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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Farmers Cooperative Grain and Supply Company
Repeated grain-dust housekeeping violation affirmed
Farmers Cooperative Grain and Supply allowed grain dust to accumulate as deep as 20 inches in areas of its elevator, creating a fire and explosion hazard. Although OSHA originally cited the general duty clause, the Commission allowed amendment to the specific housekeeping standard because the same…
General Motors Corporation, Central Foundries Division
Welder deenergization violation affirmed
A General Motors employee was electrocuted while changing the polarity of a welder whose 440-volt input remained energized. The Commission defined the recognized hazard as electrical shock from energized parts during equipment servicing, rather than the precise sequence that caused the fatality. GM…
Mobil Oil Corporation
Employee settlement objections must be considered
Mobil and the Secretary settled a general duty citation concerning employees who manually gauged petroleum from floating-roof tanks. The employees' union objected that ten-minute radio checks during a less critical period were inadequate and sought continuous visual contact with a second worker…
Dillingham Tug & Barge Corporation
Seaman fatality citation vacated under Coast Guard preemption
A Dillingham seaman died after falling from a mooring buoy and being crushed between the buoy and a tugboat on navigable waters. OSHA issued a general duty citation, but Dillingham argued that Coast Guard regulation displaced OSHA authority over seamen's working conditions. The Commission held that…
Little Beaver Creek Ranches, Inc.
General duty citation affirmed for power-line hazard
Little Beaver Creek Ranches used a crew of high-school-aged summer employees to move irrigation pipe near an energized 7,200-volt power line. One employee died and three were injured when workers raised a pipe to remove an animal and the pipe contacted the line. The Commission found that the ranch…
United States Steel Corporation
Molten-metal lance-change citation vacated
U.S. Steel required millwrights to replace failed oxygen lances above open-hearth furnaces containing molten metal. OSHA alleged that a lance change could trap water beneath molten metal and cause an explosion. The Commission held that the judge improperly decided the case on broader eruption…
Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation
Crane-boarding citation vacated
A motor inspector at Jones & Laughlin's Aliquippa steel mill died after attempting to board a moving overhead crane without first notifying the operator. The Secretary alleged that the company failed to instruct workers about safe boarding and failed to enforce an effective crane-boarding safety…
General Electric Company
Press-guarding violation affirmed as serious
General Electric used a powder compacting press whose point-of-operation guard had to be removed for inspection and maintenance. With a selector key broken in the run position, an operator used the guard microswitch to jog the press, accidentally activated the rams, and suffered crushed fingers…
Ackermann Enterprises, Inc.
Plain-view evidence admitted and case remanded
An OSHA compliance officer waiting with permission in Ackermann's construction-site parking lot saw three employees riding in a tractor's front bucket and photographed them from about 300 to 350 feet away. A judge excluded that evidence and vacated the general duty clause citation because the…
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…
Ronsco Construction Co., Inc.
Falling-object citation vacated
Ronsco built plank-covered structures over two entrances to protect workers from falling objects at a New York City construction project. The structures did not cover each entrance's full width, and other contractors' employees sometimes walked around them, but OSHA did not observe Ronsco's two…
Daniel International, Inc.
Falling-material general duty citation vacated
At a nuclear power plant project, ironworkers released a crane line before bolting a 4.5-ton girder, causing it to fall 120 feet and injure two employees below. OSHA did not cite the specific steel-erection bolting standard because Daniel had adequately instructed the ironworkers, but instead…
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…
Kansas City Power & Light Company
Coal-pulverizer hazard recognized and case remanded
Fifteen employees were injured when a coal pulverizer exploded at Kansas City Power & Light's generating plant. OSHA alleged that control circuitry could abruptly stop a hot, loaded pulverizer without purging coal dust and volatile gases, increasing the explosion risk. The judge found no recognized…
Cornell & Company, Inc.
Suspended-load general duty citation vacated
Cornell employees installing a lower beam worked beneath an upper beam suspended from the same crane hook. OSHA cited the general duty clause for exposing them to a suspended-load hazard. The Commission found that the crane was a truck crane and that 29 C.F.R. § 1926.550(b)(2) incorporated an ANSI…
Cargill, Inc., Nutrena Feed Division
One grain-dust item vacated and one remanded
OSHA brought two general duty clause allegations at Cargill's grain elevator and feed mill. One concerned secondary grain-dust fires and explosions in enclosed conveyor legs without explosion-relief venting. The Commission found that hazard recognized but affirmed vacation because Cargill proved…
John T. Brady & Co., Inc.
