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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Enwright Roofing, LLC
Repeat fall-protection and ladder violations affirmed
Enwright Roofing was a small New York residential roofing contractor replacing shingles on a home in Oswego. OSHA observed the owner and an employee working 8 to 10 feet above the ground without fall protection and using two extension ladders whose rails did not extend three feet above the roof…
Quick Roofing, LLC
Repeat ladder-access violation affirmed
Quick Roofing employees used an extension ladder to reach the roof of a three-story apartment building under construction in Winter Garden, Florida. OSHA photographs showed that the ladder extended only about 24 inches above the roof rather than the required three feet. Even if a rope visible in…
Elmer W. Davis, Inc.
Hoist-area and ladder violations affirmed
An Elmer W. Davis crew was replacing roofs on a four-story municipal building in Newark, New York. One employee stepped through modular guardrails and stood near the roof edge without personal fall protection while signaling a crane operator, and three employees used a ladder that extended less…
Preferred Roofing, LLC
Subcontractor fall citations vacated
Preferred Roofing hired Valor Roofing to reroof a home in Jacksonville, Florida. OSHA observed Valor employees working without fall protection and using a ladder whose rails did not extend three feet above the roof, then cited Preferred as the controlling employer under the multi-employer worksite…
JK Proctor, LLC
Roofing violations affirmed but willful classifications rejected
A nine-person JK Proctor crew replaced shingles on a one-story house in Canandaigua, New York. The crew worked more than nine feet above the ground without compliant fall protection and used a ladder whose rails extended less than three feet above the roof. A foreman incorrectly measured the roof…
Barry Billcliff, dba Barry James, et al.
Roofing violations and personal liability affirmed
OSHA inspected roofing work at a hotel and conference center in Devens, Massachusetts, where workers lacked required inspections, head protection, fall protection, training, and compliant ladder access. Barry Billcliff denied controlling the project or employing anyone there, but the judge found…
Rene Silverio Gonzalez/RG Roofing
Late contest dismissed and relief from final order denied
OSHA issued RG Roofing three serious citations involving head protection, residential fall protection, and ladder use, with a proposed penalty of $8,097. The company received the citation but did not submit a written notice of contest within 15 working days, so the citation became a final…
Nemeckay's Roofing and Home Improvement Company
Four roofing citations vacated for lack of employee proof
OSHA cited a sole-proprietor roofing business for alleged head, eye, fall, and ladder protection violations observed at a two-story house. The judge rejected the proprietor's claim that OSHA's observations and brief entry onto the property violated the Fourth Amendment. OSHA still had to prove that…
J.D. Abrams, L.P.
Trench and ladder violations affirmed
J.D. Abrams was installing a waterline at a highway construction project in Austin, Texas. OSHA found an employee working in an unprotected trench measured at more than five feet deep and using a ladder that extended only two feet eight inches above the landing surface. The judge found that the…
Framing Specialist, Inc.
Five residential-construction items affirmed
Two inspections of Framing Specialist residential projects found employees working without eye protection, using an access ladder that extended only two feet above the landing, standing on the top of a stepladder, and working at heights of 8 to 25 feet without effective fall protection. The judge…
Bonded Roofing Services, Inc.
Roofing safety citations affirmed
OSHA observed three Bonded Roofing workers on a commercial roof without fall protection. One employee used a pneumatic nail gun without approved eye protection, and the access ladder did not extend at least three feet above the roof landing. The company owner was onsite and signed an inspection…
Houran USA Construction, LLC
Three serious construction citations affirmed
Houran USA Construction renovated a three-story building using a four-tier scaffold. OSHA cited the company after an inspector observed an employee without a hard hat below scaffold work, employees using a scaffold with a missing guardrail about 24 feet above the ground, and an access ladder that…
Guaranteed Home Improvements, LLC
Ladder citations split after employee fall
Guaranteed Home Improvements used an extension ladder to access a snow-covered convenience-store roof. The ladder slid on wet, snowy pavement while an employee descended, causing a fall that resulted in multiple serious injuries. The judge vacated the allegation that the ladder failed to extend…
FAMA Construction, LLC.
Roofing safety violations affirmed at two residential sites
FAMA Construction arranged roofing work at two residential construction sites in Lawrenceville, Georgia. OSHA cited ladder, eye protection, and fall protection violations involving two roofing crews. The judge found that FAMA was the workers' employer and, alternatively, a controlling employer that…
All Wall Builders, LLC
Roof fall protection and ladder citations affirmed
All Wall Builders was installing metal trusses on a commercial building roof in Cooperstown, New York. OSHA observed employees working on the roof without properly using fall protection and found an access ladder that did not extend three feet above the landing. The judge found that company…
3-D Builders, LLP
Ladder and willful fall violations affirmed
3-D Builders performed residential roofing work at heights of approximately 10 to 22 feet without guardrails, safety nets, personal fall arrest systems, or other fall protection. Workers also used an extension ladder whose side rails extended only about two feet, six inches above the roof landing…
Elmer Cook Construction, Inc.
