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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Marco Electronics Sales & Service
Locked exit and blocked fire extinguisher affirmed, penalties reduced
Marco Electronics Sales & Service repairs and sells electronic equipment in Corpus Christi, Texas. After a February 1993 inspection, OSHA cited the shop for a marked exit door that was locked, a fire extinguisher mounted low and blocked by a rolling work table and a TV being repaired, and two…
Cisneros Packing Co., Inc.
$2,550 assessed for stair, exit, lockout, and posting violations
Cisneros Packing processed pork skins at a Texas plant and contested only the proposed penalties, not the underlying violations. The remaining penalized conditions involved a nonconforming kettle stairway, a boarded and obstructed exit, cleaning an energized slicer without a lockout program, and…
Armco Steel Co., L.P.
Crane-runway and cylinder citations vacated
Armco Steel operated a steel-manufacturing facility in Middletown, Ohio. OSHA cited an unguarded crane runway 34 feet above the floor under the open-sided-platform standard, alternatively alleged that employees needed safety belts and lanyards, and cited an unsecured acetylene cylinder under the…
Armco Steel Company, L.P.
Platform and runway items affirmed, switch item vacated
Armco Steel operated a steel-manufacturing plant in Middletown, Ohio. The judge affirmed a serious violation for an unguarded seven-foot-high pulpit area where operators regularly retrieved supplies, finding that the area functioned as a covered work platform, and assessed $700. He also affirmed a…
General Electric Company Aircraft Engine Group
Wet-location electrical citation vacated
General Electric manufactured aircraft engines at its Evendale, Ohio, facility. OSHA cited an electrical enclosure on a building column under the rule for damp or wet locations. The area was dry during the inspection and normally stayed dry, although earlier rainwater had leaked through the roof…
Bradley Villers d/b/a Shannon Marie Harvesters
Citations vacated because no employer relationship was proved
The crew of the vessel Shannon Marie harvested sea cucumbers in Washington waters under a partnership agreement. The ALJ rejected the claim that Coast Guard authority displaced OSHA because the vessel was uninspected and the Coast Guard did not regulate its fishing operations. The Secretary still…
John J. Smith Masonry Co.
Two scaffold violations affirmed and one vacated
John J. Smith Masonry used a mobile scaffold while replacing a limestone window sill at the Cervantes Convention Center in St. Louis. The ALJ vacated the allegation that the scaffold was not erected under competent-person supervision because the Secretary did not identify who supervised its…
Stone Container Corp.
Boiler-area protective equipment citation vacated
Stone Container operated a paper and linerboard mill with a black liquor recovery boiler in Montana. A boiler explosion burned three employees, and one employee later died from the injuries. OSHA cited the company for not requiring protective clothing and self-contained respirators during boiler…
Earl A. Eichline Enterprises, Inc.
Trench cave-in protection violation affirmed, two other items vacated
Earl A. Eichline Enterprises was repairing a water line valve in an excavation in New Berlin, Wisconsin. OSHA cited the company for inadequate cave-in protection, no safe means of exit, and failure to provide high-visibility garments near traffic. The judge affirmed the repeated cave-in protection…
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.