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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Computer Sciences Raytheon
Two launch-platform items vacated, ramp item affirmed
Computer Sciences Raytheon employees opened camera boxes on Kennedy Space Center's mobile launch platform after space shuttle launches. The judge found that workers approached unguarded blast holes and perimeter edges before tying off, but she vacated those two items under the multi-employer…
Bionetics Corp.
Three launch-platform fall items affirmed, $2,750 assessed
Bionetics employees retrieved film from camera boxes on a mobile launch platform at Kennedy Space Center after space shuttle launches. During two launches, blast-hole and perimeter guardrails had been removed, the deck was wet and windy, and employees approached cameras within a few feet of…
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…
Copperweld Steel Company
Runway charge remanded for possible amendment to the specific standard
Copperweld Steel Company used an elevated runway to reach cranes and as an emergency escape route in its steel plant. OSHA cited the unguarded runway under the general duty clause, and the judge affirmed. On review, both parties agreed that the specific runway standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.23(c)(2)…
Weatherby Engineering Company
Scaffold standard held unenforceable
The Commission reviewed the vacatur of a citation alleging that an elevated scaffold platform lacked guardrails and toeboards. It adhered to precedent holding that 29 C.F.R. § 1910.28(a)(3) was unenforceable because OSHA changed the source ANSI language from advisory “should” to mandatory “shall”…
Special Metals Corporation
Remote grating did not establish employee access
An unguarded metal grating was located 30 feet above a shipping area and could be reached only by climbing a ladder. The grating was not used in normal work or maintenance, and no employee had occasion to use it during the prior year. The Commission held that working below the grating did not…
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club, Inc.
Four safety items affirmed without penalties
Poughkeepsie Yacht Club was a nonprofit boating club with one paid employee, a fuel pump, boat storage, and docks on the Hudson River. An Administrative Law Judge affirmed four items involving fire-extinguisher tags, a no-smoking sign, gangway guarding, and ladder rungs, classifying the gangway…
Newspaper Printing Corp.
Failure-to-abate penalty reduced
Newspaper Printing failed to meet the abatement deadline for press-platform railings, an emergency eyewash facility, and router drive-belt guards. The company had installed or ordered replacement equipment, but the old presses and routers were still used and the eyewash fountain had not arrived by…
Agrico Chemical Co.
One-sided runway guarding found insufficient
Agrico employees used elevated runways beside fertilizer conveyors and hopper-car tracks that were guarded on only one side. The runways were 40 to 49 inches wide and were used for operating, cleaning, checking, and maintaining the equipment. The judge agreed that they were special-purpose runways…
Edward Hines Lumber Co.
Mixed sawmill citations resolved with $510 penalty
OSHA cited Edward Hines Lumber after inspecting its large Oregon sawmill complex, alleging numerous machine-guarding, conveyor, walkway, ladder, and power-transmission violations. The judge vacated many items because the cited standards were advisory or inapplicable, the machinery was guarded by…
National Rolling Mills Co.
Open-pit item reduced to de minimis
National Rolling Mills operated a steel mill where an employee sometimes stepped across a 23-inch-wide pit to guide a coil onto a spindle. The Commission held that the open-pit standard applied because the coil buggy and tracks did not fully occupy the opening, and the standard itself presumed a…
Stoughton Body, Inc.
Serious fire hazards affirmed and warehouse item vacated
Stoughton Body faced one four-part serious citation and thirteen nonserious items involving compressed-gas and gasoline storage, welding fumes and screens, work platforms, spray painting, electrical equipment, housekeeping, exits, and firefighting equipment. The Commission held that the company…
St. Paul Feed & Supply, Inc.
Penalty-only contest leaves citations final
St. Paul Feed & Supply received one serious and 17 nonserious citation items at its Oregon agricultural-products facility. Its notice of contest identified only the proposed penalties. The Commission held that this limited notice left the citations and their abatement periods as final orders, so…
Sierra Pacific Industries, Hayfork Division
Eight sawmill items affirmed with $435 penalties
OSHA cited 11 conditions at Sierra Pacific's California sawmill, including platform railings, guarding around a lift and sawmill machinery, blocked exit access, sanitation, stairs, and crane equipment. The company admitted four items, and the judge affirmed four additional contested items involving…
Fineberg Packing Company, Inc.
OSHA sanitation item reinstated despite USDA rules
Fineberg Packing, a meat processor, received a nine-item nonserious citation covering electrical, exit, fire-protection, housekeeping, sanitation, and ladder conditions. The judge vacated the sanitation item because Department of Agriculture rules under the Wholesome Meat Act also regulated plant…
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.