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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Williams Enterprises of Georgia
Steel-erection safety-net item reinstated
Williams was the steel-erection subcontractor on a high-rise project where employees worked on perimeter beams and columns without exterior fall protection. The Commission had previously vacated the safety-net item after concluding that steel-erection rules displaced the general construction…
Williams Enterprises, Inc.
Four citation items and $2,300 penalty became final
Williams Enterprises was the steel-erection contractor for a multistory building in Virginia. OSHA cited perimeter fall protection, an improperly positioned and unsecured ladder, an unbarricaded crane swing radius, missing perimeter railings, and gaps in temporary flooring. The judge vacated the…
Skyline Crane Service, Inc.
Steel-erection citations and $780 penalty became final
Skyline Crane Service erected structural steel at a building project where employees worked about 60 feet above the ground. OSHA cited inadequate fall protection, missing perimeter nets, uncovered or unguarded floor openings, and the absence of immediately available fire-extinguishing equipment…
Skyline Crane Service, Inc.
Review of perimeter-net citation vacated
The judge vacated a citation alleging that Skyline failed to provide perimeter nets during structural steel erection. Review focused on whether Skyline had fair notice in 1980 that the general construction safety-net standard applied in addition to the steel-erection rules. Later court decisions…
Adams Steel Erection, Inc.
Perimeter and safety-net items affirmed, ladderway item vacated
Adams Steel was the steel-erection subcontractor on a multistory Pittsburgh construction project. The Commission affirmed a perimeter-railing item because decking remained temporary until it was welded into the structure as permanent flooring. It vacated a ladderway-opening item because the…
Williams Enterprises of Georgia, Inc.
Safety-net and floor-opening items vacated
Williams Enterprises was the steel-erection subcontractor on a high-rise construction project in Atlanta. In this 1986 decision, the Commission held that the steel-erection rules displaced the general safety-net standard and vacated the exterior-fall allegations under 29 C.F.R. §§ 1926.105(a) and…
Dun-Par Engineered Form Company
Unguarded-floor citation affirmed
A Dun-Par employee died after falling 131 feet from an unguarded eleventh-floor perimeter while banding stacks of lumber. The Commission held that the employee was exposed to a fall hazard while working 2 to 3.5 feet from the edge and that the foreman knew or should have known the assigned work…
L.R. Willson & Sons, Inc.
Perimeter-net citation reinstated after court remand
The Commission had previously vacated a serious citation alleging that L.R. Willson failed to use perimeter netting against exterior falls during structural steel erection. The D.C. Circuit reversed that decision and directed the Commission to reinstate the citation. Following the court's mandate…
Adams Steel Erection, Inc.
Two citation items reinstated after court review
The Commission had previously reversed the administrative law judge and vacated two citation items against Adams Steel Erection. The Third Circuit granted the Secretary’s petition for review and directed the Commission to reinstate the judge’s decision. The Commission therefore affirmed a serious…
Rust Engineering Company
Split Commission leaves delayed fall-protection citation vacated
OSHA issued Rust Engineering a fall-protection citation 111 days after its inspection. The judge vacated the citation because the delay was unreasonable and prejudiced Rust's defense, and also found that compliance was impossible and would create greater hazards. Chairman Buckley would have…
Daniel Marr & Son Company
General safety-net charge vacated under steel-erection rule
Daniel Marr employees erected steel at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant while working up to 115 feet above the ground without safety nets in place. The judge found violations of both the steel-erection net rule and the general construction safety-net rule. Daniel Marr did not seek review of the…
L.R. Willson & Sons, Inc.
Perimeter safety-net citation vacated
L.R. Willson employees erected structural steel on upper floors of a Washington, D.C. building. OSHA cited the company for failing to install perimeter safety nets even though temporary floors were present below the work. The Commission held that the steel-erection fall-protection rules displaced…
Adams Steel Erection, Inc.
Safety-net and hard-hat citation items vacated
Adams Steel erected structural steel on a four-story building and used temporary flooring below employees working on perimeter beams. The Commission majority vacated a safety-net item because the steel-erection fall-protection rules in Subpart R governed the hazard and preempted the general…
Adams Steel Erection, Inc.
Fall-net and hard-hat items vacated
Adams Steel was the steel-erection subcontractor on a four-story construction project. The judge affirmed a safety-net item for ironworkers on perimeter beams and a head-protection item for five workers without hard hats. A Commission majority held that the steel-erection fall-protection standards…
Turner Construction Company of Texas
Fall-protection citations withdrawn
The Commission allowed the Secretary to withdraw the citation and complaint alleging violations of the construction personal-protective-equipment and safety-net standards. The short public order does not describe the worksite conditions, proposed penalties, reasons for withdrawal, or any merits…
Williams Enterprises, Inc.
