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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Active Oil Service, Inc.
Fatal tank-vault violations affirmed, with one item reduced to serious
An Active Oil Service employee was killed and a foreman was seriously burned when an oxy-acetylene torch ignited vapors while they worked in an underground vault above a pyro-oil tank. The Commission held that the shallow vault was still a permit-required confined space because entry and exit were…
United Erie, Div. of Interstate Chemical Co., Inc.
Confined-space items affirmed as serious
A United Erie production employee died from oxygen deficiency after entering a 4,000-gallon chemical kettle. Judge G. Marvin Bober found that United lacked a site-specific permit-space program, atmospheric testing equipment, adequate attendant practices, entry permits, and complete rescue…
Trinity Industries, Inc.
Railcar lining compartments were permit-required confined spaces
Trinity employees entered hopper railcar compartments and spray-applied flammable protective linings while forced-air ventilation operated. OSHA measured flammable vapor at 24 to 26 percent of the lower explosive limit at the lower compartment openings, more than twice the permit-space threshold…
East Texas Coatings, Inc.
Commission approves $4,170 confined-space settlement
East Texas Coatings removed and replaced linings inside railroad tank and hopper cars. After review was directed, the parties settled citations involving respiratory protection and permit-required confined spaces. The Secretary withdrew many items, reduced penalties on several others, and…
NI Industries, Riverbank Army Ammunitions Plant
Inadequate sump ventilation produces one serious $3,500 violation
NI Industries employees cleaned sludge from a permit-required sump about 25 feet deep at an ammunition plant. The sump had limited natural ventilation, and employees used a gasoline chain saw that repeatedly caused the atmospheric monitor's alarm to sound. NI initially provided no forced…
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.