to $10,000 after appeal
A pressure vessel failed at Union Oil's Chicago refinery, causing an explosion and fire that killed 17 employees and caused lost-worktime injuries to 14 others. OSHA cited pressure-vessel inspection and repair practices, protective equipment for employees performing firefighting duties, fire…
Cardinal Industries, Inc.
One modular-plant fall item affirmed for $450
Cardinal manufactured modular housing units on an indoor assembly line. After a fatal fall from a unit roof, OSHA cited fall hazards on the roofs, an adjacent felt-rack platform, and a scissors lift. The Sixth Circuit first held that the plant was governed by general industry rather than…
Quantum Chemical Corporation, Emery Division
Hot-water tank citation withdrawn
A Quantum Chemical employee suffered serious burns when heated water erupted from an uncovered tank as he operated a valve beneath it. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide protective shields or barriers. The judge found the personal protective equipment standard applicable, affirmed the…
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Group, Inc.
PCB protective-equipment citations withdrawn
Pratt & Whitney employees at two plants contacted machine oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, and many did not use personal protective equipment. OSHA alleged that this exposure violated the general protective-equipment standard. The judge found that the Secretary had not proved that…
Keco Industries, Inc.
Record-access and blasting-respirator violations affirmed
Keco Industries manufactured military and aerospace equipment and performed abrasive blasting in an enclosed facility at its Ohio plant. The Commission affirmed a willful record-access violation because Keco refused repeated requests for prior injury and illness logs even after OSHA presented an…
United Parcel Service
Footwear abatement issue remanded for hearing
United Parcel Service had withdrawn its contest to a citation alleging that workers handling heavy parcels needed foot protection under 29 C.F.R. §§ 1910.132(a) and 1910.136. After a later inspection, OSHA issued a failure-to-abate notification because the employees were not wearing safety shoes…
Kastalon, Inc. and Conap, Inc.
MOCA exposure citations vacated
Kastalon and Conap used MOCA, a chemical shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, to manufacture polyurethane products. OSHA alleged general-duty violations at both companies and personal-protective-equipment and respirator violations at Conap. The Commission held that OSHA had to prove a…
Hamilton Die Cast, Inc.
Duplicate face-protection citation vacated
An earlier Hamilton case included a face-protection citation that a judge affirmed while another item from the same decision was directed for Commission review. Before that review ended, OSHA cited Hamilton again for the same face-protection condition. The Commission held that directing any part of…
Nu-Way Mobile Home Manufacturing, Inc.
General-industry fall citation vacated because construction standards applied
Nu-Way built mobile homes from the ground up on an assembly line, and OSHA cited the general-industry personal-protective-equipment rule after employees worked on a roof without safety belts. The Commission held that the work was construction because the nature of the work, not its factory…
Cardinal Industries, Inc.
General-industry fall items vacated as preempted
Cardinal built modular housing units on an indoor assembly line using carpentry, plumbing, roofing, and electrical work. OSHA cited two unguarded platforms under the general-industry guardrail standard and the lack of safety belts under the general-industry personal-protective-equipment standard…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Hazardous-material emergency settlement approved
OSHA cited Consolidated Rail Corporation over protective clothing and respirators for hazardous-material emergencies at its Edgemoor railyard. Under the settlement, the Secretary withdrew the protective-clothing citation. The respirator item was amended to a serious violation with a $500 penalty…
General Motors Corporation, GM Parts Division
Safety-shoe citations vacated
General Motors employees handled large numbers of automotive parts at warehouses in Massachusetts and Georgia, and foot injuries had occurred from falling parts and a forklift. GM required substantial shoes, encouraged safety shoes, and offered discounted purchases, but did not make safety-toe…
Haysite, Division of Synthane-Taylor Corporation
Safety-shoe citation vacated
Haysite employees handled fiberglass sheets weighing up to 180 pounds. The company required sturdy shoes and required two or more employees to carry heavier sheets, but it did not mandate safety-toe footwear. The Commission held that the Secretary did not prove a reasonable person familiar with the…
Reda Pump Company, Division of TRW, Inc.
