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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
J.W. Bill Christie, Inc.
Confined-space citations settled for $240
J.W. Bill Christie repaired natural-gas pipelines and was cited after a gas release in a below-ground manhole overcame two employees, who died. OSHA alleged that employees lacked adequate confined-space hazard instruction, training, and respiratory protection. The judge affirmed two serious…
H.P. Fowler Contracting Corporation
EAJA prevailing-party ruling reversed
Fowler settled citations concerning sewer-manhole hazards after one willful item was withdrawn, two willful items were reduced to serious, and proposed penalties fell from $11,200 to $2,080. The chief judge denied Fowler's application for $6,618.40 in fees and expenses under the Equal Access to…
Bomac Drilling, et al.
Hydrogen sulfide emergency protection violations affirmed
Bomac Drilling and Scandinavian Montgomery Drilling operated exploratory wells in the Williston Basin without self-contained breathing apparatus for hydrogen sulfide emergencies. The Commission found that hydrogen sulfide exposure was a recognized hazard and that encountering and releasing the gas…
Environmental Utilities Corp.
Trench violation reclassified as serious
Environmental Utilities installed sewer pipe in trenches in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Two employees remained in the Marietta Pike trench after two of three trench jacks were removed, leaving the trench inadequately protected from a cave-in. The Commission changed the judge's classification from…
Corbin Lavoy, d/b/a Empire Boring Co.
Serious toluene-exposure and safety-program violations affirmed
Empire Boring employees manually excavated inside a 42-inch steel casing extending beneath railroad tracks in an area contaminated by toluene. The employer had been warned that toluene fumes were present and that workers needed gas masks, but the site had only dust masks and no effective safety…
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.