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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Sunbelt Rentals Scaffold Services LLC, dba Sunbelt Rentals
Circular-saw training citation vacated
Sunbelt Rentals assigned two employees to build the floor of a temporary paint-storage structure at a Port Arthur, Texas, staging site. One employee sustained tendon and bone injuries when a cordless circular saw contacted his hand, and OSHA cited Sunbelt for allegedly inadequate instruction on…
Signet Construction, LLC
Truss-bracing violation affirmed and other allegations vacated
Signet Construction was building a 60,000-square-foot dairy barn in South Dakota using 138-foot wooden trusses when most of the trusses over the parlor area collapsed, injuring nine employees. OSHA alleged four General Duty Clause theories involving bracing, truss repair, storage, and hoisting…
Texas Underground Utilities, Inc.
Repeat cave-in violation affirmed, two items vacated
OSHA found two Texas Underground Utilities employees working in a trench at a construction site in Houston. The judge affirmed a repeat-serious cave-in-protection violation because the trench reached seven feet in Type B soil and was not properly sloped, benched, or protected by a trench box. A…
Raymond – San Diego, Inc.
Gate-inspection and hazard-training citations vacated
Raymond employees were preparing to paint a large sliding gate at a California casino when one 3,000-pound panel moved beyond the roller guide holding it upright and fell, causing fatal injuries to an employee. Another subcontractor had installed the gate, its motor was not yet installed, and…
Sentinel Systems, LLC
Utility-vehicle training citation vacated
A Sentinel Systems employee died when the utility vehicle he was driving struck an empty flatbed trailer at the American Dream Mall construction project in New Jersey. OSHA cited Sentinel for allegedly failing to instruct operators about driving the vehicle on pavement with tires designed for…
DeNucci Constructors, LLC
Cave-in protection violation affirmed after training item withdrawn
Two DeNucci Constructors employees entered an eight-to-nine-foot-deep trench to hand dig around existing pipes. The Type B soil trench had vertical side walls, inadequate partial benching at one end, no benching at the other, and no trench box. The superintendent and foreman saw the employees…
Master Construction Co., Inc.
Roadwork traffic citation affirmed, training citation vacated
Master Construction managed a road-expansion project where concrete trucks repeatedly entered and left an active paving area. An employee walking through the truck operating area to retrieve material was run over by a concrete mixer and sustained two broken legs. The judge found a recognized…
Speedy Rooter/Capital Plumbing, Inc.
Trench violations affirmed
Speedy Rooter replaced a residential sewer line using a trench more than six feet deep. The judge found that the two workers were company employees, not independent contractors, because Speedy Rooter obtained and assigned the work, paid them by the hour, and supplied tools and permits. OSHA proved…
A.H. Sturgill Roofing, Inc.
Roofing heat citations vacated
A temporary employee collapsed while working on a commercial roof and later died from complications of heat stroke. The Commission found that the Secretary did not prove the worksite conditions presented a significant excessive-heat hazard, noting that the heat index reached only the lowest warning…
Berwick Electric Company
Heavy-cable training violation affirmed
Berwick electricians pulled a roughly 11,000-pound cable through rollers and sheaves at a power plant, and one employee broke his arm when a suspended section shifted while he tried to move it by hand. The judge found that general warnings about pinch points and using a buddy did not prepare…
AltairStrickland, LLC
All citation items vacated
AltairStrickland was removing a 24,000-pound heat exchanger at an ExxonMobil refinery when a pipe fell, killing one crew member and injuring the foreman. OSHA alleged that the company failed to provide required training and violated crane and rigging standards. The judge found that OSHA rules did…
Camarata Masonry Systems, LTD
Crate-handling training citation vacated
Camarata Masonry Systems installed stone at a Houston construction project where an experienced forklift operator unloaded a damaged crate containing nearly 3,000 pounds of marble slabs. The operator removed a stabilizing strap while the load remained unstable, and the crate fell and injured him…
Peacock Engineering, Inc.
General duty citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement
Peacock Engineering installed burial crypts at Miramar National Cemetery using an excavator and wire rope slings. An employee's thumb was amputated by a sling while he guided a suspended crypt into place by hand, and OSHA cited Peacock under the general duty clause for amputation, struck-by, and…
Accurate Elevator Fire Door Corp.
Citations affirmed after contest dismissed by default
OSHA cited Accurate Elevator Fire Door after an elevator technician was struck by falling brick while working below façade work and later died. The citation alleged inadequate hazard instruction and failure to protect employees from falling objects. After contesting, Accurate repeatedly failed to…
Southern Pan Services Co.