Willful steel-erection fall violations affirmed in part
Williams Enterprises employees repeatedly installed and carried metal decking at heights up to 58 feet without temporary floors, safety belts, or nets, despite repeated OSHA warnings and an imminent-danger notice. The Commission held that general construction standards can supplement steel-erection…
Vicon Corporation
Fatal rebar fall citation amended and affirmed
Vicon employees tied reinforcing steel from a narrow plank roughly forty-five to fifty feet above a concrete floor without tied-off safety belts; one employee fell to his death. The Commission held that the reinforcing-steel standard was more specifically applicable than the general…
Frank Swidzinski Company
Unguarded loading-platform citation affirmed
An employee stood inches from the unguarded end of a fourth-floor material platform while directing a crane, exposing him to a 41-foot fall. The Commission rejected the employer's employee-misconduct defense because there was no relevant work rule, and rejected impossibility because blocks could be…
Stearns-Roger, Inc.
Serious fall-protection violation affirmed after delayed citation
Stearns-Roger had 10 to 25 ironworkers performing bolting work on narrow steel beams 94 to 120 feet above the ground. Employees tied off while stationary but often walked between connection points without fall protection. The judge vacated the citation because OSHA issued it 139 days after the…
Austin Building Company
Gas-cylinder item affirmed and fall-protection issue remanded
Austin employees welded near an unguarded edge on top of a precipitator where a fall could be nearly 80 feet. OSHA also found an acetylene cylinder ready for use and an oxygen cylinder lying unsecured on the floor. The Commission held that the compressed-gas rule requires cylinders to remain…
National Industrial Constructors, Inc.
Sixty-foot fall-hazard items remanded under current precedent
Four employees installing metal decking faced potential 60-foot falls from a floor edge and through an unguarded wall opening. The judge vacated the safety-net and personal-protective-equipment allegations but affirmed the wall-opening item. Intervening Commission decisions changed or clarified the…
Midwest Steel Erection, Inc.
Temporary floor did not automatically satisfy fall-protection rule
Midwest Steel Erection employees installed temporary metal-grating floors at a power plant while working 30 to 80 feet above ground. Some employees at unprotected perimeters were not tied off. The judge found compliance because the grating qualified as one of the alternatives to safety nets listed…
Universal Roofing & Sheet Metal Co.
Roof-edge PPE citation remanded under current precedent
OSHA cited Universal Roofing after an employee worked near a roof edge without personal fall protection. The judge vacated the citation, reasoning that the roof was safer than a temporary floor allowed by the safety-net rule and that a sloped-roof provision displaced the general PPE standard. The…
Forest Park Roofing Company
Flat-roof PPE violation affirmed
Forest Park employees worked within one foot of the edge of a flat roof 27 feet above ground without guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall protection. The Commission held that the construction PPE standard applies to flat-roof work and that the Secretary identified a feasible belt-and-lifeline…
S & H Riggers & Erectors, Inc.
Panel-installation fall-protection violations affirmed
S & H Riggers employees guided precast concrete panels near unguarded building edges at two Atlanta construction sites, about 60 feet and 25 feet above the ground. The Commission rejected the employer's inspection-representation challenge because it did not show that the lack of a representative…
Diamond Roofing Company, Inc.
Roof fall-protection case remanded for defenses
Diamond Roofing employees installed roofing on a narrow pedestrian walkway about 27 feet above a concrete sidewalk and a heavily traveled road. They worked near the roof edge without safety belts, nets, guardrails, or any other listed fall protection. The Commission held that the permanent metal…
Builders Steel Company
Warehouse fall-protection case remanded
Builders Steel Company was constructing a single-story warehouse when OSHA observed employees working about 29 feet above the ground without fall protection. The company argued that the 30-foot steel-erection rule applied, while the Secretary relied on the 25-foot general fall-protection rule…
Favrot-Bellows, A Joint Venture
Serious fall-protection violation affirmed
OSHA alleged that Favrot-Bellows willfully violated fall-protection requirements stated in the alternative under three construction standards and proposed a $10,000 penalty. The judge instead affirmed a serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.28(a) and assessed $500. On review, the employer expressly…
Sierra Construction Corp.
Five high-rise construction violations affirmed
Sierra Construction Corp., the general contractor for a seventeen-story hotel addition, was cited for five fall-protection, material-storage, floor-opening, and crane-signal violations. Fifteen employees worked near open floor edges and gaps about 130 feet above ground without fall protection, and…
Quality Roofing Company
Guardrail citation vacated after amendment dispute
OSHA cited Quality Roofing Company for failing to provide a guardrail or equivalent protection for employees working on a flat roof. Before the hearing, the Secretary sought to replace that allegation with an alternative charge requiring safety nets when other fall-protection methods were…
Unit Builders, Incorporated
Safety-net violation and $100 penalty affirmed
Unit Builders was a steel erection subcontractor constructing a one-story warehouse. OSHA originally cited a steel-erection safety-net standard, then amended the charge at the hearing to the general construction safety-net standard while keeping the same factual allegation. Employees were working…
Holman Erection Co., Inc.
