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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Olin Corporation
Forklift guard citation affirmed and crane-clearance item vacated
Olin operated unguarded forklifts around pallets, fiber cores, and scrap coil ends stacked above driver height. The Commission held that the overhead-guard standard protects against falling objects representative of the work and does not depend on whether objects are stacked above the forklift…
Star Textile & Research, Inc.
Variances moot two contested citation items
Star Textile contested citation items requiring foreign-metal removal equipment on textile opener lines and overhead guards on powered industrial trucks. While the case was pending, the Secretary granted variances after determining that the company's alternative conditions were as safe as…
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…
California Rotogravure Co.
Storage-roof violation affirmed without penalty
California Rotogravure operated a printing plant where employees occasionally climbed onto an unguarded office roof to handle stored materials. The Commission held that the roof became a working platform when employees used it and affirmed the guardrail violation without a penalty. It vacated a…
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Forklift overhead-guard citation vacated
Anheuser-Busch operated 17 forklifts without overhead guards in brewery aisles bordered by stacked cans, bottles, kegs, and pallets. The judge found that the employer restricted those forklifts to operations without a foreseeable falling-object danger and that its stacking and handling practices…
Frozen Fruit Concentrates, Inc.
Forklift overhead-guard violation affirmed
A forklift operator removed a damaged overhead guard and used the truck for about six hours to stack cartons of frozen juice as high as 11 feet 3 inches. His supervisor saw the unguarded truck in operation. The Commission affirmed a serious violation because cartons stacked above the operator could…
Maher Distribution Center
Unguarded-forklift violation affirmed
A Maher Distribution employee operated a forklift without an overhead guard while moving motorcycle crates in a warehouse. His supervisor knew the guard was absent and permitted him to use the truck for transport, although the supervisor instructed him not to stack with it. The employee later…
Caldwell Lace Leather Company
Failure-to-abate penalty reduced to $1,000
Caldwell Lace Leather operated a tannery with six floor pits about six feet deep. An uncontested citation required approved guarding, but at reinspection the five lime pits still had only low concrete curbs and the soak pit had a 24-inch railing instead of the required 42-inch standard railing. The…
Hennis Freight Lines, Inc.
Forklift overhead-guard citation vacated
Hennis Freight Lines operated a freight terminal in Omaha and used a powered industrial truck without an overhead guard. OSHA cited the company under a rule requiring a guard as protection against falling objects and proposed a $165 penalty, which the judge increased to $187.50. The Commission held…
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.