Parking-garage collapse items remanded under exposing-employer and supervisor-knowledge rules
A parking garage partially collapsed during a concrete pour, killing one Southern Pan employee and injuring another along with more than twenty workers. The Commission held that the construction-load standard applied to the conditions and that Southern Pan, as an exposing employer, could have a…
Bardav, Inc., d/b/a Martha's Vineyard Mobile Home Park
Willful cave-in violation affirmed after excavation collapse
Bardav employees entered an excavation to repair a leaking water pipe after a plumbing technician warned that the unstable soil required shoring. Water flooded the excavation, its walls collapsed, and two employees were injured. The Commission affirmed a willful cave-in protection violation because…
Monroe Drywall Construction, Inc.
Serious-item penalties increased to $6,300
Monroe Drywall employees worked near exposed energized wires at a Florida construction site where a worker died after contacting the electrical hazard. The affirmed violations involved failure to train employees to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions and failure to determine the status of exposed…
Penney's Construction Company, LLC
Willful trench violations affirmed after work continued
Penney's Construction replaced a sewer line in a 10-foot-deep trench with vertical, fissured walls and no cave-in protection. Employees also encountered flowing sewage, possible atmospheric hazards, an edge-side spoil pile, unprotected use of a cut saw, and public traffic without high-visibility…
Hayward Baker, Inc.
Drill pinch-point and training items affirmed
Hayward Baker employees loaded steel casing onto a drill shaft while installing soil nails for a retaining wall. When a casing was difficult to align, the shaft moved as an employee handled it, catching and crushing his hand at an unguarded pinch point. The judge found that moving the shaft while…
Monroe Drywall Construction, Inc.
Employer finding reversed and citations remanded
A drywall worker was electrocuted after contacting exposed wiring at a retail-store renovation. The judge vacated the citations because he found OSHA had not proved that Monroe Drywall employed the workers performing the drywall work. The Commission held that the judge improperly discounted worker…
John R. Jurgensen Company
Night paving safety citations vacated
Jurgensen performed nighttime highway paving in Ohio while subcontractor dump trucks backed through a designated work route. A dump truck struck and killed a Jurgensen laborer who had left the crew's immediate work area. OSHA alleged that the contractor lacked an adequate safety program and had not…
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…
Northern Excavating Co., Inc.
Willful cave-in violations affirmed, training and egress items vacated
Northern Excavating employees worked in a Type C soil excavation that ranged from about 7.5 to 12 feet deep without a trench box, shoring, or adequate sloping. The excavation used prohibited benching, had soil sloughing into it, and sat beside a heavily traveled access road where truck vibrations…
Daisy Construction Company
Willful trench violations affirmed
Daisy Construction was installing underground conduit during a road project when employees worked for hours in a trench more than seven feet deep with vertical walls and no cave-in protection. The foreman and the acting superintendent both saw the work, knew trench protection was required, and did…
O'Connell Electric Company, Inc.
PPE selection and hazard-certification items affirmed
O'Connell Electric crews performed electrical replacement and maintenance work at a university building where some 34,500-volt switches remained energized. An electrician entered an energized switch cabinet outside the crew's assigned work and suffered severe burns in an arc flash. The judge found…
Ben Hur Construction Company
Partial EAJA fee award granted after citations were vacated
Ben Hur Construction prevailed after OSHA withdrew or the judge vacated citations arising from a fatal crane-disassembly accident. The company then sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge found the Secretary substantially justified in pursuing the…
Revoli Construction Company, Inc.
Gas-line excavation violations affirmed
A Revoli crew severed an unmarked gas main while excavating near a school. The judge found that Revoli's training was inadequately documented and was delivered in English to workers with limited English proficiency without a reliable method to ensure comprehension. He also credited a police officer…
AMP Electrical, Inc.
Electrical training and energized-circuit violations affirmed
AMP Electrical was installing equipment for a store's new chiller when an electrician drilled through a switchboard back plate and contacted an energized circuit, causing a flash and burns to his face and neck. The judge found that the project was construction work and that AMP could have…
Ben Hur Construction Co.
Crane-operation and training allegations vacated
A Ben Hur Construction apprentice was killed while helping disassemble a crawler crane after he attached his fall-protection lanyard to a live crane cable. OSHA alleged that Ben Hur failed to follow the manufacturer's crane specifications and failed to train the employee to recognize and avoid…
Compass Environmental, Inc.
Power-line training violation reinstated
A Compass employee was fatally electrocuted when an excavator boom approached an overhead power line and electricity traveled through a grease line he was holding. The judge vacated the training citation because he found the employee's exposure unforeseeable. The Commission reversed, finding that a…
Butch Thompson Enterprises, Inc.
