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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Baytown Construction Company, Inc.
Crane power-line clearance violation affirmed
Baytown employees used a truck crane to unload pipe near a 7,620-volt overhead power line. The crane cable and suspended pipe became energized, and an employee handling the pipe was electrocuted. Testimony about loud electrical discharges, burn damage to the cable, the crane's contact with the line…
LTV Steel Company
Partial ruling remanded for reconsolidation
An OSHRC judge granted LTV Steel partial summary judgment and vacated one floor-opening item before resolving the other three contested items. The Commission held that the ruling reached it prematurely because the judge had not found good cause to sever the item and a single Commission member's…
Sasser Electric and Manufacturing Company
Crane power-line citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
Sasser hired an experienced independent crane company to load a generator at its West Virginia facility. During the operation, the crane contacted a 7.2-kilovolt line while two Sasser employees held cables attached to the crane; one employee died and another was hospitalized. The Commission found…
Houston Systems Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Crane clearance citation vacated for employee misconduct
Houston Systems Manufacturing was cited after a crane operated within 10 feet of an electrical power line. The judge found that the company had a rule matching the required clearance, communicated the rule to employees, and effectively enforced it. The Commission agreed that the violation resulted…
New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
Power-line clearance citation affirmed under telecommunications rule
New England Telephone and Telegraph linemen used a truck-mounted boom to load a cable reel in the company's storage yard. The boom contacted a 13.2 kV power line, killing one employee and severely injuring another. The judge applied the general-industry crane rule, but the Commission held that the…
Butler Lime and Cement Company
Crane power-line violation affirmed for inadequate training
A Butler delivery driver was electrocuted after the crane boom on his brick truck contacted or closely approached a 4,800-volt overhead power line. OSHA cited the requirement to keep cranes at least ten feet from lines rated 50 kilovolts or below. After the judge initially vacated the citation, a…
D & R Builders and R. P. Matzinger d/b/a M & M Ready Mix
Crane-clearance citations affirmed with $1 penalties
M & M Ready Mix asked D & R Builders to break a septic tank from a mold and move it on M & M’s property. D & R operated a truck crane under an energized power line, the boom contacted the line, and Robert Cooper was killed. An M & M employee had been directed to assist and was present near the…
Lebanon Lumber Co.
Serious crane power-line violation affirmed
Lebanon Lumber sent two employees to assemble a mobile-crane boom at a worksite crossed by a 20,000-volt power line. The company knew of the line, selected two assembly locations away from it, and warned the employees to keep clear, but the employees were inexperienced in crane work and were sent…
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.