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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Quillian Pipe Company, Inc.
Trench violation reduced from willful to serious
Quillian Pipe employees worked in an inadequately protected trench that was more than five feet deep while installing underground pipeline in Macon, Georgia. OSHA had recently explained trenching requirements to the company's president after an earlier inspection, then cited the later condition as…
ABCO Tree & Hedge Service
Power-line tree-trimming violation affirmed
An ABCO employee trimming a tree with a seven-foot aluminum pole saw contacted an energized power line and was electrocuted. He was about eight feet from the line and used neither insulated equipment nor personal protective equipment for electrical hazards. The judge found that contact was…
Alpha Masonry, Inc.
Scaffold guardrail and access violations affirmed
Alpha Masonry employees worked from a fourth-floor scaffold with unguarded ends. Employees also moved between the building and the scaffold by taking a two-foot horizontal and three-foot vertical step while exposed to falls of about 38 to 41 feet. The judge found serious guardrail and safe-access…
Universal Terminal & Transport, a Division of Universal Maritime Service Corp.
Unsecured hatch-beam citation affirmed
Universal Terminal & Transport conducted longshoring work at the Port of New York beneath a one-ton hatch beam whose locking devices were broken. The company tied the beam with manila rope, but a crane cable snagged it and pulled it from its sockets, causing it to fall into the hatch and inflict…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.