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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.

5,577 decisions and counting · Latest decision July 17, 2026
4 decisions 29 C.F.R. § 1910.141(c)(2)(i)

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ALJ

Joel Patterson Air Conditioning Recycling

Workplace violations resulted in $4,100 in penalties

Joel Patterson Air Conditioning Recycling paid workers daily to dismantle used air conditioners at its warehouse but labeled them subcontractors. Applying the economic-realities test, the judge found they were employees because the business controlled the workplace, pay, hours, equipment, hiring…

July 3, 2002 ·Ken S. Welsch
Mixed result
COMM

Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co.

Forty-six citation items vacated as untimely

OSHA cited 46 alleged safety, health, recordkeeping, and posting violations at Illinois Central Gulf Railroad's locomotive repair facility in Paducah, Kentucky. The inspection was coordinated with the Federal Railroad Administration, and the proposed citation moved through regional and national…

March 19, 1975
Citations vacated
COMM

General Meat Company, Inc.

Low-gravity penalties vacated after prompt abatement

OSHA cited General Meat for electrical, drinking-water, restroom, lunch-area, and fire-extinguisher conditions and proposed $280 in penalties. The judge affirmed 12 non-serious items and allowed the Secretary to withdraw two other allegations. On review, the Commission focused on the penalties for…

June 20, 1972
Modified
COMM

J. E. Chilton Millwork & Lumber Company, Inc.

Six items affirmed with no penalties

OSHA cited J. E. Chilton Millwork for seven non-serious violations involving first aid, housekeeping, lunch space, extinguisher inspections, toilet partitions, equipment grounding, and compressed-air cleaning. The judge treated the toilet-partition item as de minimis, vacated that citation and…

May 15, 1972
Modified

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.