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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Metric Constructors, Inc.
Hoist item reclassified and rebar item withdrawn
Metric Constructors used a material hoist while building a six-floor hospital addition in Clearwater, Florida. The judge affirmed items involving long material protruding from the hoist, an unprotected ground-level hoist entrance, unenclosed unused sides of the hoist tower, and exposed reinforcing…
Vincent Rizzo, d/b/a Vincent Rizzo Construction Co. or Masoncraft, Inc.
Citations dismissed for naming the wrong employer
OSHA issued three serious construction citations totaling $1,500 against Vincent Rizzo and a company that had not performed the cited work. The notice of contest promptly stated that Masoncraft, Inc. was the correct employer, but the Secretary continued prosecuting Rizzo individually rather than…
McDevitt & Street Co.
Material-hoist violation reclassified as serious
McDevitt & Street was the general contractor on a construction project using an unenclosed material-hoist platform about twelve to fourteen feet above ground. A subcontractor employee had died after falling from the platform the day before OSHA inspected, and an employee of McDevitt & Street was…
Florida East Coast Properties, Inc.
Settlement cuts one penalty but retains serious classification
Florida East Coast Properties received two serious construction citations and several other-than-serious items, but contested only the proposed penalties. In a settlement, the Secretary agreed that the evidence could not sustain the serious classification for an open-sided-floor item and proposed…
Natkin & Co., Mechanical Contractors
Serious material-hoist citation affirmed
Natkin used a material hoist to move sheet-metal ductwork and other materials at a multistory construction project in Virginia. The hoist lacked required overhead covering, full side enclosures, and access gates. An employee died in a fall that prompted the inspection, although the record showed…
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.