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.
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation
Docket number corrected
The Commission reviewed an Administrative Law Judge's October 17, 1979 order involving Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation. The judge's order incorrectly listed the docket as 79-1468. The Commission corrected the docket number to 76-1468 and affirmed the order as modified. This procedural…
Chrysler Casting Corp. - Fostoria Foundry
Nonserious violation and $75 penalty affirmed
An Administrative Law Judge affirmed a citation against Chrysler's Fostoria Foundry under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.178(p)(1). The judge reduced the violation from willful to nonserious and assessed $75 instead of the proposed $4,500 penalty. Neither the Secretary nor Chrysler sought review, and both…
American Cyanamid Company
Settlement order corrected and affirmed
American Cyanamid Company and the Secretary reached a settlement agreement covering multiple citation items. The Commission found that the Administrative Law Judge's order did not accurately reflect that agreement. It modified the order to affirm specified serious, nonserious, and de minimis items…
Laclede Gas Company
Lifeline violation and $100 penalty affirmed
Laclede Gas Company employees painted a gas holding tank about 100 feet above the ground, and at least two employees working from boatswain's chairs were not tied to the available lifelines. The Commission affirmed a serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.28(j)(4) and a $100 penalty. It held that…
Stearns-Roger, Incorporated
Four violations upheld and cylinder item vacated
Stearns-Roger was the general contractor building an addition to a New Mexico power plant. On review, the Commission upheld violations involving inadequate eye protection, unguarded floor holes, construction housekeeping, and welding hoses and cables in passageways. It affirmed the housekeeping and…
Gold Kist, Inc.
Exit citation reinstated and remanded
OSHA cited Gold Kist's animal-feed facility for allegedly failing to provide adequate exits from its Main Mill Building under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.36(b)(3). An Administrative Law Judge dismissed the case before a hearing, finding that the citation lacked particularity and that the standard was vague on…
Rodney E. Fossett d/b/a Southern Lightweight Concrete
Scaffold ruling modified
Fossett's employees applied stucco from a tubular scaffold about twelve feet above the ground. The citation used the wrong scaffold-plank provision, but the hearing evidence addressed the correct requirement that planks extend at least six inches over their end supports. The Commission held that…
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…
Horn & Gladden Lint Cleaner Co., Inc.
Machine-guarding citations remain vacated
OSHA cited Horn & Gladden Lint Cleaners for repeated and nonserious machine-guarding violations involving belts, shafts, and a fan. The Administrative Law Judge vacated all three citations because the Secretary did not prove that employees were exposed to the alleged hazards. Neither party sought…
Gardinier, Inc. & International Chemical Workers
Settlement approved after union participation
OSHA issued Gardinier two citations containing multiple serious and nonserious items and proposed $900 in total penalties. Gardinier contested most of the items, and the company and Secretary later reached a settlement. International Chemical Workers Union Local 439 had requested participation and…
Pennsylvania Truck Lines
Conrail permitted to intervene
OSHA issued Pennsylvania Truck Lines twelve serious and two nonserious citations at its South Kearny, New Jersey yard. The employer argued that Federal Railroad Administration regulation preempted OSHA jurisdiction and that it did not create or control conditions located on Conrail property…
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club, Inc.
Four safety items affirmed without penalties
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club was a nonprofit boating club with one paid employee, a fuel pump, boat storage, and docks on the Hudson River. An Administrative Law Judge affirmed four items involving fire-extinguisher tags, a no-smoking sign, gangway guarding, and ladder rungs, classifying the gangway…
Voegele Company, Inc.
Roof fall-protection violation affirmed
Voegele employees installed a composition roof and worked near edges ranging from 14 to 35 feet above the ground without safety belts or perimeter guarding. The roof included steep side slopes, narrow gutters, and low parapets that increased the fall hazard. The Commission applied a…
Meadows Industries, Inc.
Noise citation reinstated and remanded
OSHA cited Meadows Industries' yarn twisting plant for failing to use feasible controls against excessive noise in its primary and secondary twisting areas. An Administrative Law Judge dismissed the citation because it did not state the measured noise levels or more exact locations. The Commission…
Pennstar Painting Corp.
