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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Walker Crane & Rigging Corporation
Crane-near-power-line citation affirmed, $3,500 penalty
Walker Crane & Rigging is a small Connecticut crane company. In October 1999 its operator was using a crane to set the sections of a modular house in Higganum, Connecticut, working on a narrow street with overhead power lines along the far side. While moving the fourth house section, the crane's…
Thiro USA, Inc.
Utility-pole training and fall-protection violations affirmed
Thiro USA is an electrical utility construction company. During a November 1999 inspection at a utility-pole worksite in Everett, Massachusetts, an OSHA compliance officer saw two Thiro employees working from the elevated end of a derrick truck boom, at least 15 feet up, without fall protection…
Corna/Kokosing Construction Co., Inc.
Brief open scaffold gate violated fall rule
Corna/Kokosing Construction worked on a middle-school construction project in Ohio. Two employees unloaded materials from a forklift pallet onto a scaffold about 28 feet above the ground. After the pallet was removed, a five-foot gate remained open for several seconds while the employees used…
Capeway Roofing
Settlement reclassifies citation and sets $1,000 penalty
Capeway Roofing contested one serious citation arising from a December 1998 OSHA inspection. At the hearing, the parties announced a complete settlement and later submitted it in writing. Judge Ann Z. Cook approved the agreement, reclassified the item as a Section 17 violation, affirmed it as…
Murray Roofing Company, Inc.
Unsafe roof access and repeated fall violation affirmed
Six Murray Roofing employees reached a one-story roof by climbing a ladder to a canopy and then climbing the remaining three-foot elevation without a ladder or other safe access. OSHA also observed two roofers near an unprotected 15.5-foot edge after warning lines had been moved for membrane work…
S.K. Wellman Friction Company
Press guarding, training, inspection, and lockout items affirmed
An employee lost a fingertip while clearing a frequently jammed turntable on a Toledo 250-ton press. Judge Ann Z. Cook found an obvious unguarded nip point, inadequate operator training before first use, and no documented program of periodic press inspections, although setup personnel performed…
The Pike Company, Inc.
Edge, scaffold, and ground-fault items affirmed
At a prison construction project, Pike employees worked near a 13-foot unguarded edge, and another employee poured concrete from an unguarded outrigger scaffold about 20 feet high without a proper access ladder. Judge Ann Z. Cook rejected infeasibility because the edge work did not require removal…
All Waste Environmental Services/North Atlantic
Hydroblasting lance-ejection hazard violated general duty clause
All Waste used high-pressure water to clear a blockage from a pipe at a paper mill. A pressurized cleaning lance unexpectedly exited the pipe, moved out of control, and seriously injured an employee. Judge Ann Z. Cook found that uncontrolled lance ejection was a recognized hydroblasting hazard…
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.