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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Frontera Construction, LLC
Electrical-proximity citation vacated
Frontera Construction was the general contractor at a medical-facility project in Laredo, Texas. Its superintendent directed a ductwork subcontractor's employees to work only in a hallway because adjoining rooms contained energized electrical equipment. After the superintendent left to assist…
Armstrong Utilities, Inc. d/b/a Armstrong Cable Services
Electrical citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
An Armstrong Utilities crew was installing fiber-optic cable below an energized electrical line in rural Ohio when an experienced lineman contacted the 7.8-kilovolt line and suffered electrical shocks and burns. OSHA originally cited the construction electrical standard and later alleged the…
Rieber Contracting, Inc.
Late contest dismissed because mail neglect was not excusable
Rieber Contracting, a commercial construction contractor, received a serious citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.416(a)(1) with a proposed $9,282 penalty. The citation was delivered by certified mail to the company's address, but its mail practice was to leave documents in a mixed household and…
Pacific Tech Construction, Inc.
Table-saw and electrical citations affirmed
Pacific Tech Construction renovated a medical clinic at an Air National Guard base. OSHA observed employees ripping plywood on an unguarded table saw and found multiple uncovered 110-volt outlets and switches that remained energized while employees painted and worked nearby. The judge found that…
New Finish Construction, LLC
Electrical and conductive-ladder violations affirmed
New Finish Construction installed a metal roof at a Pennsylvania residence. After the owner threw a steel roof anchor from the roof and it caught on a 12,000-volt power line, an employee climbed an aluminum ladder and used a metal pole to try to dislodge it; he was electrocuted and died. The judge…
North Eastern Precast LLC Masonry Services, Inc. dba MSI
Duplicative power-line item vacated
North Eastern Precast and Masonry Services worked near energized power lines carrying up to 13.2 kilovolts while erecting a multistory building. Despite utility cease-and-desist orders and an OSHA warning, work continued until employees built a masonry wall around part of the live line and a crane…
Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc.
Electrical contact violations affirmed
Wayne J. Griffin Electric installed replacement substations during a large electrical upgrade at a New Hampshire office complex. An electrician was seriously injured when his face contacted an energized bus bar while he worked inside a switchgear compartment believed to be de-energized. The judge…
U.S. Utility Contractor Company
EAJA fees awarded after unsupported electrical citation
U.S. Utility prevailed when the judge vacated a serious electrical citation based on a worker's claim that he had been shocked while stripping wire. The judge found OSHA's position was not substantially justified because repeated tests showed the circuit was dead, tools and breakers showed no…
Florida Power and Light Company
Arc-flash citations affirmed
An electrical contractor at Miami International Airport needed Florida Power and Light to open a meter can and remove a protective plate so it could replace wiring and a breaker. The FPL employee raised an energized bypass handle without first asking what work had been done or inspecting the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc.
Electrical citation items vacated
A Shaw electrician was severely burned by an electrical arc after opening an energized panel box at a Maryland waste-removal project. OSHA concluded that he was loosening a live lug bolt with an Allen wrench, while Shaw's investigation concluded that a wrench left on top of the box fell when the…
Thompson Electric, Inc.
Eye-protection and recordkeeping items affirmed
A Thompson Electric crew worked inside a vault near energized 4,160-volt cable terminations, and no crew member wore eye protection. The crew supervisor received a fatal electric shock when his elbow contacted a tiny exposed spot in insulating tape on an adjacent energized lug. The judge affirmed a…
Miller Electric Company
Electrical violations affirmed before Commission remand
A Miller Electric journeyman was electrocuted while connecting a light fixture to an energized 277-volt circuit at a medical-center construction project. The judge found that Miller permitted work near the energized circuit and failed to ascertain and warn employees that the circuit was live. She…
R.G. Bigelow Electrical Company, Inc.
Electrical and aerial-lift violations affirmed
A Bigelow electrician was assigned to tighten a connection on an energized 480-volt circuit from an aerial lift at a Connecticut printing company. The supervisor rejected the employee's suggestion to de-energize the box and did not provide insulated tools, electrical protective equipment, or…
Miller Electric Company, Inc.
Electrical case remanded after testimony was misunderstood
Miller Electric received three serious electrical citations after a journeyman electrician was electrocuted while connecting a light fixture to an energized circuit. The administrative law judge affirmed two items and rejected the company's employee-misconduct defense. The Commission found that the…
Orion Electric, Inc.