Power-line item vacated, willful trench violation affirmed
A Butch Thompson Enterprises crew operated an excavator beneath overhead power lines and sent two workers into a 13-foot-deep excavation without cave-in protection. The judge found that the equipment-specific power-line-clearance standard applied, but OSHA's officer had only estimated the clearance…
A. G. Carter Construction Company
Repeated trench warnings supported two willful violations
A. G. Carter Construction installed underground utilities in trenches near Prattville, Alabama. After a fire marshal warned owner Alton Carter about the lack of cave-in protection, a ladder, proper spoil-pile placement, and water controls, similar conditions remained when OSHA inspected one week…
Andrew Electric Company
Unsecured breaker-box key led to $6,900 in penalties
An Andrew Electric electrician was electrocuted while installing fluorescent light fixtures near an energized junction box at a Georgia dealership remodeling project. The judge found that the company's safety program lacked adequate electrical-safety rules and that the electrician did not receive…
A. L. Grading Contractors, Inc.
Unsafe excavation and untrained flagger drew $25,500 in penalties
OSHA found an untrained employee directing traffic and two workers in a 9.2-foot excavation without cave-in protection or a safe means of egress at an Atlanta-area shopping-center project. The judge rejected the employee-misconduct defense to the training item because the company did not establish…
Davis H. Elliot Construction Company, Inc.
Reenergization failures led to $11,300 in penalties
Davis H. Elliot rebuilt an Ohio electric distribution system while existing lines remained in service. After three workers failed to report a changed assignment, the foreman relied on an incomplete all-clear and ordered a line energized while one worker was still on a pole, causing his…
C.D. Smith Construction
Unsupported plywood was not an intended work surface
A C.D. Smith employee suffered serious injuries after falling into a stairwell where unsupported plywood remained from partially dismantled concrete formwork. The plywood was behind a guardrail and danger tape, and the employee's assigned task could be performed directly from the vertical formwork…
West Valley Construction Company, Inc.
Two trench items affirmed and three vacated
West Valley Construction employees briefly entered a six-foot-deep trench at a naval air station in Washington while their superintendent watched. The trench had vertical walls in disturbed Type C soil and no cave-in protective system. The judge affirmed a repeat cave-in-protection violation…
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…
Decker Construction
Trench violations result in $5,625 penalty
Decker employees worked in a seven-foot excavation while relocating a fire hydrant. The company had not trained one crew member in excavation hazards, provided no ladder or constructed ramp, left spoil at the edge, and did not slope or shore the Type B soil as required. Those four items were…
New York Elevator, Inc.
Elevator counterweight and training items vacated
An experienced elevator helper suffered serious leg and head injuries after climbing above a compliant counterweight guard and being caught by a moving counterweight. The employees were modernizing one elevator while keeping the adjacent passenger elevator operating, and the record did not explain…
Reynolds Inc.
Quick-coupler items split and trench violations affirmed
Reynolds was installing a water main when an excavator bucket detached from a hydraulic quick coupler, rolled into an excavation, and fatally struck an employee. The judge vacated the general-duty and safety-program items because Reynolds lacked notice that the experienced operator would skip…
High Voltage Electric Service, Inc.
Electrical-shock fee application denied
High Voltage Electric Service directed subcontracted electricians responding to a power failure at a research facility. One electrician suffered severe burns after contacting 4,160-volt equipment that had been re-energized. OSHA cited the company for inadequate warnings and electrical work…
Bilodeau Homes
Default order set aside after E-Z Trial pleading confusion
Bilodeau Homes timely contested three serious construction citations but did not file an answer after its pro se case was removed from E-Z Trial. The judge granted the Secretary's dismissal motion, affirmed all three items by default, and assessed $3,000. The Commission found no claim of prejudice…
Reed Engineering Group, Inc.
Late general-duty amendment required continuance and remand
A Reed Engineering employee died in an excavation while the company performed environmental testing. The Secretary initially cited three construction standards, then moved four days before the hearing to add a general-duty-clause allegation in the alternative. The Commission held that allowing the…
Pegasus Tower
Tower fall violations affirmed with grouped PPE penalty
Pegasus Tower employees erected a television tower and worked hundreds of feet above the ground. OSHA cited hazards involving employees riding a dual-drum hoist line, inadequate fall-protection training, and failure to maintain continuous fall protection while moving on the tower. The Commission…
J. Mess Plumbing Co., Inc.
Five excavation violations affirmed and two vacated
J. Mess Plumbing sent crews to locate and repair a sewer line through an excavation more than nine feet deep in a residential yard. OSHA cited the company for seven alleged violations involving traffic protection, warning vests, atmospheric testing, spoil placement, training, competent-person…
R. Williams Construction Company
Five trench-safety violations affirmed
Two employees entered a waterlogged, unshored sewer trench to clean pumps, and the trench collapsed, killing one employee and severely injuring the other. The judge found that R. Williams provided almost no trench-safety training, lacked a safe egress route, and used supervisors who were not…
RMS Construction, Inc.
