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…
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…
Keenan, Hopkins, Suder and Stowell Contractors, Inc., dba KHS&S Contractors
Case dismissed after full settlement
KHS&S Contractors was cited after an employee fell through a covered opening while performing framing and drywall work at a construction site. The citations alleged inadequate jobsite inspections, scaffold and aerial-lift training, and fall-hazard training under three construction standards. An…
Nguyens Goal, Inc.
Business held responsible as employer for four safety violations
Nguyens Goal owned properties and was remodeling an apartment when a worker fell more than eight feet from an attic while installing insulation without fall protection. The worker sustained a serious injury and was hospitalized, but the company did not report the hospitalization to OSHA. 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…
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…
Jody Wilson Construction, Inc.
Fall citation reduced from willful to serious
Jody Wilson Construction installed siding and screen enclosures and agreed to make an additional siding repair from a residential roof more than eight feet above the ground. Two employees worked on the roof without guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems, and the foreman fell and…
Elite Builders, Inc.
Fall and forklift violations partly affirmed
Elite Builders was a residential roofing contractor inspected at two Nebraska worksites where employees worked on elevated roofs without conventional fall protection. At the second site, employees were lifted on an oversized, unguarded personnel platform attached to a rough-terrain forklift…
William Trahant, Jr. Construction, Inc.
Roofing violations affirmed, including willful fall protection
William Trahant, Jr. Construction performed residential roofing work where employees lacked hard hats, used inadequate fall-arrest anchorages, and had access to a defective ladder. Employees also worked at least 20 feet above the ground without being tied off, and one worker had no harness or…
The Reybold Group of Companies, Inc
Young worker fall violations affirmed and willful item reduced
Reybold employed a 17-year-old vocational-school student at a Delaware residential construction project where balconies remained open and unguarded. The student regularly accessed balconies for cleanup work and was hospitalized after falling 11 feet while receiving trim passed down from the floor…
J and M Miller Construction, LLC
Worker-status defense rejected and $13,800 assessed
OSHA cited J and M Miller Construction after two residential construction inspections found unprotected roof work, inadequate fall-hazard training, missing eye protection, and a narrow scaffold platform. The judge found that the workers were employees, not independent contractors, because the…
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…
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…
Safway Scaffolding d/b/a Safway Services, LP
Untrained scaffold dismantler item affirmed after fall
Safway erected and dismantled extensive scaffolding inside an aircraft hangar. A ground-crew laborer without scaffold-dismantling training was allowed by his crew leader to join the dismantling work, then fell about 21 feet after tying off to a horizontal bar that dislodged. The judge found the…
Lakeside Construction, L.L.C.
Framing safety violations affirmed
Lakeside Construction had three employees framing an Idaho residence without a supervisor present. One employee worked below roof-framing activity without a protective helmet, while other employees worked about 9 feet above the ground without fall protection. The employees also lacked training to…
Know Thyself Contracting
Residential fall protection and training violations affirmed
Know Thyself Contracting performed residential and commercial construction work in Mobile, Alabama. OSHA observed a five-person crew installing decking near an unprotected edge 24 feet above the ground without fall protection. The company did not dispute the hazardous conditions or lack of…
Nyffeler Construction, Inc.
Roof fall-protection and training violations affirmed
Two Nyffeler Construction employees installed roof sheathing more than ten feet above the ground without compliant fall protection. The company owner could see the work and admitted that no guardrail, safety net, or personal fall-arrest system was in use. The company also had not trained the…
Todd Joseph Properties
Fall and scaffold violations affirmed
Todd Joseph Properties was demolishing a church when OSHA observed two employees working near an unprotected second-floor edge about 15 feet above the ground. One employee also climbed a scaffold frame without a ladder and worked on its top platform without adequate fall protection. The judge found…
Barnhart, Inc.
Settlement approved after construction-safety decision
OSHA cited Barnhart, the controlling contractor on a Marine Corps barracks renovation, for electrical, floor-hole, fall-protection, training, and inspection issues involving its subcontractors. The appended judge's decision had affirmed three items involving temporary cords, uncovered floor holes…
Daniel Crowe Roof Repair and its Successors
Fall protection and training citations affirmed
Daniel Crowe Roof Repair hired two roofers to replace a residential roof in Pennsylvania, and one inexperienced worker fell about 17 feet and suffered multiple fractures. The judge found that the roofers were employees, not independent contractors, because Crowe controlled the work, supplied the…
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…
Stark Excavation, Inc.
Documented safety program proved supervisory misconduct defense
A Stark Excavation superintendent and two laborers stripped bridge forms without fall protection while exposed to a 14-foot, 10-inch drop to rocks below. The company did not dispute the unsafe condition but argued that the supervisor's lapse during a 10-to-15-minute task was unforeseeable…
Franciscus Roofing & Siding, Inc.
Roof and ladder violations result in $2,400 penalty
An OSHA inspector observed a Franciscus worker about 20 feet above the ground on a steep residential roof without conventional fall protection. The judge found that the worker was an employee under the OSH Act even though the company called him a subcontractor. Franciscus did not produce the safety…
Stephen K. Korsen, d/b/a MDI Remodeling and Construction
Citations affirmed by default
MDI Remodeling and Construction initially failed to answer the Secretary's complaint and later submitted an answer after receiving additional time. The company then did not respond to a planning-conference notice, its provided telephone numbers were disconnected, and it stopped defending the case…
Carson Concrete Corp. and Carco Construction Corp.
