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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Houston Aquarium, Inc.
Commercial-diving violations affirmed
Houston Aquarium divers regularly entered exhibit tanks to feed animals, clean surfaces, and perform public event dives. The company conceded that event dives were commercial, but argued that feeding and cleaning qualified for the scientific-diving exception. The Commission held that these routine…
Lanzo Construction Co., Inc
Diving and excavation violations reclassified as willful
Lanzo Construction installed large sewer pipe in a water-filled excavation using a surface-supplied diver. The Commission rejected Lanzo's request for dismissal based on the Secretary's counsel communicating with the diver, finding the record did not establish an ethical violation warranting…
R.C. Diving Company, Inc.
Commercial-diving citations restored for further proceedings
OSHA cited commercial-diving conditions aboard a boat used to harvest geoducks in Puget Sound. The judge dismissed the citations after finding insufficient proof that R.C. Diving employed the workers. The Commission held that the compliance officer's testimony about statements identifying Rod Carew…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.