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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Anchor Construction Co.
Amended trench citation affirmed with a $400 penalty
Anchor Construction employees worked in an 11-foot-deep trench dug in clay soil with water entering it. Evidence showed sloughing at the bottom, a cracked wall, and soil that would not support weight without extra protection. The Commission allowed the Secretary to replace the originally cited…
Horne Plumbing & Heating Company
Serious trenching violations affirmed
Horne Plumbing & Heating was installing sewer pipe in a trench at a Georgia church project. A cave-in killed the job foreman and another employee, and the first inspection found undersized shoring in a roughly 17-foot-deep trench and excavated soil stored less than two feet from its edge. A later…
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…
Hardy Construction Company
Trench-side item affirmed and bank item vacated
Hardy Construction employees worked in a compact-soil trench that was more than six feet deep, about 34 inches wide, and insufficiently sloped above the five-foot level. The judge found a nonserious violation of the compact-soil trench standard but no substantial probability of death or serious…
Gerstner Electric, Inc.
Serious trench citation amended and affirmed
Gerstner Electric dug a 14-foot-deep, 30-inch-wide trench beside heavily traveled roads in unstable soil that had already caved in several times. Two employees entered the unshored trench to begin installing protection, and a wall collapsed, killing one employee and injuring the other. OSHA cited…
Frazee Construction Company
Trench citation vacated after OSHA withheld inspection records
OSHA alleged that Frazee Construction willfully failed to shore, slope, or otherwise protect a trench and proposed a $9,000 penalty. During the hearing, the compliance officer disclosed that he had prepared notes, memoranda, and a report from four inspections and the closing conference. OSHA…
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.