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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Karl Kehm Construction Co.
Filing-error dismissal reversed
Karl Kehm Construction received two citations and submitted two notices of contest that arrived at OSHA on the same day and were nearly identical. The Area Director timely forwarded one notice but mistakenly treated the other as a duplicate, causing missed filing deadlines. The judge granted the…
Stevens Equipment Co.
Old power-press guarding item vacated
Stevens Equipment fabricated and sold metal products at an Oregon plant. OSHA cited an unguarded mechanical power press and an unguarded chain-and-sprocket drive as serious, along with eight other conditions that the company admitted. The Commission agreed that the press lacked a point-of-operation…
Crescent Wharf & Warehouse Co.
Serious hatch-pontoon violation affirmed
Crescent Wharf & Warehouse employees loaded flour into a ship's hold through a deck hatch in Seattle. Two metal hatch pontoons weighing about two tons each were left unsecured above roughly ten employees working 30 feet below, and the company's walking boss knew of the condition for at least two…
M. A. Swatek & Co.
Maximum penalty assessed for serious trench hazard
M. A. Swatek & Co. excavated a trench in unstable soil for utility work in Oklahoma. The trench was about 17 feet deep, 3 feet wide at the bottom, and 19 feet wide at the top, with no shoring or ladder and sides steeper than the recognized safe angle. A side wall caved in and fatally injured an…
James L. Brussa, Masonry
Dismissal for failure to post citation reversed
OSHA cited James L. Brussa for removing required guardrails from open-sided fourth- and fifth-floor work areas and proposed a $150 penalty. Brussa contested but admitted that he had not posted the citation at or near the worksite. The administrative law judge treated that posting failure as grounds…
Drake-Willamette Joint Ventures
Bridge safety-net citation vacated
Drake-Willamette constructed an approach to the Fremont Bridge in Portland, Oregon. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide safety nets where employees worked more than 25 feet above lower surfaces and proposed a $15 penalty. The Commission read the cited rule to require nets only when listed…
Vitamin Premixers of Omaha, Inc.
Six safety violations affirmed with $400 penalty
Vitamin Premixers of Omaha produced and distributed premixed animal feed. The company admitted six nonserious violations involving fire extinguishers, unguarded fan blades, emergency drenching or eyewash facilities, a weak stair handrail, compressed-air cleaning, and electrical motors in a…
Hennis Freight Lines, Inc.
Forklift overhead-guard citation vacated
Hennis Freight Lines operated a freight terminal in Omaha and used a powered industrial truck without an overhead guard. OSHA cited the company under a rule requiring a guard as protection against falling objects and proposed a $165 penalty, which the judge increased to $187.50. The Commission held…
Ernest F. Donley's Son, Inc.
Serious T-form hazard affirmed with $640 penalty
Ernest F. Donley's Son was the concrete structural subcontractor on a multistory office-building project in Ohio. It used large T-forms weighing several thousand pounds and secured them with cable assemblies to prevent tipping. The Commission found that the original anchoring method provided…
Blue Ribbon Industries, Inc.
Contest dismissed and $100 penalty affirmed
Blue Ribbon Industries received four non-serious citations involving excessive compressed-air pressure, a locked exit, an unguarded compressor, and flexible cord used as fixed wiring. OSHA proposed no penalties for the first two items and $100 total for the other two. The case was initially…
Somerset Tire Service, Inc.
Serious electrical hazards affirmed
Somerset Tire Service operated an automotive service station in New Jersey. An employee received a fatal electric shock while connecting the plug of a tire-truing machine to an extension cord carrying 220 volts. The judge found loose wire strands inside the machine plug and an electrical continuity…
REA Express Co.
Maximum penalty affirmed for high-voltage hazard
REA Express operated a freight terminal with a locked circuit-breaker room containing 15,000-volt equipment. During an electrical outage, supervisory employees directed unqualified maintenance workers into the room to restore operations. The floor was damp, severed high-voltage cables were…
The Wackenhut Corporation
Citation withdrawal conditionally affirmed
OSHA issued Wackenhut a citation for an other than serious violation with no proposed penalty. After the company contested, the Secretary moved to withdraw because he lacked evidence needed to prove the allegation. The judge granted the motion. The Commission found that the motion had not been…
Lebanon Lumber Co.