Energized-circuit violation affirmed
Two Orion journeyman electricians installed dimmer switches on an energized low-voltage circuit during restaurant renovation work, and one employee died from electrocution. Judge Ken S. Welsch held that the electrical-protection standard contains no low-voltage exception and that experience working…
J.A.M. Builders, Inc.
Willful electrical violation affirmed after fatal power-line contact
J.A.M. Builders was a construction subcontractor placing reinforcing steel for a concrete floor in Miami Beach, Florida. Employees handled rebar up to 20 feet long on a 17-foot-wide deck beneath energized, uninsulated 7,620-volt power lines. One employee died when the rebar he was holding contacted…
CMC Electric, Inc.
Electrical-hazard and worksite-safety items affirmed
CMC Electric sent three journeyman wiremen to install electrical service at a cellular-telephone construction site near Andover, Ohio. An employee died after climbing a utility pole and contacting an energized 7,200-volt line that was not shown on the work schematic. CMC had not inspected for…
Mass. Electric Construction Co.
Energized-panel violation affirmed after electrical flash
Mass. Electric employees worked on an energized 480-volt distribution panel without effective insulation or other protection. An electrical flash burned the job foreman while he attempted to remove tape from energized busbars. The company argued that the foreman acted contrary to its safety rules…
Plumb Square & Lovell, and its successors
Roof-edge violation affirmed but electrical and skylight items vacated
Plumb Square & Lovell employees framed a roof about 15 feet above the ground without fall protection. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz affirmed that serious violation even though the contractor mistakenly believed California's 15-foot rule governed the federal worksite. He reduced the penalty to $150…
Honey Creek Contracting Co.
Review vacated after employer failed to brief
Honey Creek Contracting petitioned for Commission review of two administrative law judge decisions concerning excavation work in Homer City, Pennsylvania. After directing the cases for review, the Commission ordered Honey Creek to file a brief or a letter in lieu of a brief within 40 days. Honey…
Commercial Wall, Inc.
Willful fall violation affirmed at one motel site
Commercial Wall, Inc. supplied framing crews for motel projects in Galesburg and Knoxville, Illinois. At the Galesburg site, the judge found Commercial was the employer because it held the framing contract, paid the workers, covered workers' compensation, and retained the right to control the work…
Milo Construction Corporation
Nine construction violations affirmed
Milo Construction Corporation was the prime contractor for construction at Sirena Plaza in Agana, Guam. After Milo failed to comply with discovery orders, the cited violations, their classifications, and Milo's knowledge were deemed admitted. The judge held Milo responsible for hazards involving…
National Acoustics, Inc.
Housekeeping citation tossed, but electrical-hazard citations upheld against a demolition subcontractor
National Acoustics was a demolition and cleanup subcontractor on a hotel renovation in Chicago. OSHA inspected in August 1996 and issued a serious citation with three items: one for scrap lumber with protruding nails and other debris on the floor, and two for letting employees work close to live…
McCarson's Quality Covering
Roofing safety violations affirmed
McCarson's Quality Covering used employees to replace a residential roof near an energized service line. OSHA found that the ladder-jack scaffold was about 12 inches from the unguarded power line, employees had no conventional fall protection on the steep roof, and the employer lacked adequate…
Valley Construction Company
$750 awarded for unjustified material-safety-data-sheet item
Valley Construction Company sought attorney, consultant, and other expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after settling OSHA citations arising from an employee's fatal electrocution. The settlement withdrew three items, reclassified two, and reduced two penalties. The judge found Valley to…
Stein, Inc.
Crane inspection and power-line clearance items affirmed
Stein provided a crane and crane operator for installation of a truck scale at an Ohio steel-mill site. A ground worker employed by the scale contractor was electrocuted when the crane boom contacted a 13,000-volt power line. The judge found that Stein remained an employer responsible for its…
Hirsch Electric Company
Energized-wiring item affirmed, penalty reduced to $1,000
Hirsch Electric installed energized wiring for operating rooms under construction at Hillcrest Hospital in Ohio. A flexible conduit containing 270-volt lines hung into the area where another contractor's employees were installing metal duct diffusers, and one worker received an electrical shock…
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.