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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Barry Billcliff, dba Barry James, et al.
Roofing violations and personal liability affirmed
OSHA inspected roofing work at a hotel and conference center in Devens, Massachusetts, where workers lacked required inspections, head protection, fall protection, training, and compliant ladder access. Barry Billcliff denied controlling the project or employing anyone there, but the judge found…
Jack Durham d/b/a Jack Durham and Company
Awning safety citation vacated because workers were independent contractors
Jack Durham and Company hired a handyman to repair a leaking metal awning at a strip mall. OSHA cited alleged roof fall, training, and ladder violations after inspectors saw two people working on the awning. The judge found that the handyman controlled how to perform the repair, worked for multiple…
Affordable Roofing and Exteriors, Inc.
Ladder and repeat roofing violations affirmed by default
OSHA observed eleven Affordable Roofing and Exteriors employees working on a steep gas-station roof in Trenton, Illinois without conventional fall protection. The access ladder did not extend three feet above the roof, the company had stopped conducting required safety inspections, and a one-foot…
David Stillwell d/b/a David Stillwell Roofing
Roofing citations affirmed after default
OSHA observed David Stillwell and three other individuals installing shingles on a commercial roof in Northport, Alabama without fall protection or eye protection while using pneumatic nail guns. Stillwell argued that he had no employees, but two workers told OSHA they worked for him and the…
All Star Realty Co., Inc.
Roofing and ladder citations vacated for lack of employment relationship
All Star Realty had a contract to demolish a strip mall, where OSHA found two brothers removing metal roofing without fall protection and using an improper ladder. The brothers had previously done odd jobs for All Star's owner, but he told them they could take the roofing only after the building…
Absolute Roofing & Construction, Inc.
Four scaffold and fall-protection items affirmed
Absolute Roofing's worker repaired a steep church roof without fall protection above a scaffold that lacked base plates and guardrails. The judge treated Absolute Roofing and Absolute Exteriors as a single employer because they shared ownership, management, an office, employees, work, and their…
Teddy Mosley Painting
Roof fall-protection and ladder items affirmed
Teddy Mosley Painting employees performed roofing work on a steep roof almost eight feet above the ground without fall protection. The ladders did not reach the roof edge or extend three feet above it, and the foreman descended by stepping on the top step while facing away from the ladder. The…
D.W. Caldwell, Inc.
Steep-roof fall violation affirmed as serious
D.W. Caldwell employees installed metal panels on a steep roof with an eave 32 feet above the ground. The crew wore harnesses but, with one temporary exception, did not connect them to anchor points, and the foreman knowingly allowed the practice after the general contractor warned him the previous…
Roy’s Construction, Inc.
Roofing, respirator, and ladder violations affirmed
Roy’s Construction was repairing the roof of the Legislature Building in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. OSHA saw employees working without fall protection on a steep roof that the site supervisor said was 36 feet high. Employees also wore company-supplied respirators near asbestos-removal work without…
Modern Building Solutions, LLC
Steep-roof fall violation affirmed at church project
A Modern Building Solutions worker replaced missing roof-sheathing nails and removed boards on an 8-in-12 church roof without conventional fall protection. The judge found the church was a commercial project, so the alternative residential-construction provision did not apply. The inspection…
Summer & Winter Contruction, LLC
Roofing safety violations yield $89,000 in penalties
OSHA inspected Summer & Winter roofing crews at two New Hampshire sites and found extensive fall-protection and related safety violations. At the first site, workers used body belts, shared anchors, worked beneath a raised lift, used a damaged ladder, and accessed a steep roof without compliant…
Crowther Roofing & Sheet Metal of Florida
Steep-roof fall violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Two Crowther Roofing employees snapped chalk lines on a steep apartment-building roof without tying off, about 60 feet above the ground. The judge imputed the foreman's knowledge to Crowther because he directed the crew, knew the employees were not tied off, and did not correct them. Crowther had a…
Sharon and Walter Construction Inc.
Willful fall and repeat training violations affirmed
Two workers installed a metal roof without fall protection, and one was injured in a fall. The Commission held that both workers were employees of Sharon and Walter Construction, despite the company's attempt to treat one as an independent contractor. It affirmed the fall-protection violation as…
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…
Bob Anderson Builders, Inc.
Willful roof-fall violation affirmed
Bob Anderson Builders framed a multi-story retirement facility where a newly hired carpenter slipped on a frosted roof and fell 32 to 34 feet through a gap in an incomplete slide guard. The judge found that employees also accessed the roof by climbing trusses instead of a ladder, but classified…
Cody-Zeigler, Inc.
Consensual inspections and mixed citation rulings affirmed
Cody-Zeigler faced citations arising from five programmed inspections at construction projects in Ohio. Although company representatives consented when OSHA arrived, the contractor later argued that the frequency of inspections showed a lack of administrative probable cause. The Commission held…
Field & Associates, Inc.
Commission affirms the fall-protection citation but throws out the material-storage citation for lack of exposure
Field & Associates is a roofing contractor. In August 1997, two of its employees were distributing bundles of shingles along the peak of a new church roof in Tipp City, Ohio, with no fall protection when two OSHA compliance officers passing by stopped to inspect. OSHA issued five serious citation…
Accu-Rate Roofing Co.
Four roofing safety items affirmed for a $1,200 penalty
OSHA observed an Accu-Rate Roofing employee shingling a steep roof about 13 feet above the ground without fall protection. The access ladder was not tied off, did not extend three feet above the roof edge, and left the employee without a secure handhold when stepping onto the roof. The employee…
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…
Walter Jensen, d/b/a S & W Construction
Willful steep-roof fall citations affirmed, one power-line item vacated
Walter Jensen, doing business as S & W Construction, ran residential roofing crews in New Hampshire. OSHA inspected two of his steep-roof jobsites about five weeks apart, both under the same foreman, and found roofers working high above the ground with no guardrails, nets, or personal fall arrest…
W. G. Kees Properties, Inc.
Eight construction safety items affirmed
W. G. Kees Properties, Inc. was cited for safety conditions at a construction site. The remaining allegations involved employees working without fall protection on a steep roof and second level, unsecured and insufficiently extended access ladders, and a stairway without required rail protection…
James Construction
Controlling employer liable for subcontractor hazards
James Construction supervised a siding subcontractor and controlled its work approval and payment. The judge held that James could not ignore repeated safety violations merely because stronger enforcement might delay the job or reduce profits. Serious items involving eye protection, unguarded…
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.