Serious crane power-line violation affirmed
Lebanon Lumber sent two employees to assemble a mobile-crane boom at a worksite crossed by a 20,000-volt power line. The company knew of the line, selected two assembly locations away from it, and warned the employees to keep clear, but the employees were inexperienced in crane work and were sent…
John J. Gordon Company
Citation dismissed after improper record reopening
John J. Gordon Company employees painted from a scaffold about 30 feet above the ground in Buffalo, New York. The scaffold fell, killing one employee and seriously injuring another, and the judge later found a serious general-duty-clause violation with a $750 penalty. At the original hearing…
S.J. Otinger Jr. Construction
Dismissed contest reinstated
The judge had granted the Secretary's motion to dismiss S.J. Otinger Jr. Construction's notice of contest. The Commission reinstated the case. Its order allowed the Secretary to raise the issue of prejudice at the hearing. The brief release does not identify the citation, cited safety standard…
Midvale-Heppenstall Company
Descaling item vacated and immediate abatement ordered
Midvale-Heppenstall manufactured steel forgings in Philadelphia and used compressed air above 30 p.s.i. in several plant operations. The judge affirmed violations for air hoses used for cleaning in the power plant and machine shop but vacated the press-plant allegation. The press operation used an…
Norman R. Bratcher Company
Aluminum-ladder citation vacated
Norman R. Bratcher Company painted buildings at Fort Wolters, Texas. Two employees received severe electrical shocks, one fatal, when an aluminum extension ladder contacted an overhead 7,200-volt line while they raised it after working on its extension mechanism. OSHA cited the painting contractor…
Silver Skillet Food Products Company
Four safety items affirmed and one vacated
Silver Skillet processed and canned food at an Illinois plant. OSHA cited a boiler-room fire door tied open, warped metal floor plates, two ladders without safety feet, a padlocked fire exit, and unsecured dock plates. The judge affirmed the fire-door, floor-plate, exit, and dock-plate items. He…
Stephen Adamowich d/b/a Terryville Sanitation Service
Procedural vacatur reversed
OSHA cited Terryville Sanitation for an unsupported nine-foot trench and failure to provide a ladder, with proposed penalties totaling $805. The first judge vacated the citations because the Commission received the employer's notice of contest after the seven-day transmission period. The Commission…
E.F. Houghton & Co.
Withdrawal order reversed for lack of abatement certification
E.F. Houghton moved to withdraw its notice of contest while stating that two contested citation items had not been abated pending a variance request. The company also said it understood that OSHA would not reinspect during that period, but the Secretary denied giving any such assurance. The judge…
Vy Lactos Laboratories, Inc.
Hydrogen-sulfide citation vacated for unproven recognition
Vy Lactos manufactured livestock and poultry feed concentrates using proteinaceous fish solubles. After fish slurry overflowed into a basement, employees entered without self-contained breathing equipment and encountered a lethal atmosphere attributed to hydrogen sulfide gas. Three employees died…
J. Dale Wilson, Builder
Citation vacated after delayed contest transmittal
J. Dale Wilson sent OSHA a letter protesting a citation and proposed $35 penalty, and OSHA received it on October 11, 1972. OSHA did not transmit the notice of contest to the Commission until October 30, beyond the seven-day procedural deadline. The Commission initially reversed an automatic…
Wright-Schuchart-Harbor Contractors
Pit and life-jacket items affirmed
Wright-Schuchart-Harbor was one of many contractors building the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant in Oregon. OSHA observed two of its employees working on a snow- and ice-covered float near river water without life jackets and an unguarded pit about 30 feet deep beside a traveled walkway. The judge…
Dundas Pallet Company, Division of Industrial Wood and Pallet Company
Eye-protection violation affirmed
Dundas Pallet cut lumber and manufactured pallets at an Ohio plant. Employees operating or working near power saws and automatic nailers were not provided with or required to wear protective eyewear. The company stipulated to the violation, and its vice president testified that management had known…
Dreher Pickle Company
Electrical and platform penalties increased to $1,500
Dreher Pickle Company operated wet processing areas with inadequately grounded electrical equipment. Employees had repeatedly received shocks from conveyor belts, management knew of those reports, and one employee died from probable electrical shock while standing in brine water and loading pickles…
Engstrum and Nourse
Serious trench cave-in hazard affirmed
Engstrum and Nourse installed an underground storm drain in San Francisco using a trench ranging from 13 to 16 feet deep. An eight-foot section remained unshored when two employees entered to install protection from the bottom up. Soil and loose material collapsed into the trench, killing one…
Republic Creosoting Co., Division of Reilly Tar & Chemical Corp.
