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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Petro Hunt, LLC
Flame-resistant-clothing citation vacated at oil production site
Petro Hunt operated an oil production facility in North Dakota where a treater shed caught fire shortly after two employees left the site. OSHA cited the company because it did not require employees who gauged tanks and worked around hydrocarbon pressure vessels to wear flame-resistant clothing…
Northern Excavating Co., Inc.
Willful cave-in violations affirmed, training and egress items vacated
Northern Excavating employees worked in a Type C soil excavation that ranged from about 7.5 to 12 feet deep without a trench box, shoring, or adequate sloping. The excavation used prohibited benching, had soil sloughing into it, and sat beside a heavily traveled access road where truck vibrations…
Nyffeler Construction, Inc.
Roof fall-protection and training violations affirmed
Two Nyffeler Construction employees installed roof sheathing more than ten feet above the ground without compliant fall protection. The company owner could see the work and admitted that no guardrail, safety net, or personal fall-arrest system was in use. The company also had not trained the…
Post Buckley Schuh & Jernigan, Inc.
Fatal heat-stress violation affirmed
An archaeological field technician became disoriented while digging test holes during his first day on a Texas pipeline survey project. Temperatures approached 99 degrees, he was sent alone toward an air-conditioned vehicle, and coworkers later found him unconscious with a core temperature of 107.8…
Era-Valdivia Contractors, Inc.
Independent lifeline item affirmed
Era-Valdivia employees painted a water tower from suspended Spider baskets about 80 feet above the ground. One painter climbed outside his basket and tied his harness lanyard to the scaffold's suspension cable instead of an independent lifeline. The judge vacated a general-duty item based on…
Broan-Nutone Storage Solutions, LP
Power-press supervision and guarding violations affirmed
A Broan-Nutone machine operator's hand was amputated when a mechanical power press cycled while she was clearing a jam. The judge found that she received almost no instruction or supervision when assigned to the press, which lacked the light-curtain protection used on the facility's other presses…
Archon Construction
Unprotected trench violation affirmed as repeat
Two Archon employees entered a six-foot-deep trench with steep walls and no cave-in protection to cut an existing sewer pipe. The judge found that the foreman knew the trench's physical condition, even though he mistakenly believed it was less than five feet deep. That mistaken belief prevented a…
Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc.
Work-related elbow illness should have been recorded
A Caterpillar employee developed epicondylitis while repeatedly scanning and handling parts in a distribution facility. The condition led to work restrictions, time away from work, reassignment, and medical treatment. The judge found the company's same-day ergonomic review deficient because it…
Sanchez Arango Construction
Four violations affirmed and two vacated
OSHA cited Sanchez Arango Construction after an inspector saw an employee working about twenty-five feet above the ground without tying off. The judge affirmed serious violations for using a damaged synthetic sling and failing to provide fall protection, rejecting the employee-misconduct defense…
Korte Construction Co.
Flexible-cord damage citation vacated
Korte Construction routed two heavy-duty electrical cables and a smaller extension cord through friction-hinged windows at a construction project. OSHA alleged that the cords were insufficiently protected from sharp edges and pinch-point damage. The judge found that the heavy rubber sheathing…
Diversified Maintenance Systems
Medical-response planning citation vacated
OSHA cited Diversified Maintenance because its only onsite employee's first-aid and CPR certifications had expired. The judge held that OSHA cited the planning requirement in § 1926.50(b), not the separate certification requirement in § 1926.50(c). Before work began, the company had identified an…
A.H. Beck Foundation Company, Inc.
Drill-rig swing and pier-hole citations vacated
A.H. Beck used a track-mounted drilling rig to excavate a 55-foot foundation pier hole. OSHA alleged that employees were exposed to the rig's rotating swing radius and to a fall at the edge of the hole. The judge found that the company used all of OSHA's listed alternative precautions for mobile…
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.