Entrance-canopy general duty citation vacated
OSHA alleged that John T. Brady should have installed canopies over entrances to protect workers from objects falling from crane loads and upper building levels. The Commission held that the general duty clause was unavailable because specific construction provisions addressed crane loads…
BASF Wyandotte Corporation
Pentane-backflow general duty citation vacated
Pentane twice backed into nitrogen piping at BASF's chemical plant after a manual valve was left open. OSHA cited BASF under the general duty clause for lacking posted operating and emergency instructions and check valves or another backflow safeguard. Although BASF recognized pentane's fire and…
Kus-Tum Builders, Inc.
Fatal truss-bracing violation found willful
Kus-Tum erected about forty-five large wooden roof trusses without adequate diagonal bracing. The general contractor and several workers warned company leadership that the trusses were unstable, but workers were told to resume work or go home and additional bracing was deferred. The trusses…
St. Joe Minerals Corporation, d/b/a St. Joe Lead Company - Smelting Division
Elevator violation penalty set after court remand
A judge had found a willful general duty clause violation because St. Joe bypassed electrical safety devices on a freight elevator and assessed $10,000. The Eighth Circuit reduced the classification to serious and remanded only for a new penalty. Based on the lengthy bypass, high probability of…
Eddy's Bakeries Company
Indoor fueling explosion hazard affirmed
Eddy's Bakeries refueled delivery trucks inside a warehouse near open-flame wall heaters. After unattended fueling spilled several gallons of gasoline, vapors ignited and an explosion destroyed the facility. The Commission held that ignition of gasoline vapors near an open flame was a recognized…
Western Massachusetts Electric Co.
Electrical line reenergization violation affirmed
Western Massachusetts Electric removed protective tags and grounds from a 13,800-volt line before all workers were known to be clear. A communication failure and other errors led to premature reenergization, causing an explosion that fatally injured a contractor's employee and exposed utility…
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…
Puget Sound Tug & Barge; Mission Viking, Inc.; Northwestern Construction, Inc.
Maritime citations affirmed despite Coast Guard authority
Three maritime employers argued that Coast Guard authority displaced OSHA requirements for work on vessels and barges. The cited conditions included respiratory and flotation protection, crane and deck hazards, recordkeeping, unguarded rigging, unsecured propane tanks, and unsafe passage between…
American Cyanamid Company
General duty citation over sterilization policy vacated
American Cyanamid excluded women ages 16 through 50 from production jobs involving lead unless they had been surgically sterilized. OSHA alleged that this policy was a willful general duty clause violation and proposed a $10,000 penalty. The Commission majority held that the policy was a condition…
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…
Bomac Drilling, et al.
Hydrogen sulfide emergency protection violations affirmed
Bomac Drilling and Scandinavian Montgomery Drilling operated exploratory wells in the Williston Basin without self-contained breathing apparatus for hydrogen sulfide emergencies. The Commission found that hydrogen sulfide exposure was a recognized hazard and that encountering and releasing the gas…
United States Steel Corporation
High-voltage line citation vacated for unforeseeable misconduct
United States Steel assigned an experienced lineman to guide contractor employees applying bird repellent near electrical installations. The lineman was instructed that a 44,000-volt line remained energized and that he must avoid the walkway beside it, but he entered the area, contacted the line…
Cross & Brown Company
Elevator failure-to-abate penalty reduced to $1,000
Cross & Brown managed an industrial building whose elevators lacked gates and interlocks, and an elevator accident fatally injured an employee. The company did not complete permanent correction by the citation's abatement date, but it immediately shut down the involved elevator, installed temporary…
Noranda Aluminum, Inc.
Discovery dismissal vacated
The judge vacated a willful general-duty-clause citation carrying a proposed $6,000 penalty after the Secretary failed to timely answer interrogatories. The Commission held that dismissal was too harsh because the judge had not found contumacious conduct and the employer's claimed prejudice was…
CMH Company, Inc.; Carhar Contracting Company, Inc.
