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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Dierzen-Kewanee Heavy Industries, LTD
Unabated hazards resulted in $133,100 in penalties
Dierzen-Kewanee manufactured dump-truck bodies at a former boiler factory in Illinois. After settling earlier OSHA citations, the company paid only the first penalty installment, did not provide requested abatement information, and left many cited conditions uncorrected for a follow-up inspection…
Oberdorfer Industries, Inc.
Foundry citations partly affirmed and partly vacated
Oberdorfer operated an aluminum foundry that OSHA inspected under a local emphasis program for primary-metal industries. The Commission vacated the no-smoking-sign and explosion-proof-wiring items because the Secretary did not perform the testing her expert said was needed to establish dangerous…
Louis A. Dierzen d/b/a Dierzen Welding & Machine Company, Dierzen Machine Company, and Dierzen Trailer Corporation
Failure-to-abate and repeat spray-area violations affirmed by default
Dierzen ran a welding and machine shop in Newark, Illinois with about 12 employees. In March 1997, OSHA conducted a follow-up inspection to check whether earlier, uncontested violations had been fixed. The inspector found that explosion-proof electrical equipment for the paint spray area had been…
Beall Construction, Inc., d/b/a Tiger Manufacturing
Settlement resolves two consolidated cases, $1,000 penalty
Beall Construction, Inc., doing business as Tiger Manufacturing in Dallas, Texas, faced OSHA citations in two separate cases covering welding, respirator, flammable-liquid, spray-finishing, and electrical safety standards. At a June 28, 1994 hearing, the parties used a short settlement discussion…
The Specialist of the South, Inc.
$3,000 penalty affirmed for 39 serious items
The Specialists operated a small furniture repair, refinishing, and upholstery business using flammable and toxic materials. OSHA cited 39 serious violations, primarily involving fire and explosion hazards, and proposed $9,900 in penalties. An ALJ affirmed every serious item but assessed a combined…
Mikel Company, Inc.
Grounding item settled for $1 after mixed plant ruling
Mikel Company manufactured furniture at a Bronx plant where OSHA cited flammable-liquid storage, spray-finishing, hazard communication, posting, and injury-recordkeeping conditions. The ALJ affirmed several storage-room and spray-booth ventilation items with $375 in penalties, vacated several…
Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company
Commission approves withdrawal of all citations
OSHA cited Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company for numerous conditions at its Arkansas furniture plant after an inspection conducted under a warrant. The earlier litigation addressed whether evidence from a plant-wide inspection should be suppressed when the warrant application was based on…
Air-Kare Corporation
Aircraft spray-room violations affirmed
Air-Kare spray-painted aircraft in a curtained section of a hangar near non-explosion-proof electrical equipment and beneath a ceiling with exposed wood framing. The Commission credited the compliance officer's observations and opinion that dangerous quantities of flammable vapors were present near…
Clifford B. Hannay & Son, Inc.
Spray-booth electrical violation reduced to de minimis
Hannay manufactured industrial hose reels and used flammable lacquer and solvents in spray booths. Electrical switches and receptacles that were not approved for a Class I, Division 2 hazardous area were located more than five feet but less than twenty feet from the booth openings, contrary to 29…
Midwest Steel Fabricators, Inc.
Abatement-extension petition denied
Midwest Steel Fabricators sought more time to abate two violations. The judge denied the petition after finding that the company remained out of compliance, had not proved a good-faith abatement effort, and had not shown that factors beyond its reasonable control prevented completion. The company…
Keystone Body Works
Paint-room citations affirmed in part
Keystone Body Works operated an automobile repair and spray-painting shop in Lubbock, Texas. OSHA alleged several combined fire and health hazards in the paint room, including inadequate ventilation, spraying near a heater, non-explosion-proof lighting, excess stored paint, and failure to use an…
Colonial Craft Reproductions, Inc.
Seven items affirmed but all penalties vacated
Colonial Craft, a very small wooden-giftware manufacturer, was cited for nine non-serious violations, with $165 in penalties proposed for spray-area electrical wiring, exit signs, machine belts, and radial saws. The Commission agreed that the penalized conditions were not minor and ordinarily would…
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.