Fall-protection and ladder items affirmed
Elmer Cook Construction employees applied waterproofing material on a low-slope roof while using fall-protection equipment incorrectly. One employee was not connected to a lifeline, and another used an improperly attached system that would not prevent a fall to the ground. The employees also used a…
Auchly Roofing, Inc.
Roof and ladder fall items affirmed
Five Auchly Roofing employees worked on a steep residential roof 11 to 18 feet above the ground without an approved fall-protection system. The company relied on toe boards, pick boards, ladder jacks, and kneepads, but did not prove that compliant systems created a greater hazard or that it…
Chris Welch
Residential roofing fall and ladder violations affirmed
Chris Welch employed a worker who performed residential roofing more than 10 feet above the ground without fall protection. The worker accessed the roof using an extension ladder whose side rails did not extend three feet above the landing and that lacked an alternative secure handhold arrangement…
A.C. Castle Construction Co., Inc. / Daryl J. Provencher, d/b/a Provencher Home Improvement
Roofing violations yield $173,500 in penalties
A.C. Castle Construction contracted with homeowners for roofing work and assigned projects to Provencher Home Improvement. At a Massachusetts house, at least two roofers fell about 20 feet after a wooden scaffold plank snapped, and OSHA cited scaffold, ladder, training, anchorage, and fall…
Richard Snader Installation Partners
Roofing violations affirmed for $33,600
Richard Snader Installation Partners performed roofing work at an apartment building with three workers on the roof. The judge found that the workers were employees under the OSH Act because Richard Snader controlled their work and pay, despite his claim that they were partners. The inspection did…
David Dzenutis d/b/a Royal Construction Company
Roofing and ladder violations affirmed
Royal Construction employees performed roofing work without a compliant hazard communication program, a nearby fire extinguisher, or adequate fall protection. OSHA also cited unsafe roof access, insufficient ladder extension, carrying a load while descending, and failure to keep one hand on the…
Pennrock Construction LLC
LLC members treated as employees for roofing citations
Pennrock Construction performed residential roofing about 15 feet above the ground without fall protection and used a ladder that did not extend three feet above the roof. The company argued that the workers were one-percent LLC members and therefore owners rather than employees covered by the OSH…
Affordable Roofing and Exteriors, Inc.
Ladder and repeat roofing violations affirmed by default
OSHA observed eleven Affordable Roofing and Exteriors employees working on a steep gas-station roof in Trenton, Illinois without conventional fall protection. The access ladder did not extend three feet above the roof, the company had stopped conducting required safety inspections, and a one-foot…
Turpin, Inc.
Unprotected excavation violation reduced from willful to serious
A newly hired Turpin employee entered an 8.7-foot excavation in unstable soil to mark grade points before a trench box was installed. The judge found constructive employer knowledge because Turpin rarely inspected jobsites, inadequately trained workers, and showed no credible system for monitoring…
Dave's Plumbing, Inc.
Four serious ladder violations affirmed
Dave's Plumbing used an extension ladder to reach a roof at a construction site. The ladder extended only a few inches above the landing, was unsecured near an active doorway, and was climbed by an employee carrying an acetylene tank. The judge also found that the employee had not received…
Levvintre Construction, LLC
Residential fall and ladder violations affirmed
Five Levvintre Construction employees performed residential roofing work on an approximately 11-foot-high roof without fall protection. The company had harnesses available but left it to each employee to decide whether to use one and had no alternative fall-protection plan. Employees also used a…
All Star Realty Co., Inc.
Roofing and ladder citations vacated for lack of employment relationship
All Star Realty had a contract to demolish a strip mall, where OSHA found two brothers removing metal roofing without fall protection and using an improper ladder. The brothers had previously done odd jobs for All Star's owner, but he told them they could take the roofing only after the building…
Teddy Mosley Painting
Roof fall-protection and ladder items affirmed
Teddy Mosley Painting employees performed roofing work on a steep roof almost eight feet above the ground without fall protection. The ladders did not reach the roof edge or extend three feet above it, and the foreman descended by stepping on the top step while facing away from the ladder. The…
Wormley Brothers Enterprises, Inc.
Repeat ladder violation affirmed
Wormley Brothers was finishing a flat roof on a Georgia bank project when OSHA observed five employees, including the foreman, use a portable ladder to leave the roof. The roof was about 17 feet high, but the ladder rails extended only 18 inches above the landing instead of the required 3 feet. The…
Roy’s Construction, Inc.