Settlement penalty corrected to $180
Pennstar Painting Corp. and the Secretary entered into a settlement agreement. The Administrative Law Judge's order did not correctly state the agreed penalty for Citation 1, Item 1. The Commission modified the order to affirm a $180 penalty for that item, as provided in the settlement. It then…
Cutler Metal Product Co.
Settlement penalties corrected to $900
Cutler Metal Products Co. and the Secretary entered into a settlement agreement. The Administrative Law Judge's order did not correctly state the agreed penalties for two citation items. The Commission modified paragraph 2 to assess $450 for Citation 1, Item 2 and $450 for Citation 1, Item 3…
United Parcel Service of Ohio, Inc.
Foot-protection remedy remanded
UPS unloaders and sorters at a Missouri package-handling facility were exposed to foot injuries from falling packages. A court of appeals upheld the violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.132(a) but found it unreasonable to require every affected employee to wear steel-toed shoes. On remand, the Commission…
Harvey Workover, Inc.
Sealed-compartment oxygen-testing violation affirmed
Harvey Workover drilled and reworked oil wells from a barge in inland waters. OSHA cited the company after a sealed compartment was opened and entered without first testing its oxygen level. A welder drowned in the compartment, and three employees who attempted a rescue lost consciousness and were…
Miller Ceramics, Inc.
Case severed from its companions and the ALJ decision affirmed as an unreviewed judge's decision
This is a short Commission order, not a full merits decision. The Commission severed Miller Ceramics from its companion cases, Hull Pottery (No. 78-555) and Baldwin Industries (No. 78-741). It then affirmed the Administrative Law Judge's decision but accorded it only the precedential value of an…
D. Fortunato, Inc.
Mixed result on garage fall-protection, housekeeping, and fire-alarm citations
D. Fortunato, Inc. was the general contractor building a parking garage at New York City's La Guardia Airport, and OSHA cited it for fall-protection, housekeeping, and fire-alarm violations. An Administrative Law Judge affirmed most items, and the Commission reviewed and reached a mixed result. It…
Western Waterproofing Co., Inc.
Scaffold citations affirmed after court remand
Western Waterproofing employees worked from a suspended scaffold between the tenth and eleventh floors of a building, with another employee stationed on a patio below. The scaffold lacked required protection on open sides and ends, and one worker fell five stories from its front. The Commission…
Gilbert Manufacturing Company, Inc.
A request for more time to abate is a modification petition, not a contest of the whole citation
Gilbert Manufacturing was cited for 16 alleged OSHA violations. Within the 15-day period for contesting a citation, it sent the Secretary a letter asking for more time to abate six of the items and contesting the proposed penalty on one item. The Secretary treated the letter as a notice of contest…
Gardner-Denver Company
Settlement order corrected to vacate item 34
Gardner-Denver and the Secretary had entered a settlement agreement that was reflected in an Administrative Law Judge's order. The Commission modified paragraph 7 of that order to state that citation 1, item 34 was vacated, as the settlement required. It affirmed the judge's order as modified, and…
K. L. Spring & Stamping Corporation
Settlement approved and later abatement request left to Rule 34
K. L. Spring & Stamping was cited for four serious and six nonserious violations, with total proposed penalties of $1,260. The company contested the penalties and the abatement date for point-of-operation guarding on two testers, and the United Steelworkers elected party status. A settlement…
Communications, Inc.
Trench violations deemed repeated and willful
Communications, a utility contractor, had two employees working in a trench about 6 feet 2 inches deep with unsupported vertical walls and excavated soil stored within 2 feet of the edge. The Commission affirmed violations of the trench-support standard and the spoil-pile setback standard because…
Borg-Warner Corporation, Morse Chain Division
Noise-control citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement
Borg-Warner's Morse Chain Division used high-speed presses to make automotive and industrial chains at its Ithaca plant. OSHA cited the company under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.95(b)(1) for failing to reduce excessive press noise through feasible engineering or administrative controls. The judge found that…
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…
Meadville Forging Company
Noise failure-to-abate notification vacated
OSHA issued Meadville Forging a failure-to-abate notification under the occupational-noise standard for employees in its press, hammer, and shear departments, with a proposed additional penalty of $5,200. The final underlying citation required feasible administrative or engineering controls that…
Chromalloy American Corporation, Federal Malleable Division
Hearing proceeds while warrant appeal is pending
Chromalloy asked to postpone its Commission hearing while the Supreme Court considered whether to review a related court ruling that upheld an OSHA inspection warrant. The Commission denied interlocutory review of the judge's refusal to postpone the hearing. It explained that after the Supreme…
Wean-Pori, Inc.
