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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
The Samuels Group, Inc.
Missing scaffold top rail resulted in a $1,000 penalty
The Samuels Group used a scaffold for masonry work approximately 60 feet above the ground. Its cross-bracing was about 32 inches high, which could not substitute for the required top rail, and stacked masonry blocks were neither high nor stable enough to serve as equivalent guarding. The judge…
Stark Excavation, Inc.
Documented safety program proved supervisory misconduct defense
A Stark Excavation superintendent and two laborers stripped bridge forms without fall protection while exposed to a 14-foot, 10-inch drop to rocks below. The company did not dispute the unsafe condition but argued that the supervisor's lapse during a 10-to-15-minute task was unforeseeable…
Mustang Engineering Holdings, Inc.
Missing trench exit affirmed while cave-in item was vacated
Mustang Engineering employees entered a trench to survey a newly installed pipe. OSHA cited the company because the trench lacked a safe means of egress and was not sloped enough for its Class B soil. The judge found that the missing ladder or other exit was obvious to Mustang's foreman, so the…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.