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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MEI Holdings, Inc. d/b/a Martin Electronics, Inc.
DOD contract does not preempt OSHA safety rules
MEI manufactured explosives and pyrotechnic devices under a Defense Department contract at its Perry, Florida plant. After a fire in a small wooden production building killed two employees and severely burned another, OSHA cited fire, exit, personal-protective-equipment, training, and…
United House of Prayer
Review vacated after Secretary missed briefing deadline
OSHA cited the United House of Prayer for exit and sprinkler conditions after a fire in a tenant's New York City store caused the deaths of seven store employees. The administrative law judge granted summary judgment to the Church because it had no employees at the renovation site, did not create…
The Specialist of the South, Inc.
$3,000 penalty affirmed for 39 serious items
The Specialists operated a small furniture repair, refinishing, and upholstery business using flammable and toxic materials. OSHA cited 39 serious violations, primarily involving fire and explosion hazards, and proposed $9,900 in penalties. An ALJ affirmed every serious item but assessed a combined…
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…
University of Pittsburgh
Political-subdivision exemption rejected
OSHA cited the University of Pittsburgh's printing shop for inadequate exit capacity and an unguarded horizontal belt drive. A judge vacated the items after finding that Pitt was a political subdivision excluded from the OSH Act's definition of employer. The Commission reversed because Pitt was not…
Hausmann Service Corporation
Remote-egress citation vacated
Hausmann Service occupied a fireproof, mostly open woodworking shop with two unobstructed exit doors about 25 feet apart on the east wall. The judge found that the small occupant load, lack of combustible materials near the exits, and absence of obstructions made those exits sufficient for…
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…
Chicago and North Western Transportation Co.
Railroad coverage upheld and four items affirmed
Chicago and North Western Transportation challenged a seven-item citation at its railroad facility in Boone, Iowa. The Commission rejected the company's claim that the railroad industry was exempt from OSHA jurisdiction because the Federal Railroad Administration had not exercised authority over…
Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel Co.; Stone & Webster Engineering Corp.; Dravo Corp.
Reactor-building citations vacated
The three contractors were building an 80-foot-wide, open-top reactor structure at the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station. OSHA cited them for bringing gas cylinders into a confined space, failing to provide ventilation for welding in a confined space, and lacking two means of egress. The judge found…
C. N. Stemper Company, Inc.
Direction for review vacated
The Commission vacated its direction for review in the C. N. Stemper case by referring to Francisco Tower Service. The appended judge's decision had vacated an exit item because the food warehouse had several usable means of egress and its size, occupancy, and arrangement did not create the alleged…
River Terminal Railway Co.
Tower egress and electrical citations affirmed
River Terminal Railway was cited at its Cleveland facilities for lacking two remote means of egress from a bridge tower and for unguarded electrical equipment without warning signs. The railroad argued that Federal Railroad Administration authority displaced OSHA jurisdiction over the work. The…
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, A Div. of United Aircraft Corp.
Locked-exit violation affirmed with reduced penalty
Pratt & Whitney assembled and tested rocket and jet engines in a large room that held as many as 150 employees and contained flammable liquids and several possible ignition sources. Six of the room's seven exits were locked for security, and employees were sometimes locked inside for ten to thirty…
Gelhaar Uniform Co.
Needle-guard violation affirmed, exit item vacated
Gelhaar manufactured uniforms using dozens of powered sewing machines without point-of-operation needle guards. The Commission affirmed that violation and its $30 penalty because the exposed needles could puncture operators and employee resistance did not excuse missing guards. It vacated a…
Echo Hotel, Inc.
Serious egress citation withdrawn with prejudice
OSHA cited Echo Hotel for providing only one interior wooden stairway from second-floor employee sleeping quarters that usually housed six workers. The judge read the notice of contest as challenging only the proposed $500 penalty and treated the serious citation as final. The Commission held that…
Hi-Fi Carpet Mills, Inc.
Late contest rejected
OSHA cited Hi-Fi Carpet Mills for eight non-serious conditions involving electrical grounding, compressed air, exits, access to electrical controls, housekeeping, and flexible wiring. The company received the citation and proposed penalties on January 19, 1972, making February 9 the final day to…
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.