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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Publix Meat Market #1034
Mesh-glove citation vacated
OSHA cited Publix for not providing metal mesh gloves to retail meat cutters who used knives for boning, trimming, and cutting. Applying the reasonable-person test used for the general personal-protective-equipment standard, the judge found that the Secretary had not established a nationwide…
Publix Meat Market #1096
Mesh-glove and apron citation vacated
OSHA cited Publix for not requiring retail meat cutters to wear steel mesh gloves and aprons while boning, trimming, and cutting meat. The judge applied the industry-custom and reasonable-person tests used for the general personal-protective-equipment standard. The record contained no evidence of…
St. Johnsbury Trucking Co., Inc.
Footwear and eye-protection items upheld
St. Johnsbury Trucking operated a busy freight terminal where employees moved cargo with forklifts and carts and repaired trailers. OSHA cited the company for failing to require protective footwear, failing to require eye protection during metal drilling, and leaving electrical parts unguarded. The…
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company
Meat-cutter PPE citations vacated
OSHA cited A&P supermarkets because meat cutters did not use metal mesh gloves and, in two stores, did not use protective aprons. The judge found that mesh gloves were not customary in retail meat departments, could interfere with handling meat, and raised sanitation and other practical concerns…
Champlin Petroleum Co.
Flat-roof citation vacated
A Champlin employee worked at the edge of a service-station roof while removing a sign without a safety line or safety belt. OSHA cited Champlin for a serious violation of the construction perimeter-guarding standard, and the judge affirmed that item. The Commission vacated the citation because its…
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.
Butcher PPE citation vacated
OSHA cited A&P because two retail meatcutters at its Augusta, Georgia store did not use wire-mesh gloves or protective aprons. The judge found very few minor knife injuries in the company's local stores, limited industry use of mesh gloves, and practical concerns about sanitation, frequent glove…
American Airlines, Inc.
Foot-protection citation affirmed without a penalty
American Airlines employed cargo, freight, and maintenance workers at Bradley International Airport. OSHA cited the airline because those employees handled heavy items and equipment but were not required to wear safety shoes or other toe protection. The Commission found that the work exposed…
Keystone Body Works
Paint-room citations affirmed in part
Keystone Body Works operated an automobile repair and spray-painting shop in Lubbock, Texas. OSHA alleged several combined fire and health hazards in the paint room, including inadequate ventilation, spraying near a heater, non-explosion-proof lighting, excess stored paint, and failure to use an…
Sunbeam Corporation
Safety-shoe item affirmed, quench-tank item vacated
Employees in Sunbeam's die-casting department regularly carried metal ingots, castings with jagged edges, boxes, and pallets, and four of 72 employees had suffered foot injuries from dropped objects in about 18 months. The Commission held that this record required protective footwear and affirmed…
United Parcel Service, Inc.
Safety-toe protection citation affirmed
UPS operated a highly automated Columbus distribution center that processed about 150,000 packages each day. Roughly 325 sorters, belters, loaders, and unloaders handled packages weighing up to 50 pounds and were exposed when packages or conveyor rollers fell. UPS required solid leather shoes but…
Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc. and Blount Brothers Corporation, a Joint Venture
Superdome citations affirmed
The joint venture was general contractor for construction of the Louisiana Superdome, with about 350 employees and numerous subcontractors at the site. The Commission affirmed two serious citations and eighteen additional items covering perimeter and opening guards, personal protective equipment…
J.A. McCarthy, Inc
Hardhat violations reduced to nonserious with no penalties
J.A. McCarthy conducted longshoring operations in Philadelphia and supplied hardhats, but many employees refused to wear them. The Commission held that urging employees to comply without using available disciplinary measures did not satisfy the longshoring hardhat standard. It reversed the judge's…
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
Forklift and safety-shoe penalties stand
Goodyear used a forklift to move and stack large tires at a warehouse and distribution facility. The judge found that tire loads beyond the truck's rated capacity were handled and that operators lacked enough information about load centers and tire weights to stay within the rating. He also found…
Chief Freight Lines, Inc.
