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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Access Equipment Systems, Inc.
Scaffold supplier liable for hazard to another employer's workers
Access Equipment Systems leased and erected mast-climbing scaffolds for a condominium project in Miami, Florida. One scaffold collapsed after an Access lead employee added a fourth platform extension without load-capacity information, killing three employees of a plastering subcontractor. The…
CMC Electric, Inc.
Electrical-hazard and worksite-safety items affirmed
CMC Electric sent three journeyman wiremen to install electrical service at a cellular-telephone construction site near Andover, Ohio. An employee died after climbing a utility pole and contacting an energized 7,200-volt line that was not shown on the work schematic. CMC had not inspected for…
Albemarle Corporation
Three process-safety violations affirmed
Albemarle operated a chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas, where employees were exposed to chemical splashes during pipe opening and to a near-explosion during a reactor shutdown. In the Commission's first review of the process safety management standards, it held that the safe-work-practices…
Florida Power Corporation
Defective-crane citation vacated under wrong maritime standard
Florida Power used a shore-mounted gantry crane to unload coal barges at its Crystal River generating complex in Florida. The crane repeatedly tripped and lost control of its bucket, but the company continued unloading barges while employees worked nearby. OSHA cited the longshoring rule that…
New England Synthetic Systems, Inc.
Scaffold and electrical violations affirmed for $30,000
New England Synthetic Systems replaced exterior walls at an apartment complex in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Judge Robert A. Yetman affirmed violations involving unprotected temporary electrical wiring, lifelines tied to vent curbing and exposed to sharp edges, incomplete scaffold planking, unsafe…
New Age, Inc.
Mandatory $500 penalty assessed for scaffold fall hazard
New Age performed masonry work from a four-tier scaffold at a construction site in New Braunfels, Texas. Five to seven employees were finishing masonry work or preparing to dismantle the scaffold while required guardrails were missing or replaced by loose, incomplete cables. The administrative law…
The Ryan Company, Inc.
Excavation and sling citations vacated
The Ryan Company installed utility lines in an excavation at the Philadelphia Naval Base. OSHA alleged that employees worked in an excavation more than five feet deep without a protective system. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found no proof that employees entered the 5-foot-2-inch area and found the…
Fleming Construction, Inc.
Construction-manager citations vacated for lack of supervisory control
Fleming Construction provided construction-management services for a bank project in Durango, Colorado, where an employee of the steel contractor fell about 25 feet. OSHA cited Fleming for inadequate safety instruction and failure to provide fall protection under construction standards. The…
Sierra Resources, Inc.
Nine serious lead violations affirmed
Sierra Resources removed and replaced bridge bearing assemblies in Blue Island, Illinois, using torch cutting on paint that testing showed contained 50 percent lead. OSHA sampling measured one employee's exposure at 119.7 micrograms per cubic meter, more than twice the permissible limit, and…
Metro Steel Construction Co.
Two fall-protection items vacated for insufficient proof
Metro Steel erected structural steel for a shopping mall in Westbury, New York. OSHA alleged two instances in which employees walked exterior beams about 40 feet above the ground without fall protection. For the first item, the Commission found critical ambiguity because Metro's witnesses testified…
Stevedoring Services of America
Container fall-protection citation vacated
Two Stevedoring Services of America employees worked on top of cargo containers about 16 feet above a ship's deck after their usual fall-protection system malfunctioned. Their hatch boss knew the system had failed and allowed the work to continue. Judge Michael H. Schoenfeld applied Fourth Circuit…