Crosstie unloading and stacking citations vacated
Republic Creosoting operated a railroad-tie marshalling yard in Indiana. A newly hired employee unexpectedly cut the steel band around a package of ties before the forklift was positioned to secure the load, and falling ties fatally injured him. The Commission found that the company's customary…
Baltz Brothers Packing Company
Four violations affirmed with $905 in penalties
Baltz Brothers processed livestock into packaged meat products at a Tennessee plant. The company admitted violations involving ungrounded electrical equipment, cluttered maintenance and storage areas, connected extension cords lying in water, and open electrical control boxes. The judge affirmed…
A. Stuart Bolling Company, Inc.
Late answer accepted and case remanded
The judge denied A. Stuart Bolling Company the right to participate and affirmed the citation and proposed penalty because the company had not filed an answer. The company sent a letter explaining that it had posted the pleadings and misunderstood the answer requirement, while briefly disputing the…
Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, AFL-CIO
Employee contest scope limited
OSHA issued Mobil Oil three serious citations and one citation containing 90 other than serious items. The employer did not contest, but the employees' union challenged the length of the abatement period for one item and asserted that 69 other items described as abated had not actually been…
Gerosa, Inc.
Crane inspection citation vacated
Gerosa assigned a competent operator and oiler to run a rented crane while steel columns were placed at a power plant construction site. OSHA cited the company for allegedly failing to designate a competent person to inspect the crane before and during use. The crane passed customary operational…
Universal Maintenance & Repair Corporation
Mail-conveyor lockout violation affirmed
Universal maintained and repaired more than 200 conveyor belts at a mail-sorting facility. OSHA issued a serious general duty clause citation after an employee lost his right arm while attempting to clear a conveyor that had not been locked out. The judge found that the available locks and shared…
Bill Echols Trucking Company
Citation vacated after delayed contest transmission
OSHA cited Bill Echols Trucking Company for a serious failure to provide reverse signal alarms on vehicles with obstructed views and proposed a $600 penalty. It also issued an other than serious citation with no proposed penalty. The company promptly wrote that it had installed the signaling device…
R. D. Blue Construction, Inc.
Trenching hazard citation affirmed
R. D. Blue Construction was excavating a trench for utility work near a hospital when two employees worked in a section at least eight feet deep. OSHA alleged that the trench had unstable sides, lacked adequate sloping, shoring, sheeting, or bracing, and had excavated material placed too close to…
Wetmore & Parman, Inc.
Open-floor citation affirmed and penalty raised
Wetmore & Parman was constructing a six-story college building when employees worked near an unguarded sixth-floor edge about 60 feet above the ground. OSHA had previously told the company's superintendent how to guard the open floor, but the company did not install adequate protection because it…
Texports Stevedore Company, Inc.
Falling-cargo penalty increased
Texports was unloading two-tier stacks of 4,200-pound pulpwood bales from a barge when one bale fell and disabled a forklift. The company sent a mechanic into the hold without securing the remaining cargo, and another bale fell and severely injured him. The judge found that the first falling bale…
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…
California Blowpipe and Steel Co., Inc.
Withdrawal approved without liability disclaimer
California Blowpipe sought to withdraw its notice of contest and tendered the full $500 penalty after immediately abating the alleged violation. Its first motion made payment conditional on ending the litigation and disclaimed any responsibility or liability. The Secretary objected to that…
Broadview Construction Co.
Forklift worker-lifting penalty raised to maximum
Broadview used a forklift to lift six employees and 25 long sheets of roofing material to a roof about 24 feet above the ground. The employees had no secured personnel platform or way to shut off the lift, and all six were seriously injured when the forklift toppled at a height of about 26 feet…
Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp.
Withdrawal order amended to affirm citation
Hess Oil sought to withdraw its contest of a serious citation after the cited storage-tank operations ended because the tanks had been destroyed. The company stated that it was in compliance and would remain so, paid the proposed $700 penalty, and posted the withdrawal papers without receiving…
Pleasant Valley Packing Co., Inc.
Citations vacated after contest letter was not forwarded
OSHA issued Pleasant Valley Packing a citation containing 21 nonserious items after inspecting its meat-processing and packaging plant. Two days after receiving the citation and penalty notice, the company wrote to the Area Director that the proposed penalties were unjustified and asked that they…
The Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company
Unsafe-tool citation vacated for lack of knowledge
A Mountain States employee collapsed and died while using an electric impact wrench that was later found to have unsafe internal wiring and a short circuit. OSHA initially issued a serious electrical-grounding citation with a proposed $600 penalty, then amended it to a nonserious unsafe-tool…
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company
Citation and $800 penalty affirmed after withdrawal
OSHA issued Chicago Bridge & Iron one serious citation and proposed an $800 penalty. The company contested the case, then moved to withdraw its notice of contest after the storage-tank operations ended and the tanks were destroyed. It stated that it was in compliance, paid the $800 penalty, and…
G. & C. Foundry Co.
Default order reversed after employer tried to answer
The Secretary sought a default judgment because G. & C. Foundry had not filed a formal answer to the complaint. The employer responded with letters explaining its attempts to follow Commission procedure and stating its position on the contested items. It also complied with prehearing requirements…
Brent Towing Co., Inc.