Safety-shoe item settled
A judge affirmed a personal-protective-equipment citation based on Reda Pump's failure to require engineers working with hourly employees during pump assembly and disassembly to wear safety shoes. After obtaining Commission review, the company adopted the safety-shoe requirement, represented that…
Cardinal Operating Company
Tank-entry general duty citation vacated
Cardinal employees faced a fall hazard while climbing through side openings into water-treatment tanks and stepping down onto internal laterals. The company had tried resistant linings, several kinds of ladders, lifelines, platforms, and other measures without solving the entry problem. The…
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad Company
Head and eye protection citation vacated
Railroad employees briefly entered the track level beneath a steel-plant blast furnace to position railcars and did not wear hard hats or safety glasses with side shields. OSHA alleged that solidified material or debris could fall or be dislodged by passing railcars. The Commission held that the…
Astra Pharmaceutical Products, Inc.
PPE penalty reduced after court remand
The First Circuit affirmed Astra's serious personal protective equipment violation but required more particularized penalty findings. A reactor overflow had sprayed an operator with toxic chemicals, causing serious injury and exposing rescuers; the Commission found the violation's gravity high…
Astra Pharmaceutical Products, Inc.
Chemical-protection penalty reduced to $500
A reactor overflow sprayed an Astra operator with toxic chemicals and seriously injured him, while other employees responding to the incident were also exposed. The serious violation arose because Astra required goggles, respirators, and gloves but not impervious full-body protection such as boots…
Samsonite Corporation
Discovery dismissal reversed and citations remanded
OSHA cited Samsonite for alleged excessive noise, inadequate hearing protection and conservation measures, insufficient skin protection from epoxy, and ergonomic stress from repetitive work. The judge treated the Secretary's late responses to requests for admission as binding, dismissed the case…
Consolidated Rail Corporation
Guarding items vacated and safety-shoe items affirmed
OSHA cited Conrail's locomotive repair shops in Enola and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for unguarded repair pits and work platforms and for not requiring steel-toed safety shoes. The Commission vacated the guarding items because a Federal Railroad Administration policy statement displaced OSHA…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Fall-protection and crane citations vacated
A Bethlehem Steel rigger worked near the unguarded edge of a furnace top without tying off, and OSHA cited the general personal protective equipment standard. Commissioner Cleary concluded that the standard covered safety belts but vacated the item because prior administrative decisions had failed…
Duriron Company, Inc.
Foundry safety settlement approved
OSHA cited Duriron's Ohio foundry for a serious personal protective equipment violation and a repeated general duty clause violation. The parties settled all disputed issues before a hearing, properly notified affected employees, and received no employee objections. The Commission majority approved…
BJ-Hughes, Inc.
Offshore fall-protection case remanded under general-industry law
BJ-Hughes provided cementing services on an offshore oil drilling rig where an employee worked unsecured on a narrow ledge about 50 feet above the rig floor. Pressure expelled a cementing plug, which struck the employee and caused a fatal fall. OSHA cited the construction personal protective…
Snyder Well Servicing, Inc.
Respirator item affirmed and other well-site items vacated
Snyder used a mobile service rig to swab a newly drilled Texas oil well, removing material from the well bore. The Commission held that swabbing had not been shown to be construction work, so construction standards did not apply. It nevertheless affirmed a serious general-industry respiratory…
United Cotton Goods, Inc.
Fabric-knife guarding amendment allowed
United Cotton Goods employees used electric knives to cut stacks of fabric. OSHA originally alleged that employees should wear metal-mesh gloves under the personal protective equipment standard, then moved 13 days before the hearing to add an alternative point-of-operation guarding charge. The…
General Dynamics Corporation, Electric Boat Division
PPE-use issue remanded for hearing
The judge vacated a personal protective equipment item after concluding that the standard's use requirement was invalid and imposed no duty to provide equipment. Intervening Commission precedent rejected the invalidity theory, so the Commission reversed. Because the Secretary abandoned the…
Lukens Steel Company
Willful molten-steel PPE violation affirmed
Several tons of molten steel erupted from an ingot, seriously burning four pouring-platform employees and killing two. Lukens required and enforced incomplete protective-equipment practices: employees working near molten steel lacked face shields, leggings, and adequate gloves, sometimes wore…
United Geophysical Corporation
Drowning PPE citation affirmed
A head linesman drowned while attempting to swim a seventy-yard gravel pit pulling seismic cable without a life jacket. The Commission found that geophysical exploration had not been shown to be construction work, so the construction water-safety standard did not apply. It nevertheless held that…
