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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BOH Brothers Construction Co., LLC
Lifeline case remanded for specific credibility findings
OSHA cited Boh Brothers after a bridge girder fell into the water with ten employees, killing a foreman. The judge affirmed a violation concerning a horizontal lifeline designed to support no more than five workers with a safety factor of two. That ruling depended on testimony that more than five…
Lake Erie Construction Company, Inc.
Highway-sign fall violations affirmed with grouped penalty
Lake Erie Construction employees changed an overhead highway sign more than 20 feet above a road. One employee rode in an aerial-lift basket without tying off, while another worked on the sign structure without continuous fall protection because he had only one lanyard. The Commission found…
Allstate Painting & Contracting Co., Inc.
All citations vacated because Allstate was not the employer
OSHA cited Allstate Painting for numerous toxic-exposure and fall-protection violations on an Ohio bridge project. Although Allstate held the subcontract, it had assigned its rights and obligations to American Painting, whose long-term employees performed and supervised the work. Applying the…
North West Handling Systems, Inc., and its successors
Scissor-lift and fall-training violations affirmed, willful items reduced to serious
North West Handling Systems used a scissor lift while relocating warehouse pallet racks in Sandpoint, Idaho. A company installer removed part of the lift's guardrail, provided little safety training to two temporary workers, and used a forklift to push up the lift platform after it stopped rising…
Branham Sign Company
Fall violations reduced from willful to serious
Branham Sign Company manufactured, serviced, and erected signs. A supervisor worked from an aerial-lift basket and on a sign about 64 feet above the ground without a tied-off safety harness. The Commission affirmed violations of both fall-protection standards but held that the Secretary had not…
Michael J. Gresh Painting Co., Inc.
Bridge fall-protection violation affirmed
Michael J. Gresh Painting employees secured containment tarps on a bridge superstructure about 25 to 30 feet above the roadway without tying off. Six employees violated the company's fall-protection policy, including the foreman, who was not wearing a safety belt or harness. Judge Richard…
W. G. Kees Properties, Inc.
Eight construction safety items affirmed
W. G. Kees Properties, Inc. was cited for safety conditions at a construction site. The remaining allegations involved employees working without fall protection on a steep roof and second level, unsecured and insufficiently extended access ladders, and a stairway without required rail protection…
Lewis Mechanical & Iron Works, Inc.
Willful fall violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Lewis Mechanical & Iron Works, Inc. installed crane rails while employees walked steel beams more than 30 feet above the ground without tying off. The judge held that installing the crane rails was not steel erection because the structural beams were already in place, so the cited general…
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.