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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Hackney Brighton Corporation
Exit and cylinder-storage violations reinstated
Hackney Brighton fabricated steel pressure vessels at a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, facility. One designated exit was four feet above the floor with no stairs or ramp, and an acetylene cylinder delivered late in the day remained overnight in the oxygen-cylinder storage area. The judge vacated both…
Alpha Poster Service, Inc.
Most failure-to-abate and liquid-handling items upheld
Alpha Poster Service operated a small silk-screen printing business that OSHA reinspected after an earlier citation became final. The judge affirmed ten failure-to-abate items at $45 each, vacated two others, and affirmed two housekeeping and exit-obstruction violations as nonserious at $115 each…
Philadelphia Coke Division, Eastern Associated Coal Corp.
Conveyor-ramp citation vacated
Philadelphia Coke used an enclosed, inclined conveyor ramp between two elevated screening stations. OSHA cited the company because the ramp rose about four to four-and-a-half inches for every twelve horizontal inches. The Commission held that the cited standard required stairs or a ramp where an…
Smith and Company, Inc.
Seven non-serious items and $95 penalty affirmed
Smith and Company manufactured clothing at a plant with about 162 employees. It admitted non-serious violations involving an elevated and unmarked exit, fire extinguishers mounted too high, inadequately guarded fans, a bench grinder lacking complete guarding and a work rest, and flexible cord used…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.