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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Americold Logistics
Unstable railcar load citation vacated
Americold Logistics operated a cold-storage facility in La Porte, Texas, where employees unloaded refrigerated railcars. While two employees were unloading boxes of frozen chicken feet, one or more pallets collapsed onto them, leaving one employee with minor injuries and another paralyzed. OSHA…
Hall Trucking, Inc.
Rig-move struck-by violation affirmed
Hall Trucking moved oil and gas drilling-rig equipment with heavy trucks while ground workers, known as swampers, worked nearby. During a rig move near Epping, North Dakota, a newly hired swamper was fatally struck by a Hall flatbed truck backing through a congested area. The judge found that the…
TCP Specialists, LLC
Pressurized-piping buffer-zone violation affirmed
TCP Specialists provided wireline services during work on a gas well in San Augustine County, Texas. When well pressure was released into unrestrained pump piping, the pipe ruptured and whipped violently, killing two workers and injuring three others. The judge found that TCP lacked control over…
Bobcat Contracting, LLC
Pipeline pigging citation vacated
Bobcat Contracting was loading a pipeline inspection device into a natural-gas launcher in Farmersville, Texas, when residual gas ignited and an explosion ejected the device and a steel push pole. Two workers were killed and two were seriously injured. OSHA cited Bobcat under the General Duty…
Professional Security Consultants, Inc.
Mall workplace-violence citation vacated
A customer carried out a mass shooting at the Boise Towne Square Mall, killing two people, including a security guard employed by Professional Security Consultants, and injuring several others. OSHA cited the security company under the General Duty Clause for allegedly failing to protect its guards…
C & S Technical Resources, Inc.
Forklift certification violation affirmed
C & S Technical Resources used a telehandler and a spotter to stack heavy cut steel transmission-pole segments on a flatbed trailer in Liverpool, New York. Two stacks collapsed during loading, and pole segments knocked the spotter from the trailer and killed him. OSHA alleged a General Duty Clause…
United Airlines, Inc.
Aircraft towing hazard citation affirmed
United Airlines technicians were moving an aircraft from a hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport when a wheel ran over an employee's foot. The employee sustained crushing injuries, underwent multiple surgeries, and had all five toes amputated. OSHA cited United under the General Duty…
Williams Brothers Construction Co., Inc.
Highway work-zone citation vacated
Williams Brothers Construction was preparing new traffic lanes at the I-69 and I-610 interchange in Houston during an overnight highway closure. A vehicle entered the closed work zone and struck three workers, including a Williams Brothers employee who suffered hip and rib fractures and other…
American Civil Constructors LLC, dba American Civil Constructors Mountain West
Excavator-bucket hazard citation affirmed
American Civil Constructors installed water pipe at a construction project in Aurora, Colorado. An excavator operator used a bucket to deliver a pipe plug to an employee in a trench, and the approximately 2,500-pound bucket detached and struck the employee, who died from his injuries. OSHA cited…
Cedar Springs Hospital, Inc. / UHS of Delaware, Inc., dba Cedar Springs Hospital
Workplace-violence and records citations affirmed
Cedar Springs operated a behavioral health hospital in Colorado Springs where employees were frequently assaulted by patients and suffered serious injuries. The judge found that Cedar Springs and UHS of Delaware functioned as a single employer at the worksite through a common workplace, integrated…
Asplundh Tree Expert, LLC
Dead-tree trimming citation vacated
Asplundh trimmed dead cottonwood trees near power lines in New Castle, Colorado. A climber fell about 35 feet after a cut tree section struck the branch supporting him, causing a broken leg and permanently disabling spinal injuries. The judge found that Asplundh and its industry recognized fall and…
UHS of Denver, Inc., d/b/a Highlands Behavioral Health System
Workplace-violence citation affirmed after economic-feasibility review
This remand decision addressed whether OSHA's proposed measures for reducing workplace violence at a behavioral health facility were economically feasible. The original judge had affirmed the general duty clause citation through a discovery sanction, but the Commission set that sanction aside and…