Roofing, respirator, and ladder violations affirmed
Roy’s Construction was repairing the roof of the Legislature Building in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. OSHA saw employees working without fall protection on a steep roof that the site supervisor said was 36 feet high. Employees also wore company-supplied respirators near asbestos-removal work without…
Rock Utility, Inc.
Trench and ladder items affirmed, vest item vacated
Rock Utility was installing a water line in Quincy, Massachusetts, when OSHA inspected a trench that reached 6.3 feet deep. An employee worked in the deeper end of the Type C soil trench without sloping, benching, or a trench box. The judge also found that the company's informal safety discussions…
Chenal Valley Construction, Inc.
All citation items withdrawn and judge’s decision vacated
The judge had affirmed residential fall-protection and ladder citations against Chenal Valley Construction as the controlling employer at an Arkansas homebuilding site. The case was directed for Commission review. Before the Commission decided the merits, the Secretary withdrew every remaining…
Southern Solar
Ladder-use and training items vacated for insufficient proof
A Southern Solar employee used a stepladder that did not extend three feet above the parapet used as the upper landing surface. The judge found that OSHA did not prove the company's lead worker knew or reasonably should have known how that ladder was being used. OSHA also cited Southern Solar for…
Summer & Winter Contruction, LLC
Roofing safety violations yield $89,000 in penalties
OSHA inspected Summer & Winter roofing crews at two New Hampshire sites and found extensive fall-protection and related safety violations. At the first site, workers used body belts, shared anchors, worked beneath a raised lift, used a damaged ladder, and accessed a steep roof without compliant…
Kirtley Sheetmetal, Inc.
Ladder and repeat roof-fall violations affirmed
Kirtley Sheetmetal employees used an eight-foot stepladder to reach a roof even though the ladder did not extend above the landing, was not secured, and was not designed for that use. Employees also worked on a low-slope roof 19 to 28 feet above the ground without being tied off while lifelines…
Martorell Construction Company and its Successors
Default case remanded to assess missed hearing
The judge affirmed three serious construction violations and $4,500 in penalties after Martorell failed to appear at the hearing. Martorell later claimed that it had not received written hearing notices and did not remember receiving verbal notice. The Commission treated the filing as a request to…
Tire Star, Inc.
Roof, chemical, and ladder violations affirmed
Tire Star sent three automotive workers to patch the roof of a vacant building that it was renovating for use as a tire and repair facility. OSHA found that the workers used hazardous roofing chemicals without a written hazard communication program, safety data sheets, or chemical training. They…
Kandey Company, Inc.
Cave-in violation reduced from willful to serious
Kandey employees worked in an excavation to connect a new building to a water main in Clarence, New York. The judge found that a portable ladder used for access did not extend three feet above the landing and that the excavation exceeded five feet, was not entirely stable rock, and lacked cave-in…
Manganas Painting Co., Inc.
Lead and fall-protection items partly affirmed
Manganas removed lead-based paint from two bridges using abrasive blasting inside canvas containments. OSHA cited the company for lead monitoring, shower, and medical-surveillance violations, as well as numerous fall-protection hazards. The Commission upheld the inspection warrant and found that…
Franciscus Roofing & Siding, Inc.
Roof and ladder violations result in $2,400 penalty
An OSHA inspector observed a Franciscus worker about 20 feet above the ground on a steep residential roof without conventional fall protection. The judge found that the worker was an employee under the OSH Act even though the company called him a subcontractor. Franciscus did not produce the safety…
B. S. Carter Construction, Inc.
Willful cave-in violation results in $7,000 total penalty
Two Carter Construction employees entered a 17-foot-deep excavation in Class C soil without shoring, sloping, or a trench box. A wall collapsed and broke one employee's leg. The access ladder extended only eight inches above the surface, and the injured employee had not received training to…
Meridian Construction and Development, LLC
General contractor receives $2,000 penalty for site hazards
Meridian was the controlling general contractor on a condominium project where subcontractors created electrical, falling-object, and ladder hazards. OSHA found open temporary power boxes, an inadequately insulated cord splice, missing toeboards above a busy breezeway, and a job-made ladder that…
Double "A" Industries, Inc.
