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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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…
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…
Greenwood Industries, Inc.
Hoist-area fall citation vacated
Greenwood employees handed sheet metal from the ground to coworkers on an approximately 11-foot-high roof. One worker fell while walking back toward the roof edge. The judge found that the cited hoist-area standard did not apply because the crew used no crane, winch, or other mechanical lifting…
Orlowski Company, Inc.
Stairway and willful fall-protection penalties totaled $56,600
Orlowski Company admitted one serious stairway violation and two willful fall-protection violations at a Chicago construction site, contesting only the penalty amounts. Employees used stairways without handrails, a foreman performed masonry work on an unguarded scaffold more than 12 feet high, and…
Major Construction Corp., Inc. and Michael J. Polites
Fall citations largely affirmed with $223,200 penalty
Major Construction was the concrete subcontractor on a 32-story structure where OSHA documented extensive fall-protection and related violations, including violations after an imminent-danger notice was posted. The Commission largely upheld the judge's findings on feasibility, employer…
MJP Construction Co., Inc.
High-rise fall violations affirmed and willful penalties increased
MJP was the formwork subcontractor on a high-rise concrete project where employees repeatedly worked at open floor edges and hoist areas without guardrails or personal fall-arrest systems. The Commission affirmed the violations, finding that videotape and testimony showed exposure and that MJP did…
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…
Pete Miller, Inc.
Safety monitor had to be on the same roof as the monitored worker
Pete Miller was a roofing subcontractor on a hospital addition in Marysville, Ohio. An employee on a small lower roof handled metal curbs weighing about 150 pounds and pushed them over an unguarded edge to the ground 15 feet below. The company used a foreman on an upper roof as the employee's…
New England Masonry Co.
Most roofing-site citations affirmed, safety-monitor and ladder-inspection items vacated
New England Masonry Co. was replacing the flat roof on a convalescent home in Glastonbury, Connecticut, when OSHA inspected and issued a five-item serious citation. The judge affirmed most of it: a ground worker in the hoist area without a hard hat, a discharged and an overcharged fire extinguisher…
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.