Safety-shoe requirement affirmed
Chief Freight Lines operated a Tulsa terminal where about 80 dock employees handled freight ranging from light boxes to 350-pound drums, pipe, vehicle parts, and oil-field equipment. Freight sometimes fell from stacks, carts, or trailers, and several employees had suffered foot or toe injuries. The…
Stowe Canoe Company
Twenty-one safety items affirmed
Stowe Canoe operated a small Vermont canoe-manufacturing facility. OSHA cited 22 conditions involving machine guarding, eye protection, flammable-liquid handling, fire extinguishers, compressed air, electrical equipment, aisle marking, and injury-record posting. The judge affirmed the first 21…
The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., Inc.
Meatcutter mesh-glove citation vacated
A&P did not require retail meatcutters to wear wire-mesh gloves on the noncutting hand while boning beef and veal. The cited personal-protective-equipment standard did not specifically mention mesh gloves or retail meat boning. Evidence showed that such gloves were rarely used in the industry and…
Matson Terminals, Inc.
Longshoring footwear citation vacated
Matson employees lashed cargo containers aboard the SS MATSONIA. OSHA observed two lashing employees wearing tennis or canvas shoes and cited Matson under the general personal-protective-equipment standard. The Commission held that the specific longshoring footwear standard controlled instead. That…
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company; Thorofare Markets, Inc.
Mesh-glove citations vacated
A&P and Thorofare Markets employed retail-store butchers who trimmed and boned meat, poultry, and fish without required wire-mesh gloves. The judge affirmed citations under the general personal-protective-equipment standard. Applying its Grand Union decision, the Commission held that the general…
Texas Window Cleaning Company
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the Texas Window Cleaning Company case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The attached judge's decision involved two experienced employees who cleaned fifth- and sixth-floor hospital windows while standing on a 20-inch ledge without safety…
Grand Union Company
Retail mesh-glove citations vacated
Grand Union operated retail stores in Peterborough and Allenstown, New Hampshire. OSHA cited each store under the general personal-protective-equipment standard because meatcutters did not use wire-mesh gloves. The judge found that mesh gloves would eliminate or substantially reduce knife injuries…
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.
Mesh gloves not required for retail meatcutters
OSHA cited A&P because a meatcutter in a retail store did not wear a wire-mesh glove on his noncutting hand while boning meat. The record showed that retail meatcutters rarely used mesh gloves and that the store's reported meat-department accidents did not include boning injuries. The judge held…
Grand Union Co.
PPE rule did not require wire-mesh gloves for butchers
OSHA cited Grand Union because butchers in one of its retail stores did not use wire-mesh gloves, protective aprons, or head protection. The judge dismissed the item for lack of proof that employees were exposed to the alleged hazard. On review, the Commission disagreed with that exposure finding…
Pantry Pride Food Fair Stores, Inc.
Mesh-glove citation for meat cutters vacated
Pantry Pride meat cutters trimmed and boned meat without wire mesh gloves. OSHA cited the retail food store under the general personal-protective-equipment standard and proposed a $50 penalty. The record showed only infrequent minor nicks, no customary use of mesh gloves in retail meat departments…
Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc.
Five longshore hard-hat violations affirmed
Atlantic & Gulf's longshore employees repeatedly worked without protective hats where falling objects could injure their heads. The company supplied hats at no charge and promoted their use through meetings, signs, pay-envelope messages, and hiring tapes, but many employees continued to refuse…
Northern Metal Company
Hard-hat violations affirmed but repeat claims and penalties removed
Northern Metal's longshore employees repeatedly worked without protective hats despite the company's efforts to encourage their use. The Commission held that Northern Metal remained their employer under the economic realities of the hiring-hall arrangement because it paid the workers, determined…
Independent Pier Company; Holt Marine Terminal, Inc.; I.T.O. of Ameriport, Inc.; Atlantic & Gulf Stevedores, Inc.
