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.

5,593 decisions and counting · Latest decision July 17, 2026
8 decisions 29 C.F.R. § 1910.305(b)(2)

No decisions match these filters

Try a different search term or clear the filters.

ALJ

North Atlantic Fish Company, Inc.

Broad fish-plant safety violations affirmed

OSHA's safety and health inspections of North Atlantic's Massachusetts fish-processing plant identified extensive fire, machine, electrical, chemical, respiratory, noise, storage, and powered-industrial-truck hazards. The judge affirmed most of the serious items, including general duty violations…

July 9, 2001 ·Michael H. Schoenfeld
Mixed result
ALJ

Commercial Newspaper Service, and its successors

Admitted safety violations affirmed, penalties reduced to $460

Commercial Newspaper Service published athletic posters at a small Meridian, Idaho, facility. The company withdrew its contest to violations involving emergency exit lighting, flammable-liquid and combustible storage, lockout procedures, electrical equipment and wiring, and injury-recordkeeping…

January 29, 2001 ·Stanley M. Schwartz
Modified
COMM

A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co.

Asbestos, HazCom, and combustible-dust electrical violations largely affirmed, many as willful

A.E. Staley Manufacturing runs a large grain wet-milling plant in Decatur, Illinois. A lengthy OSHA inspection begun in July 1990 produced two sets of citations, consolidated here as Docket Nos. 91-0637 and 91-0638. In the first docket, the Commission affirmed as willful the asbestos items for…

October 18, 2000
Mixed result
ALJ

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…

February 27, 1998 ·Covette Rooney
Mixed result
ALJ

Murphy Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Murphy Brothers Exposition

Failed Giant Wheel rope and missing sling inspections yield $10,000

Murphy Brothers Exposition was setting up a 90-foot carnival Ferris wheel in Dallas when a damaged wire rope failed, causing moving wheel components to kill two employees and seriously injure a third employee, whose leg was partially amputated. Administrative Law Judge Stanley M. Schwartz found…

September 7, 1995 ·Stanley M. Schwartz
Mixed result
COMM

Trinity Industries, Inc.

Full-scope inspection warrant upheld

Trinity manufactured tanks and pressure vessels at a Sharonville, Ohio, facility. After an employee complaint, OSHA obtained a warrant authorizing a limited complaint inspection, a records review, and a full-scope inspection if neutral administrative-plan criteria were met. The facility's…

August 18, 1992
Citations affirmed
COMM

Loomis Cabinet Company

Cabinet workers held to be employees

Loomis Cabinet Company manufactured wooden cabinets and was cited after a follow-up inspection for repeat, other-than-serious, and failure-to-abate violations. Loomis stipulated to the violations but argued that its former employees had become partners in Eastview Cabinet Company, leaving Loomis…

May 20, 1992
Citations affirmed
COMM

Trinity Industries Inc.

Machine and electrical case settled for $800

OSHA inspected two Trinity Industries railcar fabrication plants in Dallas and cited numerous machine guarding, crane, electrical, tool, fire extinguisher, sling, and hazard communication conditions. An OSHRC judge affirmed several serious and other-than-serious items and vacated others. During…

February 10, 1992
Settled

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.