Trench and worksite violations affirmed
RMS Construction was a subcontractor building a block wall in a deep trench on a New Jersey road and bridge project. OSHA found RMS employees working outside the trench box in Type C soil, with no safe egress, no competent-person inspections, uncapped rebar, inadequate hazard training and worksite…
Staz-On Roofing, Inc.
Partial attorney-fee award granted
OSHA withdrew a fall-hazard training item against Staz-On Roofing at the start of the merits hearing, and the employer sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge found Staz-On eligible and a prevailing party on the withdrawn item. He held that the Secretary…
McLeod Land Services, Inc.
Four serious trench violations affirmed
McLeod Land Services installed underground drainage pipe at a retirement-community construction project in Sarasota, Florida. Two employees worked in a trench while an excavator's tracks extended over its unsupported vertical end wall. The judge found that McLeod did not adequately train its…
Galluzzo Equipment & Excavating, Inc.
Most excavation violations affirmed
Galluzzo Equipment & Excavating installed a concrete catch basin and pipe in a street excavation in Lodi, New Jersey. The judge affirmed serious violations involving trench-safety training, the lack of a competent person, missing hard hats, an unsecured pneumatic-hose coupling, an unprotected spoil…
Phillips Getschow Co.
Hoist training and overload violations affirmed
Phillips Getschow was removing a 4,860-pound coal-crusher cage at an Illinois power plant with an overhead hoist rated for 4,000 pounds. The cage fell from the support and pinned a millwright against a wall, causing fatal injuries. The judge found that the company had not adequately trained every…
Staz-On Roofing
Residential fall-protection violation affirmed
Staz-On Roofing employees, including a foreman, worked on a residential roof more than 30 feet above the ground without remaining tied off. The company argued that workers had to unhook to retrieve rolls of felt and that conventional or additional protection was infeasible or created a greater…
Superior Masonry Builders, Inc.
Training and competent-person items affirmed
A tower scaffold fitted with a winter enclosure collapsed during high winds while seven Superior Masonry employees were installing brick veneer, injuring all seven. The Commission vacated the item alleging that the scaffold was not adequately braced to the building because the version of the…
FABI Construction Company, Inc.
Construction violations affirmed after fatal slab collapse
A FABI employee was killed when a 10,000-pound concrete knockout slab collapsed during demolition at an Atlantic City construction project. After reviewing the full record, the Commission affirmed the judge's findings that FABI committed multiple serious construction violations, including failures…
C.T. Taylor Company Inc., & Esprit Constructors, Inc.
Related companies treated as a single employer
Two ironworkers fell 39 feet to their deaths after a foreman placed a 5,000-pound bundle of decking on unsecured and unbridged bar joists without providing fall protection. The Commission treated C.T. Taylor and Esprit as a single employer for this project because they shared ownership, management…
Kelly-Hill Company
Crane violations affirmed with $17,000 in penalties
Kelly-Hill Company maintained railroad construction equipment at its Missouri shop. An employee was electrocuted when a crane lifting a tie inserter contacted energized overhead power lines. The judge affirmed violations involving the crane manufacturer's operating limits, missing load information…
George B. Hardee Construction Company, Inc.
Trenching violations resulted in $36,800 in penalties
George B. Hardee Construction installed a storm sewer pipeline in an excavation in Mobile, Alabama. OSHA found two employees in Type C soil at depths exceeding five feet without cave-in protection, an adequate competent-person inspection, excavation-hazard training, or a safe means of exit. The…
D’Allessandro Corporation
Excavation violations affirmed with $5,000 in penalties
D’Allessandro Corporation installed drain piping in a Type C soil excavation in Boston. OSHA found an employee working in a trench more than six feet deep without cave-in protection outside the trench box. The judge also found that no qualified competent person was present to inspect the changed…
C&C Erecting, Inc.
Settlement resolved steel-erection citations with no penalty
The case involved fall-protection training, aerial-lift, roof-opening, and steel-erection allegations at a Wisconsin construction site. While the matter was under Commission review, the parties settled all outstanding issues. One training instance, two aerial-lift items, and the alleged willful…
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.