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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Luna Tech, Inc.
Settlement approved with $50,000 in combined penalties
The two cases arose from OSHA inspections of Luna Tech's fireworks-manufacturing plant, including an inspection after explosions and fires injured three employees and one later died. While the cases were under Commission review, the parties settled all remaining issues. The Secretary withdrew…
The National Coal Museum
Mine-roof hazard affirmed as serious
The National Coal Museum operated public tours in an abandoned Illinois coal mine and employed former miners to maintain the underground facility. The judge held that OSHA had jurisdiction because the site was a museum, not an active mineral-extraction operation regulated by MSHA, and rejected…
Hart Metals, Inc.
Electrical item affirmed and forklift item vacated
Hart processed magnesium ingots and particulate in two chipper areas at its Pennsylvania plant. OSHA alleged that a propane forklift needed an explosion-rated designation in the open chipper area and that ordinary electrical equipment was improper in the enclosed chipper area. The judge vacated the…
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…
Titan Tire Corporation of Natchez (EZ)
Electrical-classification violation affirmed after a carbon black dust flash fire
Titan Tire Corporation of Natchez made tires in Natchez, Mississippi. On October 4, 1999, a large enclosed rubber mixer (a Banbury mixer) belched a cloud of carbon black dust into the work area. The dust ignited in a flash fire that seriously burned two employees. OSHA cited Titan under the…
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…
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…
Four Flags Drilling Company
Kelly-bushing citation withdrawn under abatement settlement
Four Flags drilled oil and gas wells and was cited for failing to guard a smooth rotary-table kelly bushing, with a proposed $300 penalty. The judge affirmed the serious item and penalty, and Commission review followed. In settlement, Four Flags agreed either to use a contact-preventing guard or to…
ASAMERA Oil (U.S.), Inc.
Hazardous-location electrical citation vacated
OSHA cited Asamera Oil for placing unapproved electrical equipment near potential hydrocarbon sources at its Colorado refinery. The judge vacated the citation after finding the definition of a Class I, Division 2 location unconstitutionally vague as applied. The Commission rejected the vagueness…
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.