Steelworker fall-protection penalty reduced to $100
Two Holman steel connectors traversed open beam gridwork about 35 feet above the ground without temporary floors, scaffolds, or safety nets beneath them. They wore safety belts, but the belts were not tied off while they moved along the beams. The Commission held that the specific steel-erection…
Scioto Erectors, Inc.
Divided Commission leaves the ALJ's safety-net vacatur standing as the final order
Scioto Erectors was a steel erection subcontractor on a construction project in Marion, Ohio, where employees put up roof joists and cross-bracing about 60 feet up. The workers wore safety belts and tied off while welding and bolting, but not while moving between spots, stringing welding leads, or…
Alberici-Koch-Laumand, A Joint Venture
Steel-erection fall citation vacated
Alberici-Koch-Laumand employees worked on steel beams about 61 feet high while maneuvering and bolting beams lifted by a crane. They wore safety belts but did not tie off because they needed mobility to avoid sudden movement of beams weighing up to 500 pounds. The crane had to lift beams through…
Williams Enterprises, Inc.
Bridge fall citation remained vacated
Williams employees performed steel work more than 25 feet above the ground on an unfinished bridge. Plank decking installed by the general contractor covered the spaces between girders, but an opening existed directly behind a Williams foreman. The Commission accepted the judge's credibility…
McKee-Wellman Power Gas
Commission substitutes the general fall-protection standard and remands
McKee-Wellman Power Gas was constructing a 60-foot ore crusher process tower at a copper ore leaching plant in Arizona. An ironworker bolting steel at the 49-foot level stood on a narrow ledge with a safety belt that was not tied off, then fell and suffered fatal injuries. The Commission held that…
Claude Neon Federal Co.
Commission affirms safety-belt violation for sign work 100 feet above ground
Claude Neon Federal Company maintained signs on tall buildings. An employee repairing a neon sign moved across narrow supports and repositioned a ladder while working about 100 feet above the ground without a safety belt or other fall protection. OSHA originally cited the general duty clause, but…
Roanoke Iron & Bridge Works, Inc.
Column-sliding violation affirmed, other fall-protection charges rejected
Roanoke Iron & Bridge Works was erecting a five-story office building when employees regularly slid down vertical steel columns instead of using an available ladder for the final 50 feet to the ground. The Commission rejected the judge's greater-hazard defense because the record did not show that…
Derr Construction Company
Safety-belt citation affirmed, five other steel-erection items vacated
Derr Construction was erecting a high-rise steel frame when an ironworker worked on the top edge of a girder on the 13th floor without using an available safety belt. The Commission upheld the serious personal protective equipment violation because the worker faced an obvious fall hazard and the…
The Lane Construction Corporation
Safety-belt violation affirmed, net and guardrail items vacated
Two Lane Construction employees stood and leaned over a bridge parapet more than 25 feet above a lower deck while attaching scaffold members to a mobile stripping wagon without personal fall protection. The judge affirmed the personal protective equipment violation because safety belts were…
Burk Construction Corporation
Repeated flying-form fall violations affirmed with penalty reduced to $1,000
Burk Construction performed concrete-form work with employees placing jacks near an unguarded perimeter on the seventeenth level of a building. Employees, including a foreman, worked within about two feet of the edge without safety belts, lifelines, nets, or equivalent fall protection. The judge…
First Colony Corporation
Silo fall-protection violation affirmed for $600
Three First Colony employees installed concrete caps on 75-foot silos while working within two or three feet of unguarded edges without belts, lifelines, nets, or other fall protection. The judge vacated the original guardrail allegation because the cited open-sided-floor standard did not apply to…
Briscoe/Arace/Conduit, A Joint Venture
Beam fall-protection item affirmed and roof item vacated
Employees of the joint venture worked on 18-inch-wide beam bottoms about 16 feet above a basement floor cluttered with stored scaffolding. They used no personal fall protection. The Commission affirmed a serious violation and a $700 penalty because a cable system for attaching safety belts was…
Daniel Construction Company
Safety-net citation vacated for open-bay building
Daniel Construction was erecting a large open-bay steel building intended to house a turbine generator and related equipment. Employees worked more than 25 feet above the operating floor without safety nets or scaffolds, and an ironworker fell about 105 feet while connecting a roof truss and died…
Space Age Concrete & Masonry, Inc.
Fall-hazard items affirmed and four other citations vacated
Space Age Concrete & Masonry worked as a masonry subcontractor on a multistory building in Naples, Florida. Inspections found employees near uncovered elevator-shaft openings and working at unguarded edges without effective fall protection. The judge affirmed the floor-opening and…
Cornell & Co., Inc.
