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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Combustible-dust case settled and dismissed
OSHA cited Cooper Tire over alleged carbon-black dust hazards at its Tupelo tire plant. After withdrawals and a partial settlement, the judge vacated the remaining general duty, hazardous-location, and housekeeping items because the Secretary did not prove the cited combustible-dust conditions…
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…
American Made Tires, Inc.
Default affirms repeat, serious, and failure-to-abate penalties
American Made Tires contested repeat and serious citations from a follow-up OSHA inspection, along with a notification that earlier violations remained unabated. The company then missed settlement and prehearing conferences, refused discovery, failed to answer the complaints or show-cause order…
Vitakraft Sunseed, Inc.
Housekeeping and warning-sign violations affirmed, general duty item vacated
Vitakraft Sunseed manufactured small-animal products at a facility where its dust collection system deposited agricultural dust into a wagon inside a dust room. OSHA cited accumulated combustible dust, the absence of warning signs, and an alleged general duty clause violation based on fire and…
The News Press
Paper-roll loading hazard leads to $2,500 in penalties
The News Press used employees to push 2,000-pound newsprint rolls onto trolleys while one worker stood in front of each moving roll to catch and guide it. A roll had fallen from a trolley at least three times, and one employee missed 43 workdays after injuring her shoulder while trying to stop one…
TRW, Inc.
Repeated housekeeping violation draws a $3,400 penalty
TRW manufactured valves and valve-train parts at an eighteen-acre Cleveland plant. OSHA found coolant or grinding lubricant pooled around two machines and oil leaking onto the floor of a locker room used by employees and cleaning staff. The ALJ found that TRW permitted the locker-room inspection…
Cardinal Operating Company
Tank-entry general duty citation vacated
Cardinal employees faced a fall hazard while climbing through side openings into water-treatment tanks and stepping down onto internal laterals. The company had tried resistant linings, several kinds of ladders, lifelines, platforms, and other measures without solving the entry problem. The…
ITT Thompson Industries, Inc.
Settlement affirmed after employee representative review
The Secretary and ITT Thompson Industries settled serious, repeated, and willful machine-guarding and housekeeping citations, but an administrative error excluded the authorized employee representative from the negotiations and initial review of the agreement. After review was directed, union…
Armco Steel Corporation
Housekeeping violations affirmed for wet and oily work areas
OSHA cited seven areas at Armco Steel's workplace for accumulations of oil, water, or grease, and the judge affirmed five of those subitems. Employees had reason to walk in or near the accumulations. Armco argued that the conditions were inherent or temporary, that they were corrected within a…
Aluminum Coil Anodizing Corp.
Multi-item citation upheld in part after inspection challenge failed
OSHA inspected Aluminum Coil Anodizing's Illinois plant after receiving a complaint from someone who was not an employee or employee representative. The Commission held that the complaint's source and purpose did not invalidate the inspection because OSHA also had broad general authority to inspect…
Yosemite Park and Curry Co.
Electrical and repeat housekeeping violations affirmed
An inspection of Yosemite Park and Curry's transportation garage produced six contested items involving a roof leak, an extension cord, gasoline cans, housekeeping, tire storage, and a stair-landing obstruction. The judge affirmed the defective extension-cord item because untagged equipment stored…
Central Meat Company
Exit, machine-guarding, and electrical violations affirmed
Central Meat Company operated a small meat-processing plant where an inspection found a slippery floor, locked rear doors, inadequately guarded bandsaws, and several electrical hazards. The judge vacated the housekeeping item because the company devoted substantial effort to continuous cleaning and…
The Weatherhead Co.
Grinder-blotter citation reinstated
A Weatherhead employee operated an abrasive-wheel grinder without blotters between the wheel and its flanges. The company had previously been cited for the same condition on the same machine and had supplied blotters, but it showed no enforced work rule or instructions ensuring their use. The…
P. & M. Sales, Inc.
Mixed citation ruling and $35 penalty affirmed
P. & M. Sales manufactured toys and dolls and was cited for several nonserious conditions involving its spray and electro-forming areas. The Commission held that the employer's timely written contest of the penalties, together with a contemporaneous oral communication contesting the citation, gave…
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…
Sequoyah Spinning Mills, Inc.
Plant penalties affirmed and noise penalties vacated
Sequoyah Spinning Mills manufactured carpet yarn at a plant with 246 employees. In docket 1012, the company admitted 16 nonserious conditions involving housekeeping, combustible materials, fire protection, chemical protection, machine guarding, compressed air, welding cylinders, and electrical…
American Motors Corporation
Welding-ventilation item vacated and $254 assessed
OSHA cited American Motors for 29 non-serious conditions at its Milwaukee automobile plant. After withdrawals, admissions, and a hearing, the administrative law judge affirmed 17 items, vacated 12, and assessed $279. Commission review focused on a welding station where no mechanical ventilation was…
Frankford Woolen Mills, Inc.
Tenant floor-load item vacated and $335 assessed
Frankford Woolen Mills was cited for 24 non-serious conditions involving housekeeping, stairs, ladders, exits, eye protection, fire extinguishers, machinery, compressed air, welding equipment, electrical grounding, and aisles. The administrative law judge affirmed 19 items, vacated five, and…
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.