L. R. Willson and Sons, Inc.
On remand, Commission vacates a steel-erection fall-protection citation for lack of proof the supervisor's misconduct was foreseeable
L. R. Willson and Sons is a steel erection contractor. OSHA cited it for a violation of the fall protection standard for steel erection at 29 C.F.R. § 1926.750(b)(1)(ii). Earlier in the case the Commission had affirmed the violation as serious, imputing a supervisor's acts and knowledge to the…
Thoroughgood, Inc., d/b/a Azalea Court
Most bloodborne pathogen and vermin citations affirmed at a personal care home
Thoroughgood, Inc., doing business as Azalea Court, runs a residential personal care home in downtown Philadelphia that housed about 70 to 80 residents. After a September 1996 inspection, OSHA cited the home for failing to control rodents and insects and for ten separate violations of the…
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation
Damaged passageway floor violated aisle-repair rule
Pilgrim's Pride operated a chicken-processing plant where employees pushed wheeled carts through a hallway to a freezer. The hallway floor had numerous shallow depressions where its asphalt-like covering had cracked and flaked away. Judge Ken S. Welsch found that the alternative floor-cleaning…
Grayhawk of America, Inc.
Four construction safety violations affirmed after employer failed to appear
OSHA cited Grayhawk of America for four serious construction safety violations involving head protection, eye and face protection, unprotected deck edges, and unguarded floor openings. The employer received notice of the hearing but did not appear or request a postponement. The compliance officer…
Ruscilli Construction Co., Inc.
Steel-erection citation split and penalties reduced on reconsideration
Ruscilli Construction erected steel for a large warehouse project in Ohio. OSHA issued seven serious citation items involving jobsite inspections, fall protection, compressed-air hoses, and aerial lifts. Judge Ken S. Welsch affirmed the inspection-program item because the designated competent…
Atlas Central Corporation
Bridge-painting citations split over dust, lead, and cadmium controls
Atlas Central Corporation removed paint from a Cleveland bridge by abrasive blasting inside a ventilated containment. OSHA cited employee exposure to lead, total dust, and cadmium, along with deficiencies in exposure controls, monitoring, written programs, housekeeping, and training. Judge Ken S…
Propellex Corporation
Open flames and smoking near explosives were serious violations
Propellex manufactured munitions and used a crew to destroy defective primers containing black powder. An explosion injured five employees after spilled powder was placed in a burn barrel near the work area. The Commission found that the explosives standard applied to the burn barrel, a lighter…
Venango Environmental, Inc.
Willful loader hazards affirmed after fatal overturn
Venango Environmental used a front-end loader with defective brakes and steering at a wastewater-treatment construction project. A foreman operating the loader died from injuries sustained when it overturned. Judge Michael H. Schoenfeld vacated the brake-performance item because the Secretary did…
Equipment Holding, Inc., and its successors
Three longshoring crane violations affirmed
Equipment Holding leased cranes and operators for longshoring work at the Port of Houston. After an accident involving one of its cranes, OSHA cited missing or incomplete load information, an excess counterweight, the absence of a load-indicating device, and inadequate maritime certification. Judge…
Armco, Inc.
Settlement approved over union lockout-procedure objection
The Secretary and Armco submitted a settlement agreement, but the authorized employee representative objected that plant foremen were being allowed to omit or alter existing lockout procedures. Judge Covette Rooney reviewed the objection after a Commission direction for review and remand. She…
Mass. Electric Construction Co.
Energized-panel violation affirmed after electrical flash
Mass. Electric employees worked on an energized 480-volt distribution panel without effective insulation or other protection. An electrical flash burned the job foreman while he attempted to remove tape from energized busbars. The company argued that the foreman acted contrary to its safety rules…
Patterson Drilling Co. Rig #4
Rig-floor guarding and emergency washing violations affirmed
OSHA cited Patterson Drilling for inadequate guarding at a rig-floor opening and inadequate emergency washing facilities where employees handled caustic soda. The opening was protected only by a sagging chain without a midrail, exposing employees to a 20-foot fall. Judge James H. Barkley found that…
Kenny Niles Construction Company
Trench citations reinstated after business closure
Kenny Niles Construction Company was investigated after a trench cave-in resulted in an employee's death. OSHA issued three willful citation items involving trenching hazards, but the sole proprietor had closed his businesses and no longer had employees before the citation was issued. An…
Joel Yandell, d/b/a Triple L Tower
Citations reinstated despite employer's cessation of business
Joel Yandell operated a tower-erection business whose three employees died in a fall while being lowered from a communications tower. He stopped operating the business after the incident, before OSHA issued willful and serious citations. An administrative law judge dismissed the case under prior…
Preston Trucking Company, Inc.
