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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Weirton Steel Corporation
Willful carbon-monoxide item affirmed and clothing item vacated
Weirton Steel employees climbed to a blast furnace's bleeder deck without respirators while carbon-monoxide monitors alarmed at 150 parts per million or more and, on one trip, exceeded the monitor's 1,999-parts-per-million capacity. The Commission held that the respiratory-protection standard was…
Niemand Industries, Inc.
Talc items vacated after court rejected sampling method
OSHA cited Niemand for excessive talc exposure, unapproved dust masks, and failure to use feasible engineering or administrative controls. The Commission initially affirmed those items based on gravimetric sampling. The Eleventh Circuit held that OSHA could not prove a Table Z-3 violation with a…
Niemand Industries, Inc.
Talc citations and $2,800 penalty vacated after court remand
OSHA cited Niemand Industries for employee talc exposure, use of unapproved dust masks, and failure to use feasible controls. The Eleventh Circuit reversed the Commission's earlier finding because OSHA had measured talc exposure with a technique not provided in Table Z-3. The Commission concluded…
City Oil Well Service Co.
Respirator violations affirmed after hydrogen sulfide exposure
Two City Oil Well Service employees died during swabbing work at an oil well where later testing found hydrogen sulfide at 225 parts per million. City relied on well operators to identify hydrogen-sulfide hazards and provide respirators, and it had no respiratory-protection program of its own. The…
City Oil Well Service Co.
Respirator citations left vacated after Commission impasse
Two City Oil Well Service employees died during swabbing work at an oil well where later testing found hydrogen sulfide at 225 parts per million. City relied on well operators to identify hydrogen-sulfide hazards and supply respirators, and it made no inquiry or respiratory-protection plan of its…
McWilliams Forge Company, Inc.
Confined-space citation vacated after amendment denied
Two McWilliams Forge employees lost consciousness while cleaning a pump with solvent in a pit and remained there for about four hours. OSHA cited the company under the general duty clause for failing to test the atmosphere, provide standby rescue assistance, and use respiratory protection. On…
West Point Pepperell, Inc.
Employee medical records ordered produced with privacy safeguards
West Point Pepperell contested serious respiratory and cotton-dust citations at its textile mill. During discovery, the Secretary sought employee medical surveillance records and mill-level profit and loss statements. The Commission found the medical records relevant to respiratory protection…
Pan American World Airways
Caution-marking item vacated
Pan American was cited after an inspection of its Kennedy International Airport workplace. The Commission vacated an item alleging that an 8-to-10-inch step beside a degreasing tank lacked yellow caution markings. It held that the cited color-code provision did not identify which physical hazards…
Crane Company
Lead and silica exposure items affirmed
Crane Company manufactured valves and plumbing fixtures at a Tennessee foundry. Sampling showed employees were exposed to lead and silica dust above permissible limits, and the judge found that feasible industry technology existed to control those exposures. The company also lacked written…
Continental Steel Corporation
Noise penalties modified, four violations affirmed
Continental Steel received four citations involving excessive noise, nonmandatory hearing protection, failure to lock out power during lubrication, and inadequate ventilation around an acid tank. The company stipulated that noise exceeded permitted levels and that some employees did not use hearing…
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.