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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
6 decisions 29 C.F.R. § 1910.147(c)(4)(ii)(B)

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ALJ

Darling Ingredients, Inc.

Repeat hydrolizer lockout violations affirmed

Darling Ingredients operated a chicken-rendering facility where a pressurized hydrolizer became clogged. After normal pressure-relief methods failed, maintenance employees loosened bolts on a flange, which blew off and released steam and hot material; two employees died. The judge found that…

June 24, 2022 ·John B. Gatto
Citations affirmed
ALJ

Southern Hens, Inc.

Lockout and machine-guarding items split

Southern Hens operated a poultry-processing facility where sanitation employees cleaned production machinery during the night shift. An employee's hand was caught in an operating tumbler drive mechanism while she cleaned it, resulting in the permanent loss of part of her thumb. The judge vacated…

April 23, 2018 ·Heather A. Joys
Mixed result
ALJ

MB Consultants, Ltd. d/b/a Murray's Chicken

Lockout, guarding, and chemical-training items largely affirmed

Separate safety and health inspections at Murray's Chicken produced lockout, machine-guarding, hazard-communication, and injury-recording citations. The judge affirmed serious lockout items for inadequate machine-specific procedures, deficient periodic inspections, and insufficient…

October 30, 2014 ·William S. Coleman
Mixed result
ALJ

Southern Foods, d/b/a Meadow Gold Dairies

Most lockout and guarding items vacated after trimmer injury

A Meadow Gold Dairies employee lost a finger while clearing a jam from a milk-jug trimmer after employees propped its reset button in the on position. The judge vacated a lockout-procedure item because the company's written procedures addressed the hazardous energy sources identified for the…

December 27, 2004 ·James H. Barkley
Mixed result
ALJ

Whirlpool Corporation, Oxford Division

Press safety and lockout violations affirmed

A press operator suffered severe head injuries when a mechanical power press cycled while she was inside it removing material. The judge found that Whirlpool lacked machine-specific energy-control procedures, left press-control keys available to operators without adequate supervision, and did not…

February 3, 2003 ·Stephen J. Simko, Jr.
Citations affirmed
ALJ

J-Lenco, Inc.

Lockout and machine-guarding violations resulted in $6,250 in penalties

J-Lenco manufactured sand molds using machines with electrical, hydraulic, and pneumatic energy. An operator's arm was crushed when he tried to push a drifting machine component back into place. The judge affirmed serious violations involving excess flammable-liquid storage, inadequate…

July 1, 2002 ·Michael H. Schoenfeld
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.