UHS of Delaware, Inc. and Premier Behavioral Health Solutions of Florida, Inc. d/b/a Suncoast Behavioral Health Center
Workplace-violence citation affirmed as serious
Suncoast operated a Florida inpatient psychiatric hospital where employees experienced repeated patient assaults that caused serious injuries. OSHA cited Suncoast and its management company, UHS of Delaware, under the General Duty Clause for exposing employees to workplace violence. The Commission…
United States Postal Service
Des Moines heat-hazard case remanded
OSHA cited the Postal Service under the General Duty Clause after two Des Moines letter carriers became ill while delivering mail in hot weather. The administrative law judge vacated the citation after finding that OSHA had not proved an excessive-heat hazard. The Commission reversed that finding…
United States Postal Service
Four heat-hazard citations vacated
OSHA issued General Duty Clause citations after letter carriers became ill while delivering mail during hot summer conditions in San Antonio, Benton, Houston, and Martinsburg. The Commission found that the environmental heat and the physical demands of the routes created a significant…
UHS of Denver, Inc., d/b/a Highlands Behavioral Health System
Workplace-violence case remanded for economic-feasibility findings
OSHA cited the operator of a psychiatric hospital under the general duty clause for failing to protect employees from patient violence. The administrative law judge affirmed the citation and an $11,934 penalty after treating the economic feasibility of OSHA's proposed safeguards as established…
Amazing Vitamins, LLC
Reconsideration denied and late contests dismissed
OSHA issued Amazing Vitamins numerous citations arising from inspections of its nutritional-supplement manufacturing facility, including later failure-to-abate and repeat items. The company filed notices of contest long after the 15-working-day deadlines and argued that settlement discussions, mail…
Southern Hydro Vac, LLC
Tailgate crushing-hazard citation vacated
A Southern Hydro Vac employee died after being caught between a hydro-vacuum truck's closing tailgate and tank body during dumping and washout work. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause and proposed a $13,494 penalty. The judge found that the tailgate presented a serious crushing…
the Broken iPhone, LLC
COVID-19 general duty clause violation affirmed
The Broken iPhone operated a two-person cell-phone repair store in Mobile, Alabama, where employees worked near a steady flow of customers. OSHA observed unmasked employees and customers at close distances, and the owner required masked customers to remove their face coverings before entering. The…
UHS of Centennial Peaks LLC, dba Centennial Peaks Hospital
Psychiatric-hospital workplace violence citation affirmed
UHS of Centennial Peaks operated an inpatient psychiatric hospital where direct-care employees faced threats and assaults by patients. The judge found that the hospital recognized workplace violence as an endemic hazard but relied too heavily on clinical patient care rather than a comprehensive…
Walker Industrial, LLC
Scissor-lift capacity violation affirmed, struck-by item vacated
A boom lift backed into an elevated scissor lift at a Texas warehouse project, causing the scissor lift to fall with three Walker Industrial employees in its basket. All three employees were seriously injured and one died. The judge vacated a general duty clause item because OSHA did not prove that…
Henkels & McCoy, Inc.
Digger-derrick bolt maintenance citation affirmed
A Henkels & McCoy crew leader died after a digger derrick structurally failed while employees were removing a utility pole. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause for failing to maintain and torque-test the machine's rotation-bearing bolts as directed by the manufacturer. The…
Todd's Enviroscapes, Inc.
Mower item vacated and reporting item affirmed
A landscaping employee suffered amputations to parts of four fingers after jumping from a riding mower on a 19-degree slope, falling, and having the mower pass over his hand. OSHA cited Todd's Enviroscapes under the general duty clause for using a riding mower on hazardous slopes and separately…
JRD, LLC dba Maslonka Powerline Services
Loader design-limits citation vacated
Two Maslonka Powerline Services employees were killed when a multi-ton utility-pole section fell from a loader's fork attachment during unloading. OSHA alleged that the loader was operated outside its design limitations because the pole was not cradled against the carriage and because the carriage…
Chewy, Inc.
