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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American Recycling & Manufacturing Co., Inc.
Broad safety violations affirmed after amputation inspection
American Recycling & Manufacturing produced wood packaging materials and pallets at a Rochester, New York facility. OSHA opened a safety inspection after a twenty-year-old employee's left hand was amputated when a coworker accidentally activated a pop-up saw, then opened a related health inspection…
Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company
Commission approves withdrawal of all citations
OSHA cited Harrison Furniture Manufacturing Company for numerous conditions at its Arkansas furniture plant after an inspection conducted under a warrant. The earlier litigation addressed whether evidence from a plant-wide inspection should be suppressed when the warrant application was based on…
Bratton Furniture Manufacturing Company
Unguarded overhead router citation affirmed
OSHA cited Bratton Furniture Manufacturing Company because an overhead router was operated without its ring guard or another point-of-operation safeguard. The Commission held that the Secretary did not have to prove that guarding was feasible and that Bratton failed to establish an impossibility…
Building Products Company
Commission affirms the radial-saw lower-blade-guard charge and a total $150 penalty
Building Products Company manufactured wooden roof trusses using three radial saws whose employees had removed the lower blade guards. The company argued that the guards could eject wood chips during compound cuts and therefore created a separate hazard. The Commission held that the greater-hazard…
Schultz Roof Truss, Inc.
Judge's decision affirmed without substantive review
The Commission affirmed the judge's decision because no party objected and the review order identified no compelling public-interest issue. Commissioner Moran agreed with affirming settled nonserious items but said he would vacate two litigated serious citations under the woodworking-machinery…
Edward Hines Lumber Co.
Mixed sawmill citations resolved with $510 penalty
OSHA cited Edward Hines Lumber after inspecting its large Oregon sawmill complex, alleging numerous machine-guarding, conveyor, walkway, ladder, and power-transmission violations. The judge vacated many items because the cited standards were advisory or inapplicable, the machinery was guarded by…
Hamilton Lumber Co.
Saw-guarding failures to correct affirmed
Hamilton Lumber operated cutoff and radial saws at its retail lumber yard. An uncontested citation required lower blade guards on the saws and required the radial saw cutting head to return gently to its starting position. A reinspection five days after the abatement date found that the three cited…
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…
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.