Ed Cheff d/b/a Ed Cheff Logging
Seatbelt requirement for logging tractors affirmed
Ed Cheff Logging used crawler tractors with rollover protective structures but did not provide or require seatbelts. Tractor operators faced rollover risks on steep terrain as well as risks from branches and debris entering the cab. The Commission held that the general personal protective equipment…
Consolidated Freightways
Vacated tractor-seat citation could not be revived
Consolidated Freightways was cited over inadequately padded steel bars on tractor seats that employees said caused injuries on rough roads. The Secretary moved to vacate the citation, and the judge granted that request. After employees objected, the Secretary sought to reopen the case and amend it…
Power Systems Division, United Technologies Corporation
Electrical and protective-equipment dismissals reversed
Power Systems faced electrical citations under a standard incorporating portions of the National Electrical Code and a protective-equipment citation involving a chemical treating agent. The judge vacated the electrical items as vague based largely on reported remarks about a proposed replacement…
General Motors Corporation, GM Parts Division
Ancestor-standard challenge barred
General Motors challenged the personal protective equipment standard on the ground that the older Walsh-Healey standard from which it was derived had been amended without proper rulemaking. The Commission held that an employer may not use an OSHA enforcement proceeding to attack the procedural…
The Bronze Craft Corporation
Molten-metal PPE item vacated
The issue on review was whether employees working with molten metal required personal protective equipment above the waist under the general PPE standard. After reviewing the record and the parties' arguments, the Commission adopted the judge's reasoning and affirmed the conclusion that the…
Bunkoff Construction Co., Inc.
Jackhammer foot-shield citation vacated
OSHA cited a jackhammer operator's use of ordinary work shoes without metal foot shields. The Commission agreed that the construction PPE standard applied, but the majority vacated for different reasons: Chairman Cleary found the Secretary had not shown that a reasonable person would recognize a…
Texland Drilling Corporation
Safety-belt citation vacated for unpreventable misconduct
A Texland Drilling derrick worker removed his safety belt, moved from a platform onto a beam about 50 feet above the derrick floor, fell, and was killed. OSHA alleged that the company failed to require appropriate personal protective equipment. The Commission found that Texland had a written and…
Darragh Company
Feed deliveries treated as exempt agricultural operations
Darragh contracted with farmers to raise its chickens and sent employees to deliver feed into bins on the farms. The drivers had to climb sixteen-to-eighteen-foot fixed ladders that did not meet several general industry ladder requirements. The Commission focused on the specific task that exposed…
OSCO Industries, Inc.
Protective-clothing citation vacated for lack of a recognized hazard
OSCO's foundry employees poured molten iron while wearing gloves, eye protection, and leather leggings. OSHA argued that flame-resistant jackets and trousers were also required. The Commission found that the ladles could not tip toward employees and that barriers, grills, sand, and dry floors…
Georgia Highway Express, Inc.
Freight-handling hazards require safety-toed shoes
Employees moved freight with hand trucks carrying up to 700 pounds and a forklift carrying palletized loads up to 2,000 pounds. They did not wear safety-toed shoes, and the terminal had recorded two foot or toe injuries over several years. The Commission agreed that falling freight and moving…
United Parcel Service of Ohio, Inc.
Foot-protection remedy remanded
UPS unloaders and sorters at a Missouri package-handling facility were exposed to foot injuries from falling packages. A court of appeals upheld the violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a) but found it unreasonable to require every affected employee to wear steel-toed shoes. On remand, the Commission…
Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation
Gloves required for fiberglass handling hazards
Owens Corning manufactured fiberglass insulation and provided gloves to some employees handling material in its bagging and rollup areas, but it did not require glove use and had limited replacements. The record showed risks from concealed hot glass, skin irritation, fiberglass penetration, and…
Sun Petroleum Products Company
Refinery gas-monitoring settlement approved
OSHA cited Sun Petroleum under the general duty clause for inadequate combustible-gas monitoring at its refinery, and the parties settled before a hearing. Sun agreed to withdraw its contest and immediately conduct gas testing through people knowledgeable about the equipment and locations where…
Life Science Products Company; Virgil A. Hundtofte and W. P. Moore
Toxic-exposure citations and personal liability affirmed
Life Science Products manufactured the pesticide Kepone from HCP and exposed employees to toxic substances without adequate engineering controls or personal protective equipment. Employees were also allowed to eat, drink, and store food in contaminated work areas. The four citations included two…
Fleming Foods of Nebraska, Inc.