Late contest dismissed after citation was misplaced
Preston Trucking received an OSHA citation but filed its notice of contest well after the 15-working-day deadline. The terminal manager was on vacation when the citation arrived, and his secretary misplaced it. Preston argued that it took safety seriously, promptly abated the cited conditions, and…
All Waste Environmental Services/North Atlantic
Hydroblasting lance-ejection hazard violated general duty clause
All Waste used high-pressure water to clear a blockage from a pipe at a paper mill. A pressurized cleaning lance unexpectedly exited the pipe, moved out of control, and seriously injured an employee. Judge Ann Z. Cook found that uncontrolled lance ejection was a recognized hydroblasting hazard…
James Eddy, d/b/a Eddy Roofing, Inc.
Roofing safety violations affirmed and penalties reduced for size
OSHA inspected Eddy Roofing after a fatal fall from a roofing worksite about 40 feet above the ground. The company withdrew its contest to violations involving its safety program, fall-hazard training, roof edges, skylights, guardrails, warning lines, access, and hazard communication. Judge…
L. R. Willson & Sons, Inc.
Steel erector's tie-off program did not replace temporary-floor requirement
L. R. Willson erected structural steel for an Army medical center and used a strict 100 percent tie-off policy. An employee disregarded that policy and a direct instruction, climbed a column without being tied off, and died after falling about 80 feet. OSHA cited the company for failing to maintain…
Armstrong Steel Erectors, Inc.
Incomplete bridge fall protection supported repeated violation
Armstrong Steel Erectors was constructing a bridge when an ironworker died after falling about 90 feet. The company required 100 percent tie-off but provided only one lanyard per worker and left gaps in its lifeline system, so workers could not remain tied off while moving through several areas…
Dillard Texas Operating Limited Partnership, and its successors
Floor and emergency-preparedness items affirmed
OSHA cited a Dillard's store for damaged floors and walls, locked or poorly fitting exits, emergency-planning deficiencies, inadequate fire-extinguisher training, machine guarding, and electrical conditions. Judge James H. Barkley affirmed an other-than-serious passageway violation because…
Dillard Department Store, Inc. d/b/a Dillard's, and its successors
Emergency-plan and delayed-exit sign items affirmed
Dillard's locked several customary store exits outside business hours, leaving two available exits more than 450 feet from some work areas. OSHA issued overlapping items requiring unlocked egress and procedures for opening the doors during an emergency. Judge James H. Barkley vacated the…
TraCorp Construction and its successors
Crane-rope and suspended-load violations affirmed
TraCorp's crew was erecting a building when a hoist cable broke and a falling steel truss killed an employee working beneath it. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz found that TraCorp was the employer because it assigned and paid the crew, supplied most tools, and controlled the work. The wire rope showed…
Modern Continental/Obayashi, a Joint Venture
Unguarded slurry-wall excavations supported repeat violation
Modern Continental/Obayashi constructed deep slurry-wall excavations for Boston's Central Artery project. Employees worked close to excavation edges without guardrails or equivalent protection, even though the openings extended as deep as 100 feet. Judge Covette Rooney held that the excavation…
T.L.T. Construction Co., Inc.
Open-edge and willful scaffold violations affirmed
T.L.T. Construction was the general contractor on a school gymnasium project where employees worked near an unguarded floor edge and on tall scaffolds. Judge Richard DeBenedetto found that the open-sided floor exposed employees to falls of six to nine feet. He also found that employees climbed…
Easthaven Masonry, Inc.
