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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Weyerhaeuser Company
Sawmill citations largely reinstated
After two inspections of Weyerhaeuser’s Oregon lumber complex, the judge vacated most contested items. The Commission largely reversed. It affirmed excessive-noise subitems where even machinery-idling readings exceeded permissible levels for the employees’ work periods, while vacating subitems that…
Diamond International Corp.
Guarding citations upheld with reduced penalties
OSHA cited Diamond International for unguarded power-transmission equipment, unguarded saw blades, and stairways without handrails at its Idaho sawmill. The judge found nine power-transmission guarding violations but reduced their classification from serious to nonserious because employee exposure…
Boise Cascade Corporation
Sawmill drive-guarding violations affirmed
Boise Cascade operated sawmill equipment with inadequately guarded belts, pulleys, chains, and sprockets. The Commission found that employees had access to the merry-go-round drive and to the resaw and conveyor drives, including during jam clearing, cleanup, maintenance, and travel between work…
Garland Call Pole Co.
Two final violations restored and one item vacated
Garland Call Pole operated a small Idaho pole yard where OSHA cited unguarded debarker components, flammable liquids near welding and cutting equipment, and inadequate protection for a debarker operator. Garland timely contested only the penalties for the first two violations, then attempted to…
D.R. Johnson Lumber Company
Edger-guard charge vacated for lack of employer knowledge
D.R. Johnson operated a sawmill where an edger's power-transmission guard was removed and replaced several times during adjustment work. The edger was later operated while the guard and maintenance workers were absent, but the record did not show that company supervisors knew or reasonably could…
Tobacco River Lumber Co.
Mixed ruling on thirty sawmill citation items
Tobacco River operated a Montana sawmill and planing mill that received a thirty-item citation covering housekeeping, stairs, protective equipment, fire safety, tools, gas cylinders, machinery, and electrical conditions. The Commission upheld the inspection because a company employee with authority…
Pack River Lumber Co.
Saw-guarding violation classified as serious
Pack River Lumber operated two swing cutoff saws and one radial-arm saw without guards on the lower portions of their blades. It also had numerous unguarded gears, chains, belts, and pulleys that created pinch-point hazards throughout the workplace. The judge affirmed both violations as nonserious…
Bouma Post Yards, Inc.
Split mill-safety ruling affirmed with no penalties
Bouma Post Yards operated a small Montana mill that processed logs into fence posts. OSHA cited a broad group of conditions involving tanks, fuel dispensing, defective equipment, industrial trucks, machinery, welding cables, electrical grounding, wire rope, vehicle alarms, and fire extinguishers…
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.