Forklift under-ride hazard citation affirmed
A Chewy warehouse employee was crushed and killed when his stand-up forklift passed beneath a low horizontal storage-rack beam and the beam entered the unguarded operator compartment. Five months earlier, another employee had suffered broken ribs in a similar under-ride incident at the same…
UHS of Westwood Pembroke, Inc. and UHS of Delaware, Inc.
Repeat workplace-violence citation affirmed
Employees at Pembroke Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric facility, were exposed to physical assaults by patients while providing care and responding to crises. The Commission found that the hospital owner and its management company operated as a single employer because they shared the worksite…
Rolly Marine Service Company
Hydraulic-press citations vacated
A Rolly Marine yard foreman died from blunt-force injuries after a metal bar was ejected from a modified hydraulic press and struck his abdomen. OSHA cited the shipyard under the general duty clause for operating a press altered from its original design and under the machine-guarding standard for…
RoadSafe Traffic Systems, Inc.
Moving-truck fall-hazard citation affirmed
A RoadSafe crew installed raised highway reflectors from a slow-moving three-truck convoy. One employee rode on the edge of the lead truck's bed with his feet on its lowered lift gate and was killed when the following company truck struck the lead vehicle. The Commission found a recognized fall…
PMI International Stone Importers
Stone-slab fall-shadow hazard violated general duty clause
PMI International Stone Importers received bundles of stone slabs weighing about 7,000 pounds in shipping containers at its New Jersey warehouse. Employees routinely entered the containers and guided unsecured bundles while standing in the area where a bundle could fall. During one unloading…
Patterson-UTI Drilling Company, LLC
Well-control general duty item vacated and settlement terms approved
A blowout and explosion at Patterson-UTI's Oklahoma natural-gas drilling rig killed five people, including three Patterson-UTI employees. OSHA alleged under the general duty clause that Patterson-UTI failed to maintain well control and exposed employees to recognized fire and explosion hazards. The…
FreightCar America, Inc.
Slip-and-fall citation vacated because parent company was not proven to be employer
A worker at an Alabama railcar manufacturing facility was hospitalized after slipping from a steel sheet onto roller-bed crossbeams and sustaining facial and abdominal injuries. OSHA cited FreightCar America, Inc. under the general duty clause for the slip-and-fall hazard. The Commission found that…
MPS Products Corp.
Beam fall-protection item affirmed and lift-rail item vacated
OSHA inspected MPS Products during steel erection work in Massachusetts and cited two fall hazards. Two employees worked on steel beams 29 feet above the ground without tying off, while another employee briefly climbed a scissor lift's guardrails to reach the structure. The judge affirmed the…
Healy Tibbitts Builders, Inc.
Suspended-load standard preempted general duty citation
Healy Tibbitts performed marine construction for the Navy in Pearl Harbor using a crane mounted on one barge and employees working from an adjacent barge. A 12,000-pound suspended buoy separated from its capture plate, the backup sling broke, and the buoy traveled down the riser chain, killing two…
The Lane Construction Corp.
Pile-driving citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement proof
A Lane Construction employee was fatally struck by a 90-pound pile cushion that was ejected during a bridge pile-driving dry run. OSHA cited the general duty clause for exposing employees to struck-by hazards near the hammer and proposed a $6,300 penalty. The Secretary proposed keeping workers at…
Science Applications International Corp., d/b/a SAIC
Drowning hazard citation affirmed for marine training
SAIC trained sea lions to detect swimmers around Navy installations, requiring employees to swim in open water, sometimes at night. During a nighttime exercise, an employee acting as an evasive swimmer remained in San Diego Bay while the sea lion became distracted, and the team lost contact with…
Master Construction Co., Inc.