Uncontested citation items restored
OSHA cited Brent Towing for 10 non-serious violations and proposed penalties totaling $310. The judge vacated the entire citation after finding that the Secretary had not promptly forwarded the employer's contest letter to the Commission. The Commission later found that items 5 through 9 had never…
Hanovia Lamp Division, Canrad Precision Industries, Inc.
Serious citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
Hanovia manufactured lamps and employed an experienced laboratory technician who worked alone while testing high-voltage equipment. The technician created an unsafe arrangement involving exposed energized components and was electrocuted. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause and…
Swift Trucking Company
Log-handling citation and $550 penalty affirmed
OSHA cited Swift Trucking under the general duty clause for removing binders from a load of logs before the loading machine was in place. The company contested the serious citation and proposed $550 penalty, then asked to withdraw its contest. Swift Trucking stated that it had abated the condition…
ESS-BEE Knitwear Company, Inc.
Failure-to-correct penalties affirmed after withdrawal
OSHA notified ESS-BEE Knitwear that it had failed to correct cited violations and proposed $630 in additional penalties. The company filed a timely contest, then asked to withdraw it. ESS-BEE represented that the violations had been abated, tendered the proposed penalty, promised continuing…
Ralph Morse Furniture Co.
Default set aside and withdrawal approved
The judge struck Ralph Morse Furniture's notice of contest because the company had not answered the Secretary's complaint. After that order, the parties jointly submitted a withdrawal motion and supporting stipulation that had not been before the judge. The Commission treated the new joint filing…
John Hicks Oldsmobile, Inc.
Seven citations affirmed with more abatement time
OSHA cited John Hicks Oldsmobile for seven non-serious violations and proposed penalties totaling $155. The company and the Secretary stipulated to withdrawal of the contest, payment of the penalties, and more time to correct item 4. The Secretary also agreed to provide an interpretation of the…
United Sheet Metal Co.
Withdrawal approved for all five citation items
OSHA cited United Sheet Metal for five non-serious violations. The employer first withdrew its penalty contests for items 2 through 5, then sought to withdraw its remaining contest to item 1. The judge found that the company had not yet documented abatement, payment, service, and posting for item…
Stylhomes, Inc.
Seven citations and $104 penalty affirmed
OSHA cited Stylhomes for seven other-than-serious violations and proposed penalties totaling $104. The company contested the case, then moved to withdraw its notice of contest. Stylhomes certified that it had corrected the cited conditions, would maintain abatement and continuing compliance, had…
Atlantic Concrete, Inc.
Mixed ruling on floor opening and crane citations
Atlantic Concrete was cited for an unguarded floor opening and several recordkeeping, posting, first-aid, and crane-related conditions. The parties stipulated that several non-serious items were unsupported, inapplicable, or abandoned. The judge vacated those items, affirmed two crane violations…
Becker Brothers Carbon Co.
Penalties reduced to $280 in withdrawal stipulation
OSHA cited Becker Brothers Carbon for 15 other-than-serious violations and proposed $330 in penalties. The parties stipulated that the company had corrected all cited conditions and would continue to comply. They also agreed to eliminate the $50 penalty for item 14 because the company president…
Otis Elevator Company
Serious and non-serious citations affirmed
OSHA issued Otis Elevator one serious and one non-serious citation with proposed penalties of $500 and $150. The Secretary amended the description of the non-serious violation, then sought another amendment to return the citation to its original wording. Before the hearing, Otis moved to withdraw…
Detroit Printing Pressmen Local No. 13, International Printing Pressmen & Assistants Union of North America, AFL-CIO
Union's noise-abatement extension request dismissed
OSHA cited the Evening News Association for excessive workplace noise and set deadlines for temporary protection and longer-term controls. Neither the employer nor the union contested the citation, so it became final. The union later asked the Commission to extend the abatement period because the…
Chicago Lumber Co., Inc.
Serious citation and $550 penalty affirmed
OSHA issued Chicago Lumber serious and non-serious citations with proposed penalties of $550 and $400. The company contested only the serious citation, so the non-serious citation became final without review. Chicago Lumber later stipulated to withdrawal of its contest, paid the $550 proposed…
D. C. Taylor Roofing Co., Inc.
Serious citation and $500 penalty affirmed
OSHA issued D. C. Taylor Roofing a serious citation and proposed a $500 penalty. The Secretary's complaint listed the wrong worksite address, then the Secretary moved to amend it to restore the correct address from the citation. The company later stipulated to withdrawal of its contest, paid the…
Equipco Contractors, Inc.
Serious citation and $500 penalty affirmed
Equipco Contractors contested a serious citation and proposed $500 penalty, then asked to withdraw before the scheduled hearing. The company stated that it had completed abatement, tendered the penalty, and would continue to comply with the Act. It served the motion on the parties and employee…
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.