Roofing subcontractor's safety citations affirmed under the multi-employer worksite rule
Double "A" Industries is a small south Florida shell contractor that took a $38,000 contract to build a guardhouse and subcontracted the roofing labor out. An OSHA officer inspecting a nearby site watched roof workers for about 40 minutes without fall protection or hard hats and improperly using…
Kevin Dallas Roofing
Default judgment after the employer stopped participating, all citations affirmed
Kevin Dallas Roofing, a sole proprietor in Ohio, was inspected by OSHA and issued a serious citation and an other-than-serious citation totaling $1,650 in proposed penalties. The employer contested the inspection by letter, but then did not participate in the scheduled pre-hearing conference call…
Rodriquez Cornice Construction Co., and its successors
Five construction violations affirmed
Rodriquez Cornice contested OSHA's citation but did not appear for the scheduled hearing. OSHA's compliance officer testified that employees installing cornice worked about 21 feet above the ground without guardrails or personal fall arrest systems and had not received scaffold training. The…
Field & Associates, Inc.
Commission affirms the fall-protection citation but throws out the material-storage citation for lack of exposure
Field & Associates is a roofing contractor. In August 1997, two of its employees were distributing bundles of shingles along the peak of a new church roof in Tipp City, Ohio, with no fall protection when two OSHA compliance officers passing by stopped to inspect. OSHA issued five serious citation…
A. J. McNulty & Company, Inc.
Mixed ruling on fall protection during precast concrete erection
A. J. McNulty & Company was erecting a precast concrete parking garage in White Plains, New York, when OSHA cited numerous fall-protection and other safety violations. The Commission rejected McNulty's request to exclude inspection evidence, finding that OSHA substantially honored the company's…
David Weekley Homes
General contractor citation vacated for insufficient proof and lack of knowledge
David Weekley Homes was the general contractor for residential construction at the Horizon Pointe development in Colorado. OSHA cited Weekley for nine conditions grouped into six willful items involving its safety program, hard hats, scaffold support, fall protection, guardrails, training, and…
Reliable Roofing, Inc.
Settlement approved on five construction-safety items
Reliable Roofing contested a serious citation issued after OSHA inspected one of its construction worksites. The citation alleged five electrical, ladder, and training violations, and the case was assigned to the Commission's E-Z Trial procedure. The parties reached a written settlement just before…
Accu-Rate Roofing Co.
Four roofing safety items affirmed for a $1,200 penalty
OSHA observed an Accu-Rate Roofing employee shingling a steep roof about 13 feet above the ground without fall protection. The access ladder was not tied off, did not extend three feet above the roof edge, and left the employee without a secure handhold when stepping onto the roof. The employee…
Guam Top Builders, Inc.
Roof fall and short ladder-rail items affirmed
Guam Top Builders repaired typhoon-damaged condominium roofs about 18 feet above the ground. Employees worked near the roof edge without conventional fall protection while the person identified as safety monitor operated a forklift across the street, outside the required visual and speaking range…
Bast Hatfield, Inc.
Scaffold and ladder items affirmed
Bast Hatfield employees performed masonry work from scaffolds at a church construction project in New York. Judge Robert A. Yetman denied Bast's Fourth Amendment challenge because the OSHA inspector observed the work from a parking area that remained open to church visitors and the public. He…
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…
W. G. Kees Properties, Inc.
Eight construction safety items affirmed
W. G. Kees Properties, Inc. was cited for safety conditions at a construction site. The remaining allegations involved employees working without fall protection on a steep roof and second level, unsecured and insufficiently extended access ladders, and a stairway without required rail protection…
Macedos Construction Company, Inc.
Serious construction citation resolved by approved settlement
Macedos Construction was inspected at a construction site in Dover, New Jersey in October 1996. OSHA issued a serious citation alleging violations of five construction standards covering fall protection, concrete and masonry work, stairways, and ladders. Macedos contested the citation, and the case…
Southeast Steel Erectors, Inc.
Contest dismissed after company stopped responding
OSHA cited Southeast Steel Erectors, Inc. for an unguarded roof deck and a portable ladder that did not extend three feet above its landing. After filing a notice of contest, the company reported that it had dissolved and then stopped responding. It did not provide a current address or telephone…
Continental Roof Systems, Inc.
Mootness dismissal reversed and case remanded
OSHA cited Continental Roof Systems for sixteen alleged roofing, scaffold, fall-protection, equipment, training, and recordkeeping violations, with $139,600 in proposed penalties. The ALJ dismissed the case as moot after Continental went out of business and had no employees. The Commission had…
Meridian Contractors, Inc.
Dismissals reversed and citation cases remanded
OSHA issued Meridian Contractors serious and willful construction citations with proposed penalties after two inspections. The ALJ dismissed both cases under Commission precedent treating the actions as moot because Meridian had stopped employing workers and was preparing to dissolve. After that…
P. Gioioso & Sons, Inc.
Trench safety violations affirmed
P. Gioioso & Sons was installing water lines in Winthrop, Massachusetts, when OSHA inspectors saw a foreman and another employee inside an unprotected trench. A suspended pipe passed over the employees, and their access ladder extended only 12 inches above street level. The judge affirmed serious…
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.