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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Commercial Newspaper Service, and its successors
Admitted safety violations affirmed, penalties reduced to $460
Commercial Newspaper Service published athletic posters at a small Meridian, Idaho, facility. The company withdrew its contest to violations involving emergency exit lighting, flammable-liquid and combustible storage, lockout procedures, electrical equipment and wiring, and injury-recordkeeping…
United Erie, Div. of Interstate Chemical Co., Inc.
Confined-space items affirmed as serious
A United Erie production employee died from oxygen deficiency after entering a 4,000-gallon chemical kettle. Judge G. Marvin Bober found that United lacked a site-specific permit-space program, atmospheric testing equipment, adequate attendant practices, entry permits, and complete rescue…
Metal Recycling Company
Scrap-yard hazards yield mixed ruling and $400 penalty
OSHA inspected Metal Recycling Company's three-employee scrap-metal facility in El Paso, Texas, and issued a serious citation with multiple items. The judge affirmed serious violations involving unsecured access stairs, an exit leading into a blocked and fenced yard, obstructed aisles, hazardous…
Armour Food Company
Two guarding items affirmed and six items vacated
OSHA cited multiple conditions at Armour's meat-processing plant, and the Commission reviewed selected personal-protective-equipment, machine-guarding, power-transmission, centrifuge, and compressed-gas items. It vacated the mesh-glove item because OSHA did not prove that sharpening slicer blades…
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…
Fineberg Packing Company, Inc.
OSHA sanitation item reinstated despite USDA rules
Fineberg Packing, a meat processor, received a nine-item nonserious citation covering electrical, exit, fire-protection, housekeeping, sanitation, and ladder conditions. The judge vacated the sanitation item because Department of Agriculture rules under the Wholesome Meat Act also regulated plant…
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.