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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Tri-City Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Ladder settlement approved with $100 penalty
Tri-City Electrical Contractors was cited for unsecured portable ladders, improperly constructed job-made ladders, and unguarded open-sided floors at an apartment construction project. The Commission approved a settlement in which the Secretary withdrew the unsecured-ladder item and its $300…
Gotham Electric Company
Subcontractor safety violations conditionally affirmed
Gotham Electric Company employees were exposed to construction debris, defective job-made ladders, unguarded floor openings, and unguarded open-sided floors at a multi-employer worksite. The electrical subcontractor did not create or control the conditions, but the Commission held that an exposing…
Constructora Maza, Inc.
Construction violations and $4,455 penalties affirmed
Constructora Maza was building a three-building complex in Puerto Rico. OSHA cited missing stair railings, scaffolds supported by concrete blocks, a weakened scaffold plank, unguarded floor edges, unsecured compressed-gas cylinders, and improperly built ladder cleats. The Commission relied on…
Mayfair Construction Company
Sears Tower citation items split
Mayfair performed concrete construction during the Sears Tower project and contested eight nonserious citation items. The Commission vacated a temporary-wiring item because OSHA did not connect Mayfair employees to the specific wiring hazards. It also vacated a ladder-cleat item because the spacing…
Frank Briscoe Company, Inc.
Fall-protection item affirmed and ladder citation amended
Frank Briscoe employees worked near unguarded building edges, including one employee standing on a ladder beside the open third-floor perimeter without a tied-off safety belt. The Commission vacated the roof-edge citation under then-current precedent holding that § 1926.500(d)(1) did not apply to…
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…
Horowitz Bross., Inc.
Serious trench citation vacated for lack of proof
Horowitz was laying water pipe in a trench that was about 88 feet long, roughly six feet deep, three feet wide at the bottom, and seven feet wide at the top. OSHA alleged that the trench violated the rule for hard or compact soil because it was not adequately shored or sloped. The Commission held…
A. G. Pinkston Co., Inc.
Serious trench penalty reduced to $250
Pinkston employees worked in a trench about seven feet deep without adequate shoring or sloping. The soil was cohesive clay, but it was not solid rock or another material exempt from the trench-protection requirement, and some soil had already sloughed from the side. The judge found a serious…
RPM Erectors, Inc.
High-rise platform violation reclassified as serious
RPM Erectors used a movable platform outside a high-rise building to land curtain-wall materials. While RPM employees used it, the side guardrails lacked intermediate rails and toeboards, exposing employees to falls from heights between 18 and 33 stories. The platform was later damaged after RPM…
The Austin Co., Inc.
Scaffold and ladder violations affirmed
The Austin Company was constructing a hospital addition where two employees worked from a suspension scaffold without safety belts or lifelines. Two other employees worked on a 12-foot scaffold without guardrails. The judge treated those conditions as a serious violation and assessed $550. He…
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.