Safety-net violation affirmed for steel connectors
Cornell & Co. was erecting steel for a building in Philadelphia. Two steel connectors walked exterior girders at the eighth-floor level without safety belts or nets, facing a possible 200-foot fall outside the structure. The judge found safety belts and lifelines impractical because they could…
Union Steel Erectors, Inc.
Willful crane-riding and fall violations affirmed
OSHA observed Union Steel employees riding a crane hook, headache ball, and suspended steel loads 50 to 70 feet above the ground. The foreman knowingly allowed the practice for about a week, the general contractor had warned him it violated safety rules, and the crane operator knew it was…
Crawford Steel Construction Co.
Fall-protection citation vacated for lack of feasible method
Crawford Steel employees walked along steel beams while erecting an exit ramp, at points more than 25 feet above the ground. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide a safety net or another listed form of fall protection and proposed a $550 penalty. The record showed that a crane had to…
Southern Colorado Prestress Company
Safety-net violation affirmed with a $600 penalty
Southern Colorado Prestress was erecting a three-story prestressed-concrete building when an employee worked on a one-foot-wide perimeter beam about 27 feet above the ground. The employee had no safety net, scaffold, platform, safety belt, or other fall protection, and a roughly 40-mile-per-hour…
Carr Erectors, Inc.
Elevated-work citations vacated
Carr Erectors employees worked about 42 feet above the ground while constructing a cement bulk plant. The employer supplied safety belts and lines and instructed employees to use them, although two employees were observed without that protection. The Commission affirmed the judge's conclusion that…
Robert W. Setterlin & Sons Co.
Tenth-floor guardrail citation vacated
Setterlin employees installed masonry at an unguarded section of the tenth floor of a telephone building. The guardrails had been removed so cement blocks could be installed, and the record showed that the work could not be performed with standard rails in place. The Commission affirmed the judge's…
Steel Erectors, Inc.
Fall-protection citation vacated for insufficient proof
Steel Erectors employees straddled roof trusses and welded joists while wearing safety belts that were not tied off, and no safety nets were installed. OSHA alleged that the work was more than 25 feet above the ground, which would trigger the cited safety-net standard. The inspector did not measure…
United States Steel Corp., d/b/a American Bridge
Serious safety-net citation affirmed by divided Commission
American Bridge was erecting steel on the 109th floor of the Sears Tower, about 38 feet above the next temporary floor. Two connectors walked along an 18-inch-wide beam to remove a lifting sling, and one employee lost his balance and fell to his death. No safety nets were installed, and the company…
United Engineers & Constructors, Inc.
Repeat rebar violation affirmed and two items vacated
At the Three Mile Island construction site, one employee stood untied on a crane girder about 225 feet above the floor while guiding another crane. Safety nets would have blocked the lift, and the Commission divided over whether a feasible safety-belt anchorage had been proved, leaving the…
Edward M. Ream, Inc.
Flat-roof fall citation vacated
Employees installed roofing on a flat, solid-surfaced roof more than 100 feet above the ground without perimeter railings, nets, or personal fall protection. An employee had previously fallen from the roof and died. The judge held that the cited safety-net and personal-protective-equipment…
Isaacson Structural Steel Co.
Fall-protection citation vacated where cited methods were infeasible
Isaacson erected a structural-steel A-frame over water as part of a log deck at an Alaska paper mill. One employee worked at the top of the frame while two welders worked from a float scaffold, all more than 25 feet above the water. The Commission rejected the Secretary's late request to apply the…
Island Steel & Welding, Ltd.
Safety-belt citation affirmed under protective-equipment rule
Island Steel assigned two employees to weld steel members while standing on top of a wall at heights of about sixteen to twenty-five feet. They had no safety belts or other fall-protection device, and the company superintendent knew they were working without belts. The Commission held that the…
Everhart Steel Construction Company, Inc.
Roof-edge and grounding citations affirmed
An Everhart Steel employee worked at the edge of a flat roof thirty-two feet above the ground, leaning over the side to pass siding and other material to workers on a scaffold. The roof had no perimeter guard or other protective device. The Commission held that the open-sided-floor standard applied…
Mid-Plains Construction Company
Roof-fall case reinstated after pleading amendment
OSHA alleged that Mid-Plains Construction employees worked on a roof more than 25 feet above the ground without adequate fall protection. The citation initially relied on the general duty clause, but the Secretary's complaint amended the legal theory to the construction safety-net standard while…
Carpenter Rigging and Contracting Corporation
Serious fall-protection violation reinstated with a $650 penalty
Carpenter Rigging was a subcontractor constructing an automated container warehouse at John F. Kennedy Airport. Two employees repositioned planking while standing on eight-inch girders about 21 feet above a concrete floor without safety belts or lanyards, and one employee fell and died. The…
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.