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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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…
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…
John J. Kirlin, Inc.
Serious scissor-lift guarding citation vacated, one electrical-cord item affirmed at no penalty
John J. Kirlin, Inc. is a plumbing contractor. While it was working on the renovation and construction of the Postal Square retail and office complex in Washington, D.C., OSHA inspected the worksite and issued one serious citation and one other-than-serious citation. The serious citation, with a…
J.L. Foti Construction Company
Scaffold-block issue remanded for stability finding
J.L. Foti Construction Company, a masonry contractor, used concrete blocks as part of the support for a scaffold at a wastewater-treatment-plant project. Following a Sixth Circuit decision, the Commission remanded the alleged violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(a)(2) to the administrative law judge…
O'Boyle Tank Lines, Inc.
Construction-site truck violations affirmed
O'Boyle delivered and unloaded cement at construction sites using tractor-trailers with an unguarded cycloblower pulley and, in one instance, backed a vehicle with an obstructed rear view without an alarm or signaler. The Commission held that delivery and unloading were integral to construction and…
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…
Mid-States Construction Co., Inc.
Trench and crane rulings affirmed in two-member impasse
Mid-States Construction Co., Inc. was cited over trench shoring, an unbarricaded crane swing radius, and unguarded moving machine parts. Both commissioners agreed that the crane required a physical barricade and affirmed that violation. They disagreed about the trench-shoring violation and whether…
National Roofing of Sioux City, Inc.
Flat-roof citation vacated, chain-guard item affirmed
National Roofing employees applied tar near the edge of a flat school roof about 13 feet above the next level without guardrails, lifelines, or other fall protection. The Commission vacated the repeated citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.500(d)(1) because that standard did not apply to flat roofs. It…
David Neiss, d/b/a Neiss Engineering Company
Fall-hazard penalties reduced
Neiss Engineering was cited for 12 nonserious conditions at a concrete apartment-building project, including ladder defects, unguarded floor openings and platforms, housekeeping, unsecured gas cylinders, and other guarding issues. The judge affirmed the violations and adjusted the proposed…
Langer Roofing and Sheet Metal, Inc.
Flat-roof perimeter violation affirmed
Langer Roofing employees worked near the unguarded edge of a flat roof about 20 feet above the ground. The Commission held that the open-sided-floor standard applies to flat roofs and affirmed the violation. A low parapet provided some protection, so the violation's gravity was low to moderate, and…
J.E. Roupp & Company, Inc. and Denver Dry Wall Company
Drywall fall violations upheld
J.E. Roupp was the general contractor for an apartment-building project, and Denver Dry Wall was a subcontractor. A Denver Dry Wall employee was killed after stored railings fell and pushed him from an unguarded fourth-floor balcony, and another employee used a stairway without handrails or…
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.