Commission affirms withdrawal of an electrical-grounding citation after the union agreed it had been heard
Wean-Pori, Inc. was issued a serious citation on May 10, 1978 alleging an electrical-grounding violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.309(a) (incorporating the National Electrical Code), with a proposed penalty of $420. The company timely contested, and the United Steelworkers local elected party status as…
Jensen Construction Company
Serious bridge fall-protection violation affirmed
Jensen Construction Company was building a bridge over the Kansas River when OSHA observed its superintendent walking on a steel girder about 50 feet above the ground without fall protection. The Commission upheld a serious violation of the personal protective equipment standard and rejected…
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation
Noise case remanded for protected expert discovery
OSHA cited Kaiser Aluminum under the occupational-noise standard and sought a discovery inspection of its plant by an outside expert. The judge found that the inspection could reveal trade secrets, limited entry to federal employees, and dismissed the citation when the Secretary said he could not…
Fabricraft, Inc.
Sewing-machine needle violation reduced to de minimis
Fabricraft manufactured women's sportswear and operated 46 single-needle sewing machines, 44 of which lacked needle guards. Operators' hands came within one-half inch of the needles, and the record included several minor puncture injuries. The Commission affirmed a violation of the…
Upland Industries, Division of Emerson Electric Company
Trade-secret discovery order vacated
OSHA cited Upland Industries over excessive noise in its press room and sought an inspection by an outside acoustical engineering expert. The judge found that the inspection would reveal a trade secret and required either a federal expert or an outside expert bound by an agreement that included…
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…
Structural Metals, Inc.
Noise citation vacatur left in place
OSHA cited Structural Metals under the occupational noise standard. The judge vacated the citation after the Secretary repeatedly failed to file a timely complaint, explain missed deadlines, respond to show-cause orders, or oppose dismissal. A Commissioner initially granted review after treating…
Keppel's Incorporated
Late contest rejected for unamended citation items
OSHA issued Keppel's Incorporated two citations containing 12 alleged violations, then amended some items after informal conferences. Keppel's written contest was timely for the amended items but late for the original, unamended items. The Commission found that the company had not orally contested…
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…
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation
Flagman penalty reduced to $25
A Niagara Mohawk mechanic directed traffic near a roadside gas-line job without wearing the required red or orange warning garment. The Commission upheld the judge's credibility findings that he was acting as a flagman and that the foreman knew or should have known about the missing vest. It…
Jacksonville Shipyards, Inc.
Incomplete settlement order vacated
Jacksonville Shipyards and the Secretary reached a partial settlement after OSHA issued four citations, but two nonserious items had remained disputed at the hearing. Their later written stipulation claimed to resolve all outstanding issues without specifically addressing those two items. The judge…
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…
American Hose Corporation
Settlement penalty corrected to $2,900
American Hose Corporation settled three OSHA citations covering alleged serious, willful, and nonserious violations at its Winchester, Indiana workplace. The settlement deleted one willful item, reduced penalties, extended two abatement dates, and withdrew the company's contest. The judge approved…
Noranda Aluminum Inc.
Abatement process ordered after stacking violation affirmed
OSHA cited Noranda Aluminum after an investigation found that heavy aluminum billets were not stored securely against rolling or collapse. The judge affirmed a serious violation and a $400 penalty, and the Eighth Circuit upheld both after Noranda sought review. The court vacated the original…
Globe Industries, Inc.