Warehouse head-protection violation affirmed
Fleming Foods stored grocery products as high as 18 feet in a warehouse where 40 to 50 employees moved goods among the stacks without head protection. Eight falling-merchandise incidents had occurred before the hearing, including one injury, and hard hats could reduce harm from glancing blows or…
Kroger Company
Wire-mesh glove citation remained vacated
OSHA cited Kroger for not providing wire-mesh gloves to butchers working in its retail stores. The judge vacated the nonserious personal-protective-equipment citation, and the Secretary sought Commission review. The Commission held that its earlier Grand Union decision involving a similar…
Cotter & Company
Safety-toed shoe requirement affirmed for warehouse dock workers despite no industry custom
Cotter & Company is a hardware wholesaler that supplied True Value stores from a warehouse and distribution center in Jonesboro, Georgia, where about 25 dock workers loaded and unloaded roughly 250,000 pounds of freight a day. OSHA cited it under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a) for not requiring…
Roadway Express, Inc.
Commission modifies the decision to hold that loading-dock supervisors also needed safety-toe shoes
Roadway Express, a trucking company, was cited under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a) for not requiring city drivers, supervisors, and staff to wear safety-toe footwear at a freight terminal. Administrative Law Judge James D. Burroughs affirmed the violation only as to city drivers and vacated it for…
Big '6' Drilling Company
Rig citations remanded for further evidence
Big '6' Drilling received eight nonserious citations and one serious general-duty citation after an inspection of an oil and gas drilling rig. Its pro se notice focused on the $805 proposed penalties, but its later answer requested a hearing about the inspection and penalties. The Commission…
Wilson Freight Co.
Safety-footwear citation affirmed
Wilson Freight operated a terminal where employees moved large volumes of freight and sometimes manually handled objects weighing up to 50 pounds. The company required hard leather shoes but did not require safety-toe footwear, which only two of 24 employees regularly wore. The Commission held that…
Graves Truck Lines, Inc.
Dock safety-footwear citation affirmed
Graves Truck Lines had 13 employees working on its inbound and outbound docks without steel-toe safety shoes during the inspection. Its records showed eight dock-area toe or foot injuries from falling objects over four years, and its safety supervisor believed steel-toe shoes would have prevented…
Strickland Transportation Co., Inc.
Freight-dock footwear citation affirmed
Strickland Transportation operated a freight dock where employees manually handled bulky or slippery items weighing up to 50 pounds. Freight had been dropped in the past, and one employee testified that safety-toe shoes would have prevented a foot injury he sustained. The company argued that the…
Lombard Brothers, Inc.
Safety-footwear citation affirmed
Lombard Brothers operated a freight terminal and garage where workers manually handled freight and greasy truck parts weighing up to 100 pounds. The Commission found that dock workers, combination workers, and mechanics faced foot hazards from falling objects and material-handling equipment. It…
Marion Stephens, d/b/a Chapman & Stephens Company
General duty violation affirmed for work near a power line
Chapman & Stephens grew citrus and used 20-foot steel sprinkler pipes in a grove crossed by a low 7,200-volt power line. While three workers removed a bent pipe near the line, the pipe contacted it, killing one employee, rendering another unconscious, and knocking the supervisor to the ground. The…
Aluminum Coil Anodizing Corp.
Multi-item citation upheld in part after inspection challenge failed
OSHA inspected Aluminum Coil Anodizing's Illinois plant after receiving a complaint from someone who was not an employee or employee representative. The Commission held that the complaint's source and purpose did not invalidate the inspection because OSHA also had broad general authority to inspect…
Gristede Brothers, Inc.
Retail meatcutter protective-equipment citations vacated
Gristede Brothers operated retail grocery stores with meat departments in New York. OSHA alleged that meatcutters needed metal-mesh gloves for their holding hands and, at one store, protective aprons while cutting and boning meat. The judge distinguished the stores' mostly boxed-meat retail…
Croom Construction Co.
Safety-belt citation vacated under wrong standard
A Croom Construction employee fell through a temporarily covered roof opening to a concrete floor 15 to 17 feet below and died. OSHA cited the company for not using lifelines, safety belts, or lanyards while employees installed roofing sheets. The Commission held that the cited standard regulated…
Sun Ray Lighting Co.
Sign-work fall-protection violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Sun Ray Lighting assigned two employees to repair an electric service-station sign about 75 feet above asphalt pavement. To save time, one employee climbed from the boom-truck basket into the sign and worked there for five to ten minutes without being tied off. The company argued that it furnished…
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.