DECISION AND ORDER   Torre Mackle Group, LLC (TMG) is a construction managing company located in Coral Gables, Florida. On November 16, 2011, a safety compliance officer with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in response to a referral from the police department, initiated an inspection into a secretary’s head injury at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida. At the time of the injury on November 15, 2011, the secretary was sitting at her desk in the Office of Human Resources while a TMG employee, standing on a ladder in an adjacent office, attempted to catch a concrete core in a bucket that had been drilled through the roof. Instead, the employee lost control of the 29-pound concrete core and it fell through the tile ceiling above the secretary’s desk. It struck the secretary on top of the head; causing bleeding.

DECISION   On July 27, 2007, part of the mast of an oil drilling rig owned and operated by ACME Energy Services dba Big Dog Drilling (“Big Dog”) fell, and a Big Dog employee was fatally injured. The accident occurred at a Big Dog oil field worksite in Stanton, Texas, when employees were extending the upper section of the mast during what is known as the “rig-up” process. After an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), the Secretary issued Big Dog a citation alleging a serious violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (“the Act”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 651-678, under the “general duty clause,”.

ORDER OF DISMISSAL OF LATE NOTICE OF CONTEST   This matter is before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (the Commission) under section 10(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq. (the Act). On May 30, 2012, the Solicitor of Labor, by Attorney Michael P. Doyle, filed a document titled "Complainant’s Response in Opposition to Respondent’s Motion for Leave to File Late Notice of Contest." The undersigned treated this filing as the functional equivalent of a motion to dismiss the notice of contest, and consequently issued an order on June 21, 2012, directing the Respondent, JLD Custom Carpentry, to file a written response to the motion. The Respondent, through Mr. Patrick Westcott, timely filed a one-page typewritten response dated July 8, 2012.

BRIEFING NOTICE   The Commission requests that the parties brief the issues presented in the Respondent’s Petition for Discretionary Review. The parties are also asked to specifically address the following issue: Are the alleged violations of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.200(g)(2) (traffic signs) and 29 C.F.R. § 1926.202 (barricades) based on mandatory provisions of either Part VI of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (“MUTCD”), 1988 Edition, Revision 3, September 3, 1993, or Part VI of the MUTCD Millennium Edition, December 2000? See Ruhlin Co., 21 BNA OSHC 1779, 1784 (No. 04-2049, 2006) (holding that only mandatory provisions of the MUTCD are incorporated as OSHA standards); 29 C.F.R. § 1926.6(a).

DIRECTION FOR REVIEW AND REMAND ORDER  
On July 30, 2012, Administrative Law Judge Dennis L. Phillips issued a Decision and Order dismissing the notice of contest filed by G.A. Denison & Sons, Inc. ("Denison") and affirming the two citations issued to Denison with proposed penalties totaling $110,000. The case had been assigned to the judge for mandatory settlement proceedings pursuant to Commission Rule 120(b), 29 C.F.R. § 2200.120(b), and those proceedings were underway at the time of the judge's dismissal. Denison, appearing pro se, has filed a petition for review of the judge's decision. For the following reasons, we direct the case for review, set aside the judge's order, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

DECISION AND ORDER   This proceeding is before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission ("the Commission") pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq. ("the Act"). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") conducted an inspection of a Q3 Contracting, Inc. ("Respondent") worksite in Denver, CO on April 26, 2010. As a result of the inspection, OSHA issued a Citation and Notification of Penalty ("Citation") to Respondent alleging two serious violations of the Act and a proposed penalty of $3442.00.