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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Braswell Motor Freight Lines, Inc.
Commission distinguishes recurring violations from failure to abate
Braswell Motor Freight Lines operated a freight terminal that OSHA reinspected after several uncontested citations became final orders. The Commission affirmed a failure to abate the missing stair handrail but assessed no penalty because the company made substantial good-faith efforts and the…
Robert W. Blanchette, Richard C. Bond & John H. McArthur, Trustees of Penn Central Transportation Co.
Five facility violations affirmed and three vacated
OSHA inspected Penn Central’s engineering department at Boston’s South Station while the railroad was in bankruptcy reorganization. The judge added the three bankruptcy trustees as respondents because they controlled the railroad’s property, knew of the case from the beginning, and actively…
B & B Motor & Control Corp.
Exit and extinguisher penalties reduced to $280
B & B Motor & Control used a basement for storage and electronic-controller assembly by three employees. Two fire-exit doors were secured with bars, access or discharge was obstructed, and the exit signs were not illuminated. The company did not contest those violations but challenged the proposed…
American Bag Co., Inc.
Failure-to-abate penalties reduced
American Bag was a 17-employee leather bag manufacturer in Puerto Rico. After the company did not contest an initial citation, OSHA reinspected and alleged that multiple violations had not been corrected, that the citation had not been posted, and that an injury log had not been maintained. The…
Stowe Canoe Company
Twenty-one safety items affirmed
Stowe Canoe operated a small Vermont canoe-manufacturing facility. OSHA cited 22 conditions involving machine guarding, eye protection, flammable-liquid handling, fire extinguishers, compressed air, electrical equipment, aisle marking, and injury-record posting. The judge affirmed the first 21…
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company
Railroad exemption and bankruptcy defenses rejected
OSHA cited the railroad after inspections at its Kansas City and Joliet workplaces, and the company argued that Department of Transportation authority displaced OSHA jurisdiction and that a bankruptcy injunction barred the proceedings. The Commission held that the statutory exemption for another…
Railroad Salvage of Connecticut, Inc.
Failure-to-abate items affirmed and penalties reduced
Railroad Salvage did not contest an original citation covering blocked egress, poorly identified and mounted fire extinguishers, and hazardous material stacking, so those violations became final. A reinspection found that some cited locations remained uncorrected. The judge affirmed four…
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…
Western Metal Decorating Company
Stairway item reinstated and respiratory-protection item vacated
Western Metal Decorating Company decorated flat sheets of tin and steel using coating, printing, and baking lines. OSHA issued a 25-item citation covering conditions that included housekeeping, powered industrial trucks, flammable liquids, machinery, electrical equipment, employee eating areas, and…
Frohlick Crane Service
Leased-crane violation and citation items affirmed
Frohlick Crane Service leased a crane and operator to an elevator subcontractor at a construction site. The crane contacted an uninsulated 7,620-volt power line, and a laborer employed by another company was electrocuted. The Commission held that the operator remained Frohlick's employee because…
Biltrite Fixture Co., Inc.
Failure-to-abate penalty set at $750
Biltrite manufactured store fixtures and failed to abate six non-serious electrical, welding, fire-extinguisher, and housekeeping violations by the stated deadline. OSHA proposed $2,465 in additional daily penalties, and the company corrected the remaining conditions the day after reinspection. The…
Eckerd's Tri-Roads, Inc.
Four-item citation vacated with prejudice
Eckerd's Tri-Roads, a retail drug store, received a four-item citation covering the OSHA poster, annual injury and illness summary, fire-extinguisher mounting, and housekeeping. The judge affirmed all four items, assessed $50 for the poster item, and vacated a proposed $100 penalty for the…
Plawner Toy Manufacturing Corporation
Extinguisher item vacated and exit item affirmed
Plawner Toy Manufacturing Corporation operated a small New Jersey plant that made plastic objects. OSHA cited the company for an air nozzle that allegedly exceeded the pressure limit, two unmounted fire extinguishers, and blocked exits, with proposed penalties totaling $140. The judge vacated the…
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…
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.