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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
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…
CentiMark Corporation
Roof-edge assessment was part of roofing work
CentiMark was preparing to replace sections of a commercial roof when OSHA observed a foreman within two feet of a low-slope roof edge 40 feet above the ground without fall protection. The foreman went to the edge to identify a location from which he or another employee could signal the crane…
Elmer W. Davis, Inc.
Roofing fall-protection citation vacated for employee misconduct
Elmer W. Davis assigned two employees to repair a low-slope commercial roof where a safety-monitoring system was permitted as the sole form of fall protection. OSHA observed both employees performing roofing work near an unprotected edge after the designated monitor stopped monitoring and joined…
Lucas Shrewsbury dba Infinite Installation and Repair
Roof fall citations affirmed by default
OSHA cited Infinite Installation and Repair after employees allegedly worked on a 19-foot-high low-slope roof without fall protection and near unprotected skylights. The company contested the citations but repeatedly failed to provide ordered discovery, and the judge first imposed lesser sanctions…
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…
Far From Broken Auto Sales, Inc. d/b/a/ Smart Choice Auto Sales, Inc.
Roof and ladder violations affirmed
Far From Broken Auto Sales bought, repaired, and sold used vehicles at a Florida property. Its employee replaced damaged plywood on a low-slope shed roof more than eight feet above the ground without fall protection and used an unsecured ladder placed in front of a doorway and open to vehicle…
Latite Roofing & Sheet Metal, LLC
Repeat roof fall citation affirmed
Latite employees removed and transported roof tiles on a low-slope commercial roof with unprotected edges 16 feet above the ground. A safety monitor was present, but he faced away from an employee pushing a wheelbarrow near the edge, and no warning line or personal fall-arrest system was in use…
Eagle Cornice Company, Incorporated
Roof fall-protection citation affirmed
Eagle Cornice employees cut an opening in a low-slope roof more than 19 feet above the floor. One employee returned to the roof without putting on his fall-arrest harness, stepped into the opening, and fell to the level below. The judge found that the crew foreman knew or should have known the…
Chambers Construction Co.
Roof fall and training citations affirmed
Chambers Construction assigned two employees to patch leaks on a low-slope commercial roof four to five stories above the ground. The employees used no compliant fall-protection system, and one had received no training on recognizing and minimizing fall hazards. The company believed the roof's…
North Shore Strapping Company
Four roofing fall-protection violations affirmed
North Shore Strapping used employees and company managers to replace the roof of its Ohio manufacturing facility. OSHA observed an employee riding an aerial lift without tying off and workers installing roofing material near a 25-foot roof edge without an effective fall-protection system. The judge…
Meadows Construction Company, LLC
Citations upheld despite expired inspector credential
OSHA inspected Meadows Construction’s public-school roofing project after receiving a complaint that employees were working without fall protection. The administrative law judge affirmed machine-guarding, ground-fault protection, housekeeping, power-tap, and fall-protection items, assessing $24,400…
James Rutledge d/b/a Rutledge Roofing
Inadequate roof safety monitor draws $2,000 penalty
Rutledge Roofing used no guardrails, nets, or personal fall-arrest systems while two people installed metal roofing more than eight feet above hard surfaces. The owner claimed he served as a safety monitor, but he performed roofing work, moved between roof levels, and sometimes worked from the…
Kirtley Roofing and Sheet Metal, LLC
Repeat roof fall violation draws $24,500 penalty
Four Kirtley Roofing employees worked on a low-slope canopy roof with unprotected edges and without an effective fall-protection system. The designated safety monitor performed other tasks, and workers began moving roofing materials before anyone was tied off. The judge also found substantial…
Peck Brothers, LLC
Roof fall-protection citation vacated
Peck Brothers was replacing a deteriorated gutter and reflashing a low-slope roof at a Home Depot store. OSHA alleged that employees near the roof edge lacked fall protection and cited the general rule for unprotected sides and edges, with the low-slope roofing rule pleaded in the alternative. The…
R&S Roofing, LLC
Fall-protection citation affirmed for workers treated as employees
R&S Roofing used a crew to replace a rubber roof on a one-story commercial building in Ohio. Although the company called the roofers independent contractors, the judge found they were employees because R&S controlled the workplace and the manner and timing of their work, paid them hourly, provided…
All Steel Consultants, Inc.
