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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Water Works Installation Corp.
Trench violations affirmed with increased penalties
Water Works Installation employees worked in a 9-foot-deep trench in hard or compact soil that was not shored, sloped, or otherwise protected. The site also involved employees without hard hats and a person standing beneath a load handled by a hoist. The judge affirmed a serious trench-support…
Hammet Company, Inc.
Trenching citations vacated
Hammet excavated a trench with two sections, each more than five feet deep. OSHA initially cited the soft-or-unstable-soil trenching rule, but on review conceded that the soil was hard and compact and sought to substitute the hard-soil rule. The Commission held that the record did not prove either…
Hartwell Excavating Company
Trench citations modified and penalties reduced
Hartwell Excavating was installing a sewer line in an Idaho trench that exceeded five feet in depth and had unsloped sides in sand-and-gravel soil. OSHA also cited excavated material stored at the trench edge, missing exit ladders, a worker positioned beneath part of a backhoe bucket, an incomplete…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.