Longshore hard-hat violations affirmed but employee order vacated
Six consolidated cases involved stevedoring companies whose longshore employees refused to wear supplied hard hats at the Port of Philadelphia. The judge held the employers responsible under 29 C.F.R. § 1918.105(a), affirmed or modified the citations, and assessed penalties totaling $545 across the…
Grand Union Company
Retail-butcher mesh-glove citations vacated
Grand Union operated retail grocery stores where butchers trimmed and deboned meat with sharp knives but did not wear steel mesh gloves. OSHA cited two stores under the general personal-protective-equipment rule, and the administrative law judges found that hand protection was required. The…
Colorado Fuel & Iron Steel Corp., a/k/a C.F. & I. Steel Corp.
Mixed steel-mill citations affirmed and vacated
OSHA issued 48 nonserious items at Colorado Fuel & Iron's Pueblo steel mill involving cranes, respirators, sanitation, welding, electrical equipment, access, housekeeping, and fall hazards. The judge affirmed many admitted or proved items, vacated others for insufficient proof or inapplicable…
Tobacco River Lumber Co.
Mixed ruling on thirty sawmill citation items
Tobacco River operated a Montana sawmill and planing mill that received a thirty-item citation covering housekeeping, stairs, protective equipment, fire safety, tools, gas cylinders, machinery, and electrical conditions. The Commission upheld the inspection because a company employee with authority…
Dravo Corp.
Toxic-paint spray citations vacated for lack of timely proof
Dravo manufactured and repaired river barges at a Pennsylvania boat yard. OSHA cited the company over respirators, hazard information, employee instruction, and protective clothing for workers allegedly spray painting Tectyl-400B in confined barge spaces. The judge found that the Secretary did not…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Repeated scaffold citation vacated
A Bethlehem Steel electrical rigger fell to his death while performing maintenance work high above the floor on an overhead crane. OSHA alleged a repeated violation of the general scaffold rule and sought to add the general personal-protective-equipment rule because the employee was not wearing a…
Yellow Freight System, Inc.
Toe-protection citation affirmed at freight dock
Yellow Freight operated a Tulsa terminal where employees loaded and unloaded freight weighing up to 6,000 pounds. Freight frequently fell from stacks, and forklifts had run over employees' toes on numerous occasions, but most employees did not wear toe protection. The judge vacated the citation…
Arkansas-Best Freight System, Inc.
Toe-protection citation reinstated
Arkansas-Best operated a busy North Carolina freight terminal where dock workers handled freight ranging from light goods to castings, pipes, and 55-gallon drums while forklifts moved throughout the area. Repair-shop employees also handled heavy tools, parts, and large truck tires. The company did…
Western Metal Decorating Company
Stairway item reinstated and respiratory-protection item vacated
Western Metal Decorating Company decorated flat sheets of tin and steel using coating, printing, and baking lines. OSHA issued a 25-item citation covering conditions that included housekeeping, powered industrial trucks, flammable liquids, machinery, electrical equipment, employee eating areas, and…
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…
Deemer Steel Casting Co.
Grinding-dust abatement stayed for variance review
Deemer Steel used portable grinders to clean castings without hoods or enclosures connected to an exhaust system. The parties agreed that no workable system had been arranged for the varied work positions, and the company began requiring respirators after the citation. The Commission affirmed the…
Fulton Instrument Company
Mercury-vapor citation reclassified
Fulton manufactured clinical thermometers and exposed employees to mercury-vapor concentrations above the standard's allowable ceiling. The judge upheld the mercury standard as a valid national consensus standard and found the inspection lawful. He reclassified the citation from serious to…
American Airlines, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA cited American Airlines, Inc. after an inspection of its aircraft maintenance and engineering center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The contested item alleged that employees working on an aircraft's tail and wing did not use safety belts or other required personal protective equipment. American received…
Nibco of Colorado Division, Nibco, Inc.