Citations affirmed after refusal to proceed
Carson Concrete and Carco Construction sought a continuance four days before a long-scheduled hearing after changing counsel and disavowing earlier discovery responses. The judge found that the companies had known the hearing date for months, had not opposed key motions, and had waited until the…
B & L Drywall & Acoustical, Inc.
Fall-arrest and training items affirmed
B & L Drywall was installing exterior studs and drywall when a newspaper photographed an employee standing on a scissor-lift basket rail about 24 feet above the ground. The employee wore a harness, but his six-foot lanyard was attached below shoulder level and could have allowed a free fall longer…
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…
Designs Unlimited Contractors
Residential roofing violations affirmed
Designs Unlimited Contractors was finishing a residential reroofing job when OSHA observed three workers more than 25 feet above the ground without fall protection. The judge found that the company had not provided competent-person inspections, had removed its fall-protection system before…
FABI Construction Company, Inc.
Construction violations affirmed after fatal slab collapse
A FABI employee was killed when a 10,000-pound concrete knockout slab collapsed during demolition at an Atlantic City construction project. After reviewing the full record, the Commission affirmed the judge's findings that FABI committed multiple serious construction violations, including failures…
AJP Construction, Inc.
Fall and scaffold violations resulted in $87,400 in penalties
AJP Construction performed concrete superstructure work at a residential construction site in Hoboken, New Jersey. OSHA conducted one inspection after a referral and another after falling form material struck an outrigger scaffold, causing it to collapse and killing an employee. The judge affirmed…
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…
Double "A" Industries, Inc.
Roofing subcontractor's safety citations affirmed under the multi-employer worksite rule
Double "A" Industries is a small south Florida shell contractor that took a $38,000 contract to build a guardhouse and subcontracted the roofing labor out. An OSHA officer inspecting a nearby site watched roof workers for about 40 minutes without fall protection or hard hats and improperly using…
BSE Industrial Contractors, Inc.
Fall-protection citation vacated for lack of knowledge, but inadequate fall training affirmed
BSE Industrial Contractors is a steel erection contractor. OSHA investigated after an ironworker on a BSE crew fell 40 feet and died while climbing a rain-slicked noise baffle inside a smoke stack at a USX steel plant in Fairfield, Alabama. OSHA issued three items: working on an elevated surface…
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…
North West Handling Systems, Inc., and its successors
Scissor-lift and fall-training violations affirmed, willful items reduced to serious
North West Handling Systems used a scissor lift while relocating warehouse pallet racks in Sandpoint, Idaho. A company installer removed part of the lift's guardrail, provided little safety training to two temporary workers, and used a forklift to push up the lift platform after it stopped rising…
David Weekley Homes
General contractor citation vacated for insufficient proof and lack of knowledge
David Weekley Homes was the general contractor for residential construction at the Horizon Pointe development in Colorado. OSHA cited Weekley for nine conditions grouped into six willful items involving its safety program, hard hats, scaffold support, fall protection, guardrails, training, and…
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…
General Property Services, Inc. a/k/a GPS Roofing Services
Training items affirmed, fall-protection item vacated
General Property Services contracted to replace deteriorated sections of a warehouse roof in Forest Park, Georgia. The judge found that GPS was the employer of the roofing crew because its officers supervised and inspected the work, it held crew leaders out as GPS officers, and it retained…
N & N Contractors, Inc.
Fall-protection violation affirmed, training item vacated
N & N Contractors erected precast exterior panels on a twelve-story building in Washington, D.C. An employee crossed beneath a horizontal lifeline without tying off, stumbled near an unprotected edge, and fell more than 115 feet to his death. The Commission held that the fall-protection standard…
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…
Cleveland Construction, Inc.
Skylight fall item reduced from willful to serious
Cleveland Construction supervised replacement of large skylight panels at a university building. OSHA videotaped the company superintendent and another worker next to an uncovered skylight opening 18 to 22 feet above the floor without fall protection. Judge Ken S. Welsch found the skylight standard…
James Eddy, d/b/a Eddy Roofing, Inc.
Roofing safety violations affirmed and penalties reduced for size
OSHA inspected Eddy Roofing after a fatal fall from a roofing worksite about 40 feet above the ground. The company withdrew its contest to violations involving its safety program, fall-hazard training, roof edges, skylights, guardrails, warning lines, access, and hazard communication. Judge…
Triple J Construction
Repeat residential fall-protection violations affirmed
Triple J Construction had three workers removing shingles and tar paper from a steep residential roof about 12 feet above the ground without required fall protection. The company also lacked a training program for workers exposed to fall hazards and had previously received final citations for the…
Bear Erectors, Inc.
Steel-erection fall-protection and training citations all affirmed, $12,000 penalty
Bear Erectors was a steel-erection subcontractor working on an addition to and demolition at an adult nursing facility in Rochester, New York. An OSHA officer driving past saw workers on the high steel without fall protection, videotaped the site, and inspected. OSHA issued a serious citation with…
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…
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…
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.