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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Boh Brothers Construction Company, LLC
Rescue-skiff and crane-operation items affirmed
Boh Brothers was constructing bridges over Lake Pontchartrain when a crane tipped on the sloped bridge deck. The operator fell into the lake and later died from his injuries. The Commission held that the company's rescue system could not be expected to reach a worker within the three-to-four-minute…
Ben Hur Construction Company
Partial EAJA fee award granted after citations were vacated
Ben Hur Construction prevailed after OSHA withdrew or the judge vacated citations arising from a fatal crane-disassembly accident. The company then sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The judge found the Secretary substantially justified in pursuing the…
Ben Hur Construction Co.
Crane-operation and training allegations vacated
A Ben Hur Construction apprentice was killed while helping disassemble a crawler crane after he attached his fall-protection lanyard to a live crane cable. OSHA alleged that Ben Hur failed to follow the manufacturer's crane specifications and failed to train the employee to recognize and avoid…
Kelly-Hill Company
Crane violations affirmed with $17,000 in penalties
Kelly-Hill Company maintained railroad construction equipment at its Missouri shop. An employee was electrocuted when a crane lifting a tie inserter contacted energized overhead power lines. The judge affirmed violations involving the crane manufacturer's operating limits, missing load information…
Contour Erection and Siding Systems, Inc.
EAJA fee award reduced to $27,892.48
Contour obtained vacatur of crane-operation citations arising from a crane tip-over at a sports arena project in Buffalo, New York. The company then sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Commission agreed that the Secretary's case ceased to be substantially…
Jensen Road Company
Crane boom-tip scaffold citation vacated
Jensen Road Company used a scaffold attached to a crawler crane boom to position employees beneath a bridge deck while they removed plywood forms. OSHA alleged that this use violated the crane manufacturer's specifications and limitations. The manufacturer's notices warned that the crane was not…
National Engineering and Contracting Company
Boom-truck violation restored to willful
National Engineering and Contracting Company was building a highway sound wall and used a boom truck to place concrete traffic barriers. The truck tipped while a barrier was being moved without its front outriggers and rear stabilizers fully extended, killing one employee and seriously injuring…
Contour Erection & Siding Systems, Inc.
Crane-overload citation vacated
Contour Erection used a crawler crane to lift a large roof truss at a sports arena when the boom and load collapsed to the floor without injuring anyone. OSHA alleged that the crane exceeded the manufacturer's load limits and cited two duplicative crane standards. The judge found that OSHA relied…
National Engineering & Contracting Company
Willful crane-overturn items vacated, seat-belt and ladder items affirmed serious, $2,500
National Engineering & Contracting was the general contractor on an Ohio Department of Transportation soil-erosion project along a ravine in Lakewood, Ohio. A 28-ton Grove crane overturned into the ravine on August 19, 1994, injuring the operator, which prompted an OSHA inspection and two…
Irwin Steel Erectors Inc.
Four contested construction items vacated
Irwin Steel Erectors performed steel erection and welding during construction of a Motorola facility in Austin, Texas. At the hearing, it resolved six serious citation items by withdrawing its contests in exchange for reduced penalties. The four remaining items concerned fire-extinguisher access…
Flintco, Inc.
Crane-training item withdrawn and case dismissed
Flintco was using a rough-terrain crane at a Tulsa construction site when the crane tipped over and its jib struck a passing vehicle, killing the motorist. OSHA cited Flintco for allegedly operating contrary to the manufacturer's limitations and for inadequate crane-hazard instruction. The judge…
Archer-Western Contractors, LTD., and Gilbert Corp. Of Delaware, Inc., A Joint Venture
Crane-overload violation affirmed, training item vacated
Archer-Western Contractors and Gilbert Corporation of Delaware operated a joint venture constructing an airport terminal in West Palm Beach, Florida. A tower crane collapsed after supervisors pressed the crane operator to lift a concrete stairwell form despite repeated warnings that the load…
All Purpose Crane, Inc.
Broken-wire citation vacated for insufficient proof
All Purpose Crane operated a crane whose boom rope broke and whose boom collapsed at a Florida construction site, killing three workers. OSHA cited the company for several crane, wire-rope, recordkeeping, and fire-extinguisher conditions. The judge affirmed serious items for overloading the crane…
Austin Bridge Company
Crane-boom citations vacated by settlement
An Austin Bridge employee died when a crane boom fell during disassembly after the pendant lines were not moved to the section being removed. OSHA alleged inadequate safety instruction and failure to follow the crane manufacturer's manual. The judge found that the experienced crew had been…
The Towne Construction Company
Crane overload affirmed, posting item vacated
Towne Construction used a truck crane to raise a reinforcing-steel mat when the boom collapsed, causing the mat to strike and kill an employee. The Commission held that the crane was overloaded under the manufacturer's load chart and that requiring compliance with the chart was valid as applied…
Gil Haugan d/b/a Haugan Construction Co.
Scaffold and improvised-lifting violations affirmed
At one construction site, subcontractor employees used a scaffold without guardrails or safe access and with planks extending too far or too little beyond their supports. The Commission held Haugan responsible as general contractor because the obvious violations were conditions it could reasonably…
Capitol Erection and Engineering Company, Inc.
Crane, ladder, and fall items produced a mixed $1,280 result
Capitol Erection was a structural-steel subcontractor working on a medical-center project in Mississippi. The judge affirmed an unsecured-ladder item, several admitted crane defects, a missing crane-cab fire extinguisher, an inadequate boom-jib stop, and a fall-protection item involving employees…
Crescent Erection Company
Derrick citation vacated after rooftop fall
Crescent Erection used a small derrick to install aluminum exterior panels on a high-rise building. To work from the roof, employees welded the derrick to a wheeled base that rolled on a permanent window-washing track and added counterweights. While a roughly 150-pound panel was being lowered, the…
Martin Iron Works, Inc.
Crane inspection violations added without penalties
Martin Iron Works used a crane beyond the manufacturer's rated lifting radius and capacity during structural steel erection at a Nevada casino project. The judge affirmed that serious violation for $850, along with an inadequate ladder for $55, unsecured gas cylinders for $55, and an improperly…
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.