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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FabArc Steel Supply, Inc.
Lockout and forklift violations affirmed
FabArc Steel Supply manufactured fabricated steel products at its Oxford, Alabama facility. OSHA cited the company after an inspection found issues involving fall-protection training, hazardous-energy controls during motor removal, and a forklift operated with a broken horn and fluid leaks. The…
The Home Depot #8954
Forklift-light violation reduced from repeat to serious
Home Depot used an electric reach truck to unload trailers at its Dublin, Georgia store after the truck's optional headlights stopped working. The receiving manager knew about the defect for at least a week but kept the truck in service, even though testing showed trailer illumination was below two…
Fresenius USA Manufacturing, Inc. d/b/a TruBlu Logistics
Medical-availability and cable items vacated
OSHA inspected a Fresenius distribution warehouse after an employee reported an electric shock while disconnecting a forklift battery. The judge vacated the allegation that medical personnel were not readily available, finding that the cited rule did not require contact within a fixed time and that…
St. Lawrence Food Corp., dba Primo Foods
Most dairy-plant health and safety citations affirmed
OSHA conducted health and safety inspections at Primo Foods, a kosher dairy, and cited hazards involving ammonia refrigeration, respirators, confined spaces, chemical training, noise, machine guarding, electrical work, lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks, and recordkeeping. The ALJ found that…
Lewis County Dairy Corp.
Widespread safety violations result in $72,750 penalty
OSHA found extensive safety deficiencies at Lewis County Dairy's kosher dairy plant, including missing safety programs, inadequate lockout practices, unguarded equipment, electrical hazards, deficient fall protection, and insufficient hazard communication. Of the 33 serious citation items, the…
Tyson Foods, Inc.
Forklift training and repair items vacated after farm fatality
A Tyson Foods employee was fatally injured when a specialized three-wheeled forklift overturned while he collected frozen chicken carcasses from a contract poultry farm. Judge Nancy J. Spies held that the agricultural-operations exception did not apply because collecting the carcasses was…
Royal Gorge Publishing d/b/a Daily Record
Forklift citation vacated where a maintenance expert outweighed the inspector
Royal Gorge Publishing, which runs the Daily Record newspaper in Canon City, Colorado, was cited after an OSHA compliance officer inspected a forklift used to move pallets of newspaper inserts. The officer found damaged insulation on electrical and hydraulic cables, exposed copper wire, cuts…
Louis A. Dierzen d/b/a Dierzen Welding & Machine Company, Dierzen Machine Company, and Dierzen Trailer Corporation
Failure-to-abate and repeat spray-area violations affirmed by default
Dierzen ran a welding and machine shop in Newark, Illinois with about 12 employees. In March 1997, OSHA conducted a follow-up inspection to check whether earlier, uncontested violations had been fixed. The inspector found that explosion-proof electrical equipment for the paint spray area had been…
L & B Products, Corp.
Fifty manufacturing safety items affirmed
L & B Products, Corp. manufactured furniture at a facility in Hudson, New York. OSHA issued 51 serious and other-than-serious items after inspecting eight departments. The allegations covered elevated work areas, exit signs, flammable liquids, fire and lockout training, machine and power-press…
Ohio Cellular Products Corp.
Machine-guarding citation affirmed after fatal rotating-arm accident
Ohio Cellular Products Corp. molds polyethylene foam sports and automotive padding at a plant in Wauseon, Ohio, using large rotating "Rotocast" ovens. In October 1996 a relief operator was fatally injured when her clothing caught on an oven's rotating mold arm while she unloaded foam. OSHA cited…
General Cutlery Co., Inc.
Knife maker loses on almost every safety and health citation, including a willful hazard-communication violation
General Cutlery makes bayonets and household knives in Fremont, Ohio. After complaint inspections in May 1994, OSHA issued two sets of citations, later consolidated: safety violations (Docket No. 94-2015) and health violations (Docket No. 94-1933). The company, represented by its president, argued…
McCain Foods, Inc.
Willful asbestos violations and $165,000 in penalties affirmed
McCain Foods operated a food-processing plant in Easton, Maine, while a major renovation project removed old piping and other material containing asbestos. The judge found that management knew asbestos was present, misled an OSHA inspector about the work, failed to train or protect employees, and…
Conagra Flour Milling Co. & Its Successors
Flour-mill electrical and blowdown violations affirmed
Conagra operated a seven-story flour mill in Sherman, Texas, where combustible grain dust made the milling floors Class II, Division 2 hazardous locations. The Commission affirmed serious violations for using a grain tester and pedestal fan with exposed motor components that did not meet the…
Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company
Commission approves withdrawal of all citations
OSHA cited Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company for numerous conditions at its Arkansas furniture plant after an inspection conducted under a warrant. The earlier litigation addressed whether evidence from a plant-wide inspection should be suppressed when the warrant application was based on…
John W. Eshelman & Sons
Defective-forklift violation classified as willful
John W. Eshelman & Sons continued using a forklift after its brakes were reported defective. The brakes worsened, another employee unknowingly drove the truck into a loading table, and the company still kept it in service because both forklifts were needed for production. A repair technician was…
Chrysler Casting Corp. - Fostoria Foundry
Nonserious violation and $75 penalty affirmed
An Administrative Law Judge affirmed a citation against Chrysler's Fostoria Foundry under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.178(p)(1). The judge reduced the violation from willful to nonserious and assessed $75 instead of the proposed $4,500 penalty. Neither the Secretary nor Chrysler sought review, and both…
Everglades Sugar Refinery, Inc.
Unauthorized payloader repair violation affirmed
Two Everglades Sugar Refinery employees attempted to repair a payloader with a defective throttle linkage, and one employee was fatally injured when its raised bucket fell. The Commission held that the powered-industrial-truck maintenance rule applied because the hazard arose from allowing…
Aluminum Coil Anodizing Corp.
Multi-item citation upheld in part after inspection challenge failed
OSHA inspected Aluminum Coil Anodizing's Illinois plant after receiving a complaint from someone who was not an employee or employee representative. The Commission held that the complaint's source and purpose did not invalidate the inspection because OSHA also had broad general authority to inspect…
Hoerner Waldorf Corp.
Forklift citation vacated after witness exclusion
OSHA cited Hoerner Waldorf for allegedly operating two powered industrial trucks with defective brakes or a defective horn and for inadequate operator inspection training. Before the hearing, the judge ordered both parties to exchange witness and exhibit information in writing. The company…
Worcester Pressed Steel Company
Duplicate aisle item vacated, higher penalties sustained
Worcester Pressed Steel Company operated a large metal-stamping plant cited for 40 nonserious safety violations. The cited conditions included poor housekeeping and floors, obstructed and unmarked aisles, missing exit signs and eye protection, forklift hazards, inadequate machine guarding, and…
Western Metal Decorating Company
Stairway item reinstated and respiratory-protection item vacated
Western Metal Decorating Company decorated flat sheets of tin and steel using coating, printing, and baking lines. OSHA issued a 25-item citation covering conditions that included housekeeping, powered industrial trucks, flammable liquids, machinery, electrical equipment, employee eating areas, and…
V. O. Hegsted d/b/a Challenger Supply
Pallet-plant citation resolved with $106 in penalties
Challenger Supply produced wooden pallets at a small Idaho plant and received a 12-item other-than-serious citation. The judge affirmed violations involving washing facilities, housekeeping, an unguarded elevated storage area, forklift controls, missing eye protection, electrical grounding and…
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.