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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Smith Steel Casting Company
Air-contaminant violations and silica controls affirmed
Smith Steel Casting Company employees were exposed to excessive respirable silica dust from sand-handling work and excessive copper fume from arc-air gouging. The Commission rejected Smith Steel's challenge to the validity of the air-contaminant standard at 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000 because the cited…
Smith Steel Casting Company
Air-contaminant items remanded after appeal
The Fifth Circuit returned Smith Steel Casting Company's consolidated case to the Commission. Following the court's instructions, the Commission remanded two items from citation 1 and one item from citation 2 to the administrative law judge. The judge was directed to consider Smith Steel's argument…
Bemis Manufacturing Company
Nuisance-dust citation withdrawn with prejudice
The Secretary moved to withdraw a citation alleging that Bemis Manufacturing violated the nuisance-dust limit in 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000. The Commission granted the withdrawal with prejudice. The official release provides no additional factual or penalty details.
Krause Milling Company
Corn-dust citation dismissed
OSHA cited Krause Milling for employee exposure to corn dust under the inert-or-nuisance-dust provision of 29 C.F.R. § 1910.1000. The Commission held that the cited provision was part of a mineral-dust standard and did not apply to organic corn dust, and that a broader interpretation would deny…
FWA Drilling Company, Inc.
Late complaint accepted
The judge denied the Secretary's motion to file a late complaint and vacated the citation as part of a consolidated ruling involving five employers. The Commission held that the Secretary's explanation precluded a finding of contumacious conduct and that FWA Drilling had not established prejudice…
Independence Foundry & Manufacturing Co. Inc.
Noise and silica abatement extension approved in full
Independence Foundry sought another extension of final abatement dates for excessive noise and airborne silica dust. The parties agreed to September 1, 1980 and detailed interim measures, including respirator and hearing-protection programs, employee training, medical and audiometric review…
West Point Pepperell, Inc.
Textile-mill noise and cotton-dust citation vacated
West Point Pepperell employees worked in two textile weave rooms where measured noise levels exceeded the permissible exposure table. The Commission majority held that the Secretary did not prove technologically feasible engineering controls because the proposed loom modifications had not…
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.