Roadwork traffic citation affirmed, training citation vacated
Master Construction managed a road-expansion project where concrete trucks repeatedly entered and left an active paving area. An employee walking through the truck operating area to retrieve material was run over by a concrete mixer and sustained two broken legs. The judge found a recognized…
Terence Froman, Inc.
Attorney-fee application denied
OSHA cited Terence Froman under the general duty clause over spring clips on a concrete-pump boom coupling, then withdrew the citation before adjudication. The company applied under the Equal Access to Justice Act for $4,999.10 in attorney fees and expenses. The judge found that the Secretary's…
Basic Energy Services, LP
Well-servicing rig hazard citation affirmed
Basic Energy Services used a mobile well-servicing rig to pull pipe stuck thousands of feet underground. A derrick hand remained on a platform about 60 feet above the rig floor while the crew substantially increased pulling force and used jars to free the pipe. The rig tipped over, killing the…
Tony Watson, d/b/a Countryside Tree Service
Willful woodchipper and PPE violations affirmed
Countryside Tree Service used a five-person crew at three residential tree-removal sites. A 23-year-old employee with no tree-service experience was killed after becoming ensnared in a woodchipper on his first day of work. The judge found that the owner allowed two inexperienced employees to feed…
FreightCar America, Inc.
Railcar assembly hazard citation vacated
Workers assembled railcars by positioning top-heavy end panels with a crane and securing them to side panels with corner pins. An end panel fell after the crane was detached and an employee removed the remaining pins, seriously injuring two workers. The judge found that FreightCar America was…
Tower King II, Inc.
Communications-tower rigging citation vacated
Tower King performed antenna work about 1,000 feet above ground on a communications tower. A gin pole detached from the tower, and three employees who were tied to it fell and died. OSHA cited Tower King under the general duty clause, alleging that an incomplete rigging plan created fall and…
Kimble Company, d/b/a Kimble Sanitary Landfill
Landfill struck-by citation vacated
Kimble operated a sanitary landfill where a front-loader struck and killed an employee who was on foot. OSHA alleged that employees were permitted to walk through vehicle-operating areas and cited the general duty clause. The judge rejected Kimble's arguments that the Mine Act or construction…
Berkebile Auto Service, Inc.
Tow-truck crushing-hazard citation affirmed
Berkebile Auto Service operated an automotive garage and towing service in Pennsylvania. A tow-truck driver died after an off-loaded vehicle rolled forward and pinned him against the tow truck. The judge found that the driver was Berkebile's employee and that the company and towing industry…
Apollo Auto Sales & Service, Inc.
Late contests denied
OSHA issued Apollo Auto citations with $6,652 in proposed penalties and later issued a $25,868 failure-to-abate notification. Apollo Auto missed both 15-working-day contest deadlines and filed its contest months after receiving the original citation. The judge found no deception by OSHA, excusable…
Quick Transport of Arkansas, LLC
Vacuum-truck explosion citation vacated
Quick Transport drivers used a propane torch to thaw frozen valves on vacuum-truck trailers used to haul produced water from oil and gas operations. An explosion occurred while a driver was preparing a trailer, and the driver died. The Commission majority found that the Secretary did not provide…
CSA Equipment Company, LLC
Forklift struck-by citation affirmed
CSA Equipment handled steel coils at the Port of Mobile, where a forklift struck and killed a clerk checking a coil. The Commission found that separating clerks from forklifts until coil checks were complete was a feasible way to materially reduce the struck-by hazard. CSA had successfully used…
Integra Health Management, Inc.
Workplace violence citation affirmed
Integra sent service coordinators to meet clients in homes, vehicles, shelters, and other community settings, including clients with mental illness and histories of violence. A service coordinator was killed during a meeting with a client who had a violent history. The Commission held that…
A.H. Sturgill Roofing, Inc.