Denial of E-Z Trial procedure reversed
Easthaven Masonry requested the Commission's simplified E-Z Trial procedure for a scaffold case. The Secretary objected only that some discovery might be needed, and the Chief Administrative Law Judge denied the request. The Commission held that the stated need for discovery was not enough on the…
Plumb Square & Lovell, and its successors
Roof-edge violation affirmed but electrical and skylight items vacated
Plumb Square & Lovell employees framed a roof about 15 feet above the ground without fall protection. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz affirmed that serious violation even though the contractor mistakenly believed California's 15-foot rule governed the federal worksite. He reduced the penalty to $150…
Norm's Utility Contractors, and its successors
Repeat trench-protection and access violations affirmed
Norm's Utility Contractors used trench boxes in a wet excavation about ten feet deep, but several feet of nearly vertical, sloughing soil remained above the boxes. Employees worked from the top of a box below the trench edge and lacked a safe ladder or ramp after earlier ramp access was removed…
WellTech Mid-Continent
Muddy access-road citation vacated after truck overturn
WellTech used tractor-trailer rigs to haul rock to an oil-well access road during rainy weather. One loaded truck left the muddy road, overturned into a pond, and the driver died. Judge Ken S. Welsch held that the cited earthmoving-equipment standard did not apply because the trucks operated both…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Railcar lining compartments were permit-required confined spaces
Trinity employees entered hopper railcar compartments and spray-applied flammable protective linings while forced-air ventilation operated. OSHA measured flammable vapor at 24 to 26 percent of the lower explosive limit at the lower compartment openings, more than twice the permit-space threshold…
L. R. Willson and Sons, Inc.
Commission lacked authority to halt penalty collection
An administrative law judge had affirmed a tag-line violation against L. R. Willson and Sons and assessed a $4,000 penalty. The parties later settled Willson's separate Equal Access to Justice Act fee claim concerning a withdrawn general duty clause item. When the Secretary sought to collect the…
Brungart Equipment Company, Inc.
Forklift inspection item vacated but illegible nameplate affirmed
Brungart repaired forklifts, and an employee was injured when a customer's forklift tipped during a maintenance check drive. OSHA alleged that the truck had not been examined before being placed in service because its battery lacked a restraint. Judge Stephen J. Simko, Jr. vacated that item because…
VP Buildings, Inc.
Overhead-crane obstruction citation vacated after coil fatality
VP Buildings used an overhead crane to move a steel coil into a storage rack. The suspended coil contacted stored coils, two coils fell, and an employee died after being pinned beneath them. OSHA alleged that the company failed to keep a hoisted load from contacting an obstruction. Judge Nancy J…
Specialized Grading Enterprises, Inc.
Attorney fees awarded for unsupported trench items
Specialized Grading sought fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing on four trench citation items. Those items arose from an employee's brief, unauthorized entry into an unprotected trench while working alone. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz held that the Secretary's litigation…
ICF Kaiser Engineers of Massachusetts, Inc.
Underground mantrip safety citation vacated
ICF Kaiser provided construction-management personnel for the Boston Harbor tunnel project. A Kaiser inspector died while entering a mantrip railcar after the train unexpectedly moved without warning. Judge Richard DeBenedetto held that the general underground access and egress rule did not…
Topco, Inc.
Hearing-conservation violations affirmed but willful classification rejected
Topco operated noisy metal-stamping and fabrication equipment. OSHA sampling showed that 15 of 17 sampled employees exceeded the hearing-conservation action level, and four press operators exceeded the permissible exposure limit without required hearing protection. Judge John H. Frye, III rejected…
Don Brown Logging & Avery Logging Co., Inc.
Matched tree-felling backcuts violated logging rule
Don Brown Logging and Avery Logging trained fallers to make backcuts level with the horizontal facecut when using the Humboldt felling method. OSHA's logging standard required the backcut to be above the facecut to create a platform intended to reduce tree kickback. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz held…
Mallard Bay Drilling, Inc., LLC
OSHA jurisdiction upheld over emergency response on drilling barge
A natural-gas explosion on Mallard Bay Drilling's stationary drilling barge killed and seriously injured employees and destroyed the rig. OSHA cited delayed evacuation, the lack of an emergency response plan, and inadequate emergency-response training. The company argued that Coast Guard authority…
Keystone Construction Corp.