Correct employer substituted after fatal accident
Two Carhar employees died in a sewer manhole, but OSHA cited the closely related CMH company after relying on a foreman's mistaken identification. Both corporations had the same owners and officers, and their shared vice-president had assigned the project from CMH to Carhar and received the…
Raybestos Friction Materials Company
Settlement rejected for notice and completeness defects
OSHA cited Raybestos Friction Materials Company over employee medical information, access to asbestos-related medical records, and injury and illness recordkeeping. The Secretary and Raybestos submitted a settlement, which the judge approved. The Commission found that the proposal lacked proof that…
Stripe-A-Zone
New citations allowed after dismissal without prejudice
OSHA first cited Stripe-A-Zone after inspecting a freeway worksite where a fatality had occurred, then withdrew that citation without prejudice. After the withdrawal order became final, OSHA issued new citations based on the same inspection and facts but with different legal allegations and…
ASARCO, Inc.
Union participation required before settlement approval
ASARCO and the Secretary submitted a settlement after the United Steelworkers local representing affected employees had elected party status. The agreement stated only that it had been posted and did not show that the union received it, agreed to it, or participated in negotiations. The Commission…
Navajo Forest Products Industries
Tribal enterprise not subject to the OSH Act under Navajo treaty rights
Navajo Forest Products Industries was created and operated by the Navajo tribe on the reservation to develop timber resources, provide employment, and support tribal services. OSHA cited the enterprise after workplace inspections, and the parties agreed that it fit the Act's literal definition of…
Brown & Root, Inc.
Falling-object hazard required stronger controls than a general work rule
Brown & Root employees removed heavy steel whalers from concrete forms 30 to 40 feet above other employees working near a spillway wall. An unsecured whaler fell and fatally struck a worker below. The Commission found that falling objects were a recognized construction hazard and that tying off the…
Snider Industries Inc.
Oral settlement remanded for a written agreement and employee service
Snider and the Secretary placed an oral settlement on the hearing record under which Snider withdrew its contest but did not admit violating the Act. The judge approved $3,600 in penalties and stated that the Act and cited standards had been violated. The Commission held that the judge could not…
The Duriron Company, Inc.
Foundry case severed from heat-stress review
Two cases from concurrent inspections of Duriron's foundry were consolidated for hearing and decision. The judge resolved several molten-metal, machine-guarding, and grinding-machine items in Docket 77-2846, and the Commission corrected a clerical error to reflect that two grinding-machine items…
Duquesne Light Company; Vecellio & Grogan, Inc.
Late-report dismissals reversed
Three cases were consolidated for review after the judge dismissed citations because the Secretary did not timely file reports of prehearing conferences. The cases involved a vehicle reverse-alarm item, first-aid-kit items and a failure-to-abate notification, and a lockout-related general duty…
Cargill, Inc.
Grain-hazard citation vacaturs affirmed without review
The judge vacated two general-duty citations involving static-collecting devices on grain conveyor belts and openings between grain bins. Review was directed on the merits and on whether fire-protection standards could show industry recognition of the alleged hazards. The Secretary stated that the…
Cement Asbestos Products Co.
Asbestos citations reinstated after pleading dismissal
OSHA cited Cement Asbestos Products for a general duty clause violation and multiple asbestos-control, respirator, clothing, monitoring, and related violations. The company sought extensive details about sampling, exposures, asbestos type, engineering controls, and abatement through a motion for a…
Daniel International Corp.
Pre-Barlow's inspection evidence remained admissible
OSHA inspected Daniel International's Missouri power-plant construction project in 1977 without a warrant, before the Supreme Court's 1978 decision in Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. Daniel sought to suppress the inspection evidence, arguing that its project manager had not voluntarily consented and had…
Armstrong Cork Company
Defective tilt-table safety switch violation affirmed
Armstrong Cork used a hydraulic tilt table beside a paper rewinder, and an employee was fatally crushed when the table rose with a defective safety switch left in the raise position. The Commission held that the pulp and paper standards cited by Armstrong did not preempt the general duty clause…
Miller Brewing Company
Forklift citation amendment allowed
A Miller Brewing employee drove a forklift with elevated forks, struck an overhead conveyor catwalk, overturned the truck, and was fatally injured. OSHA initially cited the condition under the general duty clause, but the judge dismissed that charge because powered-industrial-truck standards…
Mississippi Power and Light
General-duty electrical citation vacated
A Mississippi Power crew replacing a utility pole attempted to transfer an 8,000-volt line after opening the wrong disconnect, and one lineman died; the Commission inferred that he was electrocuted by the live line. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause even though specific…
Cargill, Inc.