Roofing heat citations vacated
A temporary employee collapsed while working on a commercial roof and later died from complications of heat stroke. The Commission found that the Secretary did not prove the worksite conditions presented a significant excessive-heat hazard, noting that the heat index reached only the lowest warning…
HRI Hospital, Inc., d/b/a Arbour-HRI Hospital
Patient-violence citation vacated
Arbour-HRI operated an inpatient behavioral health hospital where employees experienced assaults and other aggressive acts by patients. The judge found that patient-on-staff violence was a recognized hazard at the facility and could cause serious injury. HRI already used violence-prevention…
BHC Northwest Psychiatric Hospital LLC d/b/a Brooke Glen Behavioral Hospital
Patient-violence citation affirmed
Brooke Glen operated an inpatient psychiatric hospital where OSHA identified numerous incidents of patients assaulting staff. The judge found that patient-on-staff violence was a recognized hazard capable of causing serious injury or death. Existing controls were inadequate because communication…
Mid South Waffles, Inc., d/b/a Waffle House #1283
Grease-fire item vacated and cleaner PPE items affirmed
A fire occurred beneath a restaurant griddle after grease and waste accumulated in its removable drawer. The Commission vacated the general duty clause item because the Secretary did not identify the specific inspection or cleaning steps Waffle House needed beyond its existing once-per-shift rule…
Coastal Drilling East, LLC
Unsecured rig-brake citation affirmed
A drilling employee's finger was amputated when suspended pipe drifted downward after a supervisor left the rig controls without securing the drawworks brake. Coastal and the industry recognized the crushing hazard and the practice of tying down or locking the brake before leaving the controls. The…
J.D. Eckman, Inc
Highway traffic-control citations vacated
A motorist entered J.D. Eckman’s highway construction work zone and struck the company’s superintendent. OSHA cited the company for allegedly excessive spacing between traffic cones, failure to position a truck-mounted attenuator to protect workers, and an allegedly short transition taper. The…
Pharmasol Corporation
Warehouse storage violations affirmed, forklift items split
Pharmasol manufactured pharmaceutical and personal-care products and used powered industrial trucks in its warehouse. The judge vacated a general duty clause item because OSHA did not prove that the trucks could pass beneath rack beams and expose operators to the alleged crushing hazard. He…
Appleton Grp LLC, dba Appleton Group
All citation items vacated
Appleton Group manufactured and tested heating cable systems at its Connecticut facility. OSHA alleged hazards involving extruding-line emergency stops, electrical-panel access, cable-testing work practices and protective equipment, an exit sign, and a portable propane cylinder. The judge found…
AEROTEK
Manlift floor-opening citation vacated
Aerotek supplied temporary employees to a ceramics manufacturing facility where workers used an older belt manlift. An Aerotek employee fell through a manlift floor opening after the lift jerked and sustained serious injuries. OSHA amended its citation from a manlift design standard to the general…
Missouri Basin Well Service, Inc.
Well-site fire citation vacated
Missouri Basin Well Service was circulating an oil well when flammable vapors from a discharge tank ignited near a diesel mud pump, causing a fire that gave an employee second-degree facial burns. The Commission found that placing the ignition source less than 30 feet from the vapor discharge…
Central Site Development, LLC
EAJA fees awarded after citations vacated
Central Site Development sought attorney fees after it prevailed against two OSHA citation items arising from a fatal incident at a construction site. The underlying decision vacated a general duty clause item alleging a struck-by hazard and a recordkeeping item alleging failure to provide an OSHA…
Austal USA, LLC
Unsafe miller tool item affirmed
Austal USA used angle grinders fitted with toothed saw blades, known at its shipyard as miller tools, for cutting and finishing aluminum. The grinder manufacturer did not approve toothed blades for the tools, and the combination created a heightened kickback risk. The judge found that Austal knew…
Bronco Oilfield Services, Inc.
High-pressure line item partly affirmed
Bronco Oilfield Services used truck-mounted pumps and rigid piping to pressure-test an oil well at up to 9,500 psi. The judge affirmed a general duty clause instance because most of the high-pressure line was not secured against movement if a connection failed, and the company’s buffer zone did not…
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.