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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Alcorn Well Service, Inc., a Division of Dawson Well Service, Inc.
Wrench-hazard item vacated, hazard-communication items yield $1,050
An Alcorn Well Service, Inc. crew was fishing broken sucker rods from a Texas well when two workers used pipe wrenches to turn a rod and move an overshot through a tight spot. The rod unexpectedly torqued, one worker lost control of his wrench, and the wrench struck another employee in the head…
Kunz Construction Co., Inc.
Four serious excavation-safety violations affirmed
Kunz Construction Co., Inc. was inspected while working near the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, Texas. OSHA found a foreman without a hard hat, an access ladder that did not extend three feet above the excavation, an unguarded plank used as a crossing, and employees in an excavation that was neither…
Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Settlement approved over intervener's objections
Southwestern Bell and the Secretary submitted a settlement agreement, and the Communications Workers of America local serving as the authorized employee representative did not object. Robert Krueger, an intervener who apparently filed the complaint leading to the inspection, submitted several…
Tackett Tank, Inc.
Settlement approved over employee representative's objections
The Secretary and Tackett Tank submitted a settlement agreement in a case arising from an accident that caused an employee's death. The employee's father, acting as an authorized employee representative, submitted documents objecting to the settlement. The judge explained that Commission precedent…
Amoco Oil Company
HF respiratory-protection violations affirmed for $7,000
Amoco operated an alkylation unit containing large quantities of hydrofluoric acid at its Texas City refinery. A maintenance employee experienced HF exposure while opening a line that had not been fully depressurized, and the employee was wearing an air-fed chemical hood that was not a respirator…
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.