Failure to assess deteriorated tank roof affirmed
Keystone Construction repaired and repainted concrete water tanks using a containment system supported on the tank roof. While employees removed deteriorated concrete and erected scaffolding, the Smithtown tank roof collapsed and three employees fell about 35 feet. Judge Covette Rooney found that…
JHL Constructors, Inc.
Subcontractor fall-protection citation vacated
JHL Constructors was the general contractor for construction of a middle school. OSHA cited JHL after a masonry subcontractor employee worked near an unprotected edge about 14 feet above the ground without fall protection. The Secretary proved that the standard applied, its terms were not met, and…
AFO, Inc.
Settlement approved with $17,000 penalty
AFO contested citations alleging willful and serious violations at a Pennsylvania worksite. The parties reached a written settlement under the Commission's settlement rule. The agreement changed Citation 2 items from willful violations to violations under section 17 of the Act while leaving the…
Dover Elevator Company
Access and fall-protection citations vacated
Dover Elevator Company was installing elevators in an addition to a federal courthouse and post office in Victoria, Texas. OSHA cited floor holes, inadequate guardrails, improper elevated access, and portable ladders at the site. Because the citation and complaint alleged violations only on the…
Jensen Road Company
Crane boom-tip scaffold citation vacated
Jensen Road Company used a scaffold attached to a crawler crane boom to position employees beneath a bridge deck while they removed plywood forms. OSHA alleged that this use violated the crane manufacturer's specifications and limitations. The manufacturer's notices warned that the crane was not…
Mr. Fox Tire Company, Inc.
Late notice of contest dismissed
OSHA issued Mr. Fox Tire Company a serious citation after inspecting its business. The company received the citation on December 19, 1997, making January 14, 1998 the deadline for a written notice of contest, but it submitted only an abatement verification form during that period. Its owner later…
Michael J. Gresh Painting Co., Inc.
Bridge fall-protection violation affirmed
Michael J. Gresh Painting employees secured containment tarps on a bridge superstructure about 25 to 30 feet above the roadway without tying off. Six employees violated the company's fall-protection policy, including the foreman, who was not wearing a safety belt or harness. Judge Richard…
Honey Creek Contracting Co.
Review vacated after employer failed to brief
Honey Creek Contracting petitioned for Commission review of two administrative law judge decisions concerning excavation work in Homer City, Pennsylvania. After directing the cases for review, the Commission ordered Honey Creek to file a brief or a letter in lieu of a brief within 40 days. Honey…
United House of Prayer
Review vacated after Secretary missed briefing deadline
OSHA cited the United House of Prayer for exit and sprinkler conditions after a fire in a tenant's New York City store caused the deaths of seven store employees. The administrative law judge granted summary judgment to the Church because it had no employees at the renovation site, did not create…
Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc.
Emergency-action and lockout violations yield $12,000
OSHA inspected Akzo Nobel Chemicals' organic peroxide plant and initially proposed $240,000 for serious, willful, repeat, and other-than-serious violations. The Secretary withdrew most items, and Judge Robert A. Yetman vacated several remaining allegations for insufficient proof. Akzo intended…
BCB Construction, Inc.
Faxed citation triggered contest deadline
OSHA cited BCB Construction after inspecting a multi-employer construction site where an accident caused one employee's death and another employee's serious injury. Certified-mail delivery to BCB's address of record failed after three attempts, but OSHA faxed the citation to a law firm that said it…
Christie Constructors, Inc.
Barge safety citations produce $2,750 penalty
Christie Constructors performed bridge construction from two connected barges on the Columbia River. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz held that federal OSHA retained jurisdiction over non-maritime construction on vessels in navigable waters despite Washington's state plan. He affirmed serious violations…
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.