Three nonserious items affirmed with $35 penalty
Nibco manufactured plumbing fittings and contested several nonserious items involving cranes, electrical wiring, machinery, welding equipment, and personal protective equipment. The Commission vacated the rope-sling item because the cited rule required inspection and a hazard determination, and the…
Cape & Vineyard Div., New Bedford Gas & Edison Light Co.
Electrical PPE violation affirmed
Cape & Vineyard was an electric utility whose line crew was installing transformers on a utility pole. A lineman was electrocuted after contacting an uncovered energized 2,400-volt wire or clamp while also contacting a grounded transformer. The judge found that the foreman knew the conductor was…
Smoke-Craft, Inc.
Sausage-cutting PPE citation vacated
Smoke-Craft manufactured beef jerky and sausage and used a hand-held reciprocating saw to cut long sausages. An employee held the sausage with a bare hand about one to one-and-a-half inches from the blade during end cuts. The Commission acknowledged a cutting hazard but vacated the…
The Budd Co.
Foot-protection and fuel-cylinder citations affirmed
The Budd Company operated two manufacturing plants where some employees lacked required toe protection and workers used acetylene cylinders with their valve ends raised only 30 to 45 degrees above horizontal. The Commission allowed Budd to withdraw its contests to the foot-protection items and held…
Modern Automotive Service, Inc.
Foot-protection item affirmed and first-aid item vacated
Modern Automotive serviced and repaired trucks, and its employees manually handled tools, parts, and materials weighing as much as 60 pounds. The company had experienced toe injuries over five years, and its safety director acknowledged that foot protection would have prevented some of them. The…
Sunpruf Aluminum Products, Inc.
Eight safety items affirmed without penalties
Sunpruf manufactured aluminum storm windows and doors at a Nashville plant with about 30 employees. OSHA cited conditions involving electrical boxes, compressed air, respiratory and welding protection, personal protective equipment, first aid, housekeeping, and aisle marking. The Secretary withdrew…
Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Specific crane violation affirmed
Sun Shipbuilding was cited after employees used a crane and a non-locking clamp to move a 40-foot angle beam, which slipped and struck an employee. OSHA alleged both a general-duty violation and a violation of the specific crane standard governing secure and balanced loads. The Commission dismissed…
St. Louis County Water Company
Penalties reduced to $450
St. Louis County Water Company was cited for 32 non-serious violations at five facilities, including electrical, stairway, housekeeping, flammable-liquid, compressed-gas, welding, equipment, ladder, and protective-equipment conditions. The company stopped contesting the violations and abatement…
Ryder Truck Lines, Inc.
Dockworker foot-protection citation affirmed
Ryder Truck Lines operated a freight terminal where dockworkers handled varied cargo around carts and powered equipment. OSHA cited the company because foot protection was not consistently used, and the record showed hazards from falling freight and vehicle wheels as well as a history of foot…
Imco Container Company
Solvent-glove citation vacated for lack of hazard proof
Imco manufactured plastic containers and used Stoddard solvent to remove blurred enamel labels before reprinting them. Employees scrubbed bottles without gloves, and their hands became wet with solvent during the process. OSHA alleged that the solvent was a chemical hazard requiring hand protection…
Ira Holliday Logging Co., Inc.
Serious log-binder citation vacated
Ira Holliday Logging delivered timber to a sawmill where the mill controlled the unloading process. An employee was fatally struck by a log after releasing all three load binders before the unloading machine secured the load. The Commission held that the sawmill unloading rule applied to the…
Equity Supply Company
Liquid and extinguisher items vacated
Equity Supply stipulated to several housekeeping, guarding, protective-equipment, compressed-air, and electrical violations at its Montana facility. The remaining dispute concerned alleged storage of combustible liquid in open containers and inspection of fire extinguishers. The Commission vacated…
Spencer Foods, Inc.
Two items vacated and all penalties eliminated
OSHA cited Spencer Foods for multiple non-serious conditions at its meat-processing plant, including access, ladder, guarding, fire-safety, vehicle, and protective-equipment issues. The judge found that the Secretary had not proved that a fixed ladder was covered by the cited portable-ladder rule…
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.