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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Crane Company
Lead and silica exposure items affirmed
Crane Company manufactured valves and plumbing fixtures at a Tennessee foundry. Sampling showed employees were exposed to lead and silica dust above permissible limits, and the judge found that feasible industry technology existed to control those exposures. The company also lacked written…
American Smelting & Refining Co.
Asbestos exams required at any exposure level
American Smelting & Refining operated a Montana plant producing lead bullion and zinc oxide, where some employees worked around asbestos and others were exposed to airborne lead and zinc oxide. The Commission held that the asbestos standard required annual medical examinations whenever an…
Jamison Bedding, Inc.
Cotton-dust citations vacated
Air samples from Jamison Bedding's bale-opening and willow operations measured total dust well above the one-milligram limit for raw cotton dust. The judge vacated the exposure and control citations because the samples also contained vegetation, burlap, and other process dust, and the laboratory…
Traders Oil Mill Co.
Raw-cotton-dust items vacated on summary judgment
OSHA cited Traders Oil Mill for failing to control alleged excessive concentrations of raw cotton dust. The plant superintendent submitted an affidavit stating that the facility processed only cottonseed and did not procure, process, or otherwise handle raw cotton. OSHA did not file a…
Koppers Co., Inc.
Coke-oven citation dispute remanded for a hearing
OSHA cited Koppers Co., Inc. over employee exposure to coal tar pitch volatiles during coke-oven operations and over respirator protection. The alleged serious violation concerned the absence of feasible engineering or administrative controls and protective measures for a shift foreman and pusher…
VEPCO, Mount Storm Power Station
Mischaracterized abatement petition dismissed
OSHA cited VEPCO's Mount Storm Power Station for employee exposure to dust and requested an abatement plan. VEPCO submitted administrative controls for immediate protection and a longer-term engineering program, while maintaining that the administrative measures already achieved compliance. An OSHA…
Delmas H. Smith
Employee abatement-date contest dismissed after withdrawal
An amended non-serious citation alleged that employees were exposed to hydrogen chloride above the ceiling limit in a furnace building. OSHA proposed no penalty and required a long-term abatement plan, with engineering or administrative controls to be completed by June 4, 1974. Employee contestant…
Globe Union, Inc.
Abatement order set aside while employer contest remained pending
OSHA cited Globe Union for excessive employee exposure to lead and alleged failures to use feasible controls and respirators. The employee representative contested the abatement period, while the employer separately contested the citation and proposed penalty. The union later moved to withdraw its…
American Smelting and Refining Company
Airborne lead general-duty violation affirmed
American Smelting and Refining operated a lead-refining plant in Omaha where air samples showed inorganic lead concentrations above the level generally accepted as safe. The administrative law judge found that the airborne lead was a recognized hazard likely to cause death or serious physical harm…
Ryder Truck Lines, Inc.
Dockworker foot-protection citation affirmed
Ryder Truck Lines operated a freight terminal where dockworkers handled varied cargo around carts and powered equipment. OSHA cited the company because foot protection was not consistently used, and the record showed hazards from falling freight and vehicle wheels as well as a history of foot…
Kawecki-Berylco Industries
Beryllium-abatement settlement remanded
OSHA cited Kawecki-Berylco Industries for failing to implement feasible controls to reduce employee exposure to beryllium and required a detailed long-term abatement plan, but proposed no penalty. The employees' union contested the abatement period, and the employer separately contested the…
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.