Roofing citations partly affirmed
All Steel Consultants was installing metal roofing when OSHA observed four employees working without tying off and two others using lifelines with enough slack to contact the lower roof in a fall. The foreman knew the company's tie-off rule but allowed employees to work without following it, and he…
21st Century Roofing Systems, Inc.
Roof fall citations affirmed by default
OSHA observed 21st Century Roofing employees working near the edge of a low-slope roof without adequate fall protection. The warning line was only about 2.5 to 4 feet from the edge instead of the required 6 feet, and employees worked outside it near a roughly 25-foot drop without a safety monitor…
T & F Systems, Inc.
Willful low-slope roof fall violation affirmed
T & F Systems employees installed roofing material on an Ohio high school roof about 25 feet above lower levels. The judge found that the roof was about 80 feet wide, so a safety-monitoring system alone could not satisfy the cited fall-protection standard. The evidence also showed that the company…
Tecta America New England, LLC
Unprotected roof-edge work results in serious citation
Two Tecta roofing employees worked near the edge of a commercial roof about 20 feet above the ground without tying off their available fall-protection equipment. The working foreman's knowledge of the condition was imputed to the company. Tecta argued that the conduct was unpreventable because it…
Deer Park Roofing, Inc.
Fall citation vacated for supervisory misconduct
A Deer Park Roofing foreman worked near the edge of a low-slope canopy roof without fall protection, about 12 feet 8 inches above the lower level. The judge found that the standard applied, the foreman was exposed, and no permitted fall-protection method was in use. Deer Park nevertheless proved…
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…
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…
Jose Luna Roofing
Serious fall-protection citation affirmed after roofers worked 41 feet above ground
OSHA observed Jose Luna Roofing employees performing roofing work without fall protection on a low-slope roof approximately 41 feet above the ground. The owner was present during the inspection and confirmed that the workers were his employees and that he knew they were on the roof. The company did…
Prime Roofing Corporation
Deficient roof warning lines led to a repeat citation and $7,500 penalty
Prime Roofing Corporation provided warning lines while workers removed roof ballast in preparation for replacing a low-slope roof about 20 feet above the ground. The warning lines ran down the center of the roof rather than at least 6 feet from the exposed edges, and workers were observed near the…
Prime Roofing Corporation
Late amendment denied and repeat fall citation remained vacated
OSHA cited Prime Roofing under the general unprotected-edge fall standard after observing an employee working on a parapet wall about 22 feet above the ground. The judge initially found the employee was performing roofing work governed instead by the low-slope-roof standard and vacated the…
Prime Roofing Corporation
Amendment request returned to the judge for a ruling
The ALJ vacated a repeat fall-protection citation against Prime Roofing. Before the decision was docketed, the Secretary moved to amend the complaint to allege a different fall-protection provision in the alternative. The judge received the motion only one day before docketing and did not rule on…
EMS Construction, Inc.
Low-slope roof fall violation affirmed
EMS employees placed sheet metal on a curved roof between about 9 and 18 feet above the ground. An OSHA compliance officer observed two employees working without fall protection, including one who came within one or two feet of the eave. The judge credited the officer over the foreman, who could…
Capeway Roofing Systems, Inc.
