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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J. B. Coxwell Contracting, Inc.
Two excavation violations affirmed and two vacated
J. B. Coxwell Contracting was building an underground concrete junction box for a highway storm drain system in Florida. OSHA cited the company for four excavation violations after employees worked in an excavation about 6 feet 8 inches deep. The judge affirmed a serious violation because the…
August Winter & Sons, Inc.
Falling-load citation vacated
August Winter & Sons was installing drainage tile at a Wisconsin construction project when OSHA cited the company for allegedly allowing an employee beneath a loaded excavator bucket. The compliance officer observed from about 35 feet away and 10 feet above the employee, while the employee and…
Saiia Construction, LLC
Attorney-fee application denied
Saiia Construction sought attorney fees after OSHA withdrew an item alleging that employees worked beneath a suspended concrete pipe. The compliance officer had recorded immediately after the inspection that employees were under the load and had reported the same fact to his supervisor. After a…
Saiia Construction, LLC
Attorney-fee application denied
Saiia Construction sought attorney fees after OSHA withdrew an item alleging that employees worked beneath a suspended concrete pipe. The compliance officer had recorded immediately after the inspection that employees were under the load and had reported the same fact to his supervisor. After a…
Saiia Construction
Concrete-pipe lifting hazard citation vacated
Saiia Construction was installing concrete pipe in an excavation when OSHA investigated a worksite accident. The remaining citation alleged that an employee in the trench was exposed to being struck by a concrete pipe as an excavator lifted it. The judge found that the hazard was recognized but…
Honey Creek Contracting Co.
Review vacated after employer failed to brief
Honey Creek Contracting petitioned for Commission review of two administrative law judge decisions concerning excavation work in Homer City, Pennsylvania. After directing the cases for review, the Commission ordered Honey Creek to file a brief or a letter in lieu of a brief within 40 days. Honey…
Stone-Circle Underground, Inc.
Trackhoe bucket violation affirmed, spoil-pile and cave-in items vacated
Stone-Circle Underground builds underground drainage fields in the Fort Lauderdale area. During an August 1997 inspection of a French drain job in a bank parking lot, OSHA issued three excavation citations: employees working under a trackhoe bucket, a spoil pile stacked at the trench edge, and a…
P. Gioioso & Sons, Inc.
Trench safety violations affirmed
P. Gioioso & Sons was installing water lines in Winthrop, Massachusetts, when OSHA inspectors saw a foreman and another employee inside an unprotected trench. A suspended pipe passed over the employees, and their access ladder extended only 12 inches above street level. The judge affirmed serious…
Onontario of Florida, Inc.
Repeated cave-in violation affirmed for $1,000
Onontario employees installed sewer pipe in an excavation about 12 feet deep where unstable sugar-sand walls had collapsed repeatedly and no shoring was in place. A trench box was available at the worksite but was not used until the compliance officer raised the hazard, after which another cave-in…
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.