Settlement remanded to specify abatement
OSHA issued Globe Industries two citations alleging two serious and one nonserious violation. Before the hearing, the parties agreed to reduce penalties, amend one serious item, and withdraw Globe's contest. Their agreement did not say whether abatement had already occurred or when remaining…
Owens Corning Fiberglass Corporation
Gloves required for fiberglass handling hazards
Owens Corning manufactured fiberglass insulation and provided gloves to some employees handling material in its bagging and rollup areas, but it did not require glove use and had limited replacements. The record showed risks from concealed hot glass, skin irritation, fiberglass penetration, and…
Sun Petroleum Products Company
Refinery gas-monitoring settlement approved
OSHA cited Sun Petroleum under the general duty clause for inadequate combustible-gas monitoring at its refinery, and the parties settled before a hearing. Sun agreed to withdraw its contest and immediately conduct gas testing through people knowledgeable about the equipment and locations where…
General Electric Company
Settlement affirmed after union consent
OSHA issued General Electric a three-item serious citation, and the local electrical workers union asked to participate in the case. The Secretary and General Electric later settled by withdrawing two items for lack of proof and ending the company's contest of the remaining item. The judge approved…
Fred's Frozen Foods, Inc.
Noise-expert inspection allowed with safeguards
OSHA cited Fred's Frozen Foods under the occupational noise standard and sought a plant inspection by an outside noise expert to evaluate possible engineering controls. The company argued that a nonfederal expert could reveal trade secrets and asked either to bar entry or require a nondisclosure…
Ralston Purina Company
Unguarded auger-pit violation affirmed
Ralston Purina operated a feed mill where an employee was fatally injured after entering a pit containing an operating screw conveyor. The pit's steel grille had been removed to improve material flow, and its remaining metal lid was bent, warped, and easily dislodged. The Commission found employee…
Logan County Farm Enterprises, Inc.
Zero-penalty settlement remanded
OSHA issued Logan County Farm Enterprises citations alleging 12 serious and six nonserious violations, with $3,040 proposed for the serious items. The parties settled by reducing the penalty to zero, withdrawing the contest, requiring abatement, and allowing a reinspection. The judge treated the…
Belger Cartage Service, Inc.
Gas-cylinder violation classified as repeated
Belger Cartage stored oxygen, acetylene, and propane cylinders together beside a tool shed without the required separation or fire-resistant barrier. Employees regularly entered the shed, smoking occurred nearby, and combustible paper waste was present. The Commission reversed the judge's de…
Auto Bolt & Nut Co.
Noise-abatement extension conditioned on employee notice
Auto Bolt requested six additional months to complete and evaluate abatement of an occupational-noise violation. The Secretary withdrew his objection, and the judge extended the deadline to February 8, 1979. The record did not show that affected employees had received the required posted notice of…
General Motors Corporation, Delco Remy Division
Modified settlement approved
General Motors asked the Commission to adopt an Administrative Law Judge's proposed order approving a modified settlement agreement. The Commission granted the request. The short official release does not identify the cited standards, settlement terms, citation disposition, or penalty.
Interpace Corporation
Incorrect settlement order vacated
OSHA cited Interpace under two scaffold provisions, and the company contested only item 1A. At the hearing, the Secretary stated that the agreement was a withdrawal of item 1A and its proposed penalty. The judge's written order instead said that Interpace had withdrawn its contest. After the judge…
Ralston Purina Company
Federal-only noise inspection limit vacated
OSHA alleged excessive noise in Ralston Purina's extruding room and sought a plant inspection by an outside acoustical engineering expert. The judge found that the plant contained trade secrets and limited discovery to federal experts. Applying Owens-Illinois, the Commission vacated that…
American Can Company
Trade-secret discovery protections remanded
The Secretary sought entry into an American Can plant for discovery, and the company argued that only federal employees should be allowed because an outside expert could learn trade secrets or proprietary information. The judge allowed nonfederal personnel to enter under a protective order…
Metal Container Corporation
Federal-only discovery limit vacated
OSHA alleged excessive noise in four areas of Metal Container's plant and sought a discovery inspection to evaluate engineering controls. The company asserted that innovative machines and processes were trade secrets, and the judge limited the inspection team to federal employees. Applying…
Browar Wood Products Co., Inc.
Dismissed penalty contest reinstated
Browar Wood Products contested only the $480 in proposed penalties from two OSHA citations, but the judge dismissed its contest because the company did not file proof that it had posted the contest notice for employees. Browar said it had posted the notice and that the missing proof resulted from…
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.