Seven roofing violations and $111,800 affirmed
Capeway Roofing installed roofing on a firehouse with four roof levels and was cited for head protection, fall protection, monitoring, training, material storage, and defective safety equipment. The Commission found that any error in allowing two OSHA witnesses to remain in the courtroom despite a…
Evelyn D. Komes d/b/a Economy Roofing and Sheet Metal, and its successors
Roof fall violation affirmed with $5,000 penalty
Economy Roofing employees worked on a 30-foot-high flat roof without guardrails, warning lines, a safety monitor, or personal fall arrest equipment. OSHA observed one employee kneeling within three feet of the edge. Economy did not appear at the hearing, and the Secretary established a prima facie…
HST Roofing, Inc.
Low-slope roof fall citation vacated
HST Roofing employees spread stone in the center of a large multiplex roof that had parapet protection except at two open-edge areas. The judge found that the employees' work and access route did not take them near those two unprotected areas, so the Secretary did not prove exposure. He also found…
Elgin Roofing Company
Five roof fall-protection violations affirmed as serious, skylight item vacated
OSHA inspected an Elgin Roofing worksite where employees were working on roofs 16 to 20 feet above grade. The judge affirmed violations involving a missing warning-line access path, tools stored near a roof edge without guardrails, unprotected work in a hoist area, roofing near an unprotected edge…
Lancaster Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Orbit Roofing Co.
Safety-program item vacated, glass-skylight item affirmed
Lancaster Enterprises, doing business as Orbit Roofing, was installing a rubber roof on a three-story apartment building in Massachusetts when an employee slipped near the roof edge and fell 33 feet to his death. The Commission upheld vacatur of the general safety-program item because the Secretary…
Von Bodkin, d/b/a Eclipse Coating Systems
Seven-month-late contest dismissed
OSHA issued Eclipse Coating Systems a serious fall-protection citation after inspecting an Idaho worksite. An agent of the company signed for the citation on July 27, 1999, and the document twice explained that any contest had to be filed within 15 working days. Eclipse did not submit a notice of…
Dayton Hudson Corp.
Roofing and acetone violations affirmed with reduced penalties
Dayton Hudson employees performed roofing work on a flat roof in West Allis, Wisconsin, about 28 feet above the next level. The company admitted that employees did not use available harnesses and that its warning-line system was incomplete, too loose, too close to the roof edge, and missing around…
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…
Murray Roofing Company, Inc.
Unsafe roof access and repeated fall violation affirmed
Six Murray Roofing employees reached a one-story roof by climbing a ladder to a canopy and then climbing the remaining three-foot elevation without a ladder or other safe access. OSHA also observed two roofers near an unprotected 15.5-foot edge after warning lines had been moved for membrane work…
Thomas Mlodzinski, d/b/a TNT Roofing
Unprotected hotel roof work affirmed
OSHA observed three TNT Roofing workers, including the owner, installing shingles on low- and steep-slope portions of a hotel roof 40 to 50 feet above the ground without fall protection. The crew had fall-arrest equipment and had used it earlier, but stopped because they felt secure without it…
Horizon Roofing & Sheetmetal, Inc.
Debris and fall-protection items vacated
Horizon removed and replaced a large postal-facility roof using separate chutes for stone and other roofing debris. OSHA cited the company after an employee working inside a dumpster was struck by roofing material and sustained unspecified neck, back, and arm injuries. Judge Richard DeBenedetto…
A.D. Willis Company, Inc.
Roofing fall-protection citation vacated for failure of proof
A.D. Willis Company, Inc. was doing roofing work on an HEB store in Midland, Texas. An OSHA compliance officer arriving around 9:15 a.m. saw and videotaped two Willis employees working at the edge of the roughly 30-foot-high roof with no visible fall protection. He did not go onto the roof until…
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…
Consolidated Concepts, Inc., Camden Development, Inc., Noconi Construction Corporation
Most citations vacated, one pump-jack scaffold item affirmed serious, $1,500
OSHA inspected a three-story apartment complex under construction in Corpus Christi, Texas, and issued serious citations to three companies at the site: Consolidated Concepts (CCI), Camden Development (the general contractor), and Noconi Construction. All three contested, the cases were…
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.