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
7 decisions 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(b)(2)

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ALJ

International Fire Protection, Inc.

Narrow scaffold-plank citation affirmed

International Fire Protection employees replaced sprinkler-system components inside a cooling tower about 40 to 50 feet above the ground. The crew used movable wood planks about 10 inches wide as working surfaces and walkways, and a foreman suffered a serious arm injury when a plank twisted and he…

September 20, 2019 ·John B. Gatto
Citations affirmed
COMM

Manson Construction Company

Platform-securing item withdrawn and remaining rulings left unreviewed

Manson Construction Company was cited after OSHA inspected work at the Vashon Island Ferry Terminal, where employees used a crane-suspended personnel platform and worked atop a group of pilings called a dolphin. The judge vacated three scaffold-based items but affirmed fall protection violations…

April 27, 2017
Mixed result
ALJ

J and M Miller Construction, LLC

Worker-status defense rejected and $13,800 assessed

OSHA cited J and M Miller Construction after two residential construction inspections found unprotected roof work, inadequate fall-hazard training, missing eye protection, and a narrow scaffold platform. The judge found that the workers were employees, not independent contractors, because the…

September 1, 2016 ·Dennis L. Phillips
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Flintlock Construction Services LLC

Willful scaffold violations and $249,920 affirmed

OSHA found workers using inadequately planked, braced, accessed, and guarded scaffolds at a hotel construction project. Flintlock controlled the worksite and had authority to stop work, but its managers repeatedly ignored documented scaffold warnings from the onsite safety manager. The judge found…

July 6, 2016 ·Covette Rooney
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Richard Hargrove d/b/a R. H. Construction

Five repeat construction items vacated for lack of employer coverage

OSHA cited R. H. Construction after observing framing work from a narrow, unsecured forklift-supported platform nearly ten feet above the ground. The workers also lacked cited head, eye, and fall protection, and OSHA alleged that one worker had not received required scaffold training. All five…

October 13, 2015 ·Heather A. Joys
Citations vacated
ALJ

Denny Maize Construction

Eight serious construction items affirmed

Denny Maize Construction did not appear at the hearing, and OSHA's inspection evidence was undisputed. Workers lacked hard hats and eye protection, used circular saws with blade guards wedged open, and used damaged or improperly spliced extension cords. OSHA also documented an undersized scaffold…

March 22, 2010 ·Sidney J. Goldstein
Mixed result
COMM

Anchorage Plastering Company

Scaffold citations vacated for lack of commerce proof

OSHA cited alleged scaffold, hard-hat, and flammable-liquid violations while Anchorage Plastering employees applied stucco at an Alaska medical-center project. The judge did not reach the safety merits. He held that the Secretary failed to prove that the small plastering business affected…

June 9, 1975
Citations vacated

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.