General duty citations remain vacated
An Administrative Law Judge vacated general duty clause citations against Cargill after finding that the Secretary failed to prove the alleged violations. Review was directed on the proper use of the general duty clause and on alleged grain-elevator hazards involving bearings, stairways, dust…
Harry Pepper & Associates, Inc.
Power utility allowed to intervene
Following a fatal electrical accident, OSHA cited Harry Pepper & Associates under the general duty clause for operating a backhoe within ten feet of energized power lines without adequate protection. Florida Power & Light owned the lines and sought to intervene, but the Administrative Law Judge…
R. L. Sanders Roofing Company
Unguarded flat-roof fall hazard violates the general duty clause
R. L. Sanders was a roofing subcontractor working on a school roof about 13 feet above the ground with no perimeter guarding. An employee pulling a hot-asphalt spreader fell from the roof after asphalt splashed on him, and the spreader tipped and spilled hot material onto him, causing severe burns…
Hughes Drilling Company Inc.
Drilling citations partly vacated without substantive Commission review
Hughes Drilling operated an oil and gas drilling rig where an employee was caught in a catline and cathead after the line was used without being attached to a load. The judge vacated a general duty clause citation because the Secretary did not prove that the driller's absence from the controls was…
Everglades Sugar Refinery, Inc.
Unauthorized payloader repair violation affirmed
Two Everglades Sugar Refinery employees attempted to repair a payloader with a defective throttle linkage, and one employee was fatally injured when its raised bucket fell. The Commission held that the powered-industrial-truck maintenance rule applied because the hazard arose from allowing…
Potlatch Corporation
Tractor-trailer hazard citation remained vacated
OSHA cited Potlatch Corporation under the general duty clause after an employee drove a tractor and pole trailer with inoperable trailer brakes. The judge found that driving without the trailer brakes was hazardous but that the evidence showed the industry considered it less hazardous than leaving…
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…
Reynolds Metal Company
Settlement conditionally affirmed for employee objections
Reynolds and the Secretary settled serious general duty clause and emergency-eyewash citation items by reducing penalties, extending abatement dates, and withdrawing the company's contest. Two unions had elected party status but were not properly served with the proposed agreement or given a clear…
CF&I Steel Corporation
Furnace-hazard citation and $300 penalty affirmed
OSHA cited CF&I Steel under the general duty clause for exposing its employees to flame, extreme heat, and molten metal during furnace-charging operations at its Pueblo, Colorado, facility. The inspection followed an explosion that killed two employees of an independent contractor working in the…
Grossman Steel & Aluminum Corp.
Multiple construction-site charges vacated
Grossman Steel was an iron subcontractor at a Veterans Administration hospital project and faced fire-protection, cylinder-storage, extinguisher, and falling-material allegations. The Commission vacated the general duty clause charge because Grossman's employees neither used nor had reason to use…
Granite-Groves, A Joint Venture
Hazardous material-hoist violation affirmed
Granite-Groves employees used a hazardous material hoist for two days before the company stopped its operation. The company argued that its foreman's knowledge should not be imputed and that shutting down the hoist satisfied its duty. The Commission upheld the judge's rejection of those arguments…
Evansville Materials, Incorporated
Commission affirms a $550 general-duty-clause violation for overloading a derrick
Evansville Materials supplied a derrick barge and operator to raise Central Soya Corporation's sunken harbor boat from the Ohio River. The derrick boom buckled during the operation, and a Central Soya employee fell into the river and drowned. OSHA originally cited a marine-terminal standard, 29…
Schultz's, Inc.
Commission declines review, leaving the judge's vacatur of a general-duty citation in place
Administrative Law Judge Henry K. Osterman had vacated a citation and proposed penalty against Schultz's, Inc. for an alleged violation of the general duty clause, section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act. Former Commissioner Moran directed the case for review "for error," bringing it to the full Commission…
United States Pipe and Foundry Company
Conveyor lockout violation affirmed
Employees repaired a coal screw conveyor while its ground-level power switch was neither tagged nor locked out. The conveyor was energized during the repair, and an employee was caught in the equipment and fatally injured. United States Pipe argued that OSHA's accident-prevention tag rule was 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.