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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Birdsboro Kosher Farms Corp.
Lockout, noise, exit, and PPE citations largely affirmed
Birdsboro Kosher Farms operated a large poultry-processing facility with a history of OSHA citations and settlements addressing lockout/tagout and occupational noise. The judge found that Birdsboro still lacked required machine-specific energy-control procedures, adequate authorized-employee…
Sturm Ruger & Co., Pine Tree Castings Division
Targeted inspection and settlements affirmed
OSHA used injury and illness data from Pine Tree Castings to select the handgun-casting facility for a programmed inspection under a nationwide targeting plan. Sturm Ruger challenged the data survey, inspection warrant, discovery rulings, evidence, and subpoenas. The Commission held that OSHA had…
Gulf and Western, Energy Products Group, Bonney Forge Division
Excessive noise exposure proved and remaining issues remanded
OSHA cited Bonney Forge after measuring excessive noise exposure for 13 employees in its machine shop, forge shop, and production grinding area. The ALJ vacated the citation because he considered OSHA's measurements unreliable and found that overexposure had not been proved. The Commission…
Central Brass Manufacturing Co.
EAJA award adjusted to $13,520
Central Brass sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing on several noise, lead, and silica citation items. An ALJ awarded $13,250, and the Secretary challenged the method used to allocate fees and expenses. The Commission held that it reviews its…
Falcon Steel Company, Inc.
Economic-infeasibility interlocutory review withdrawn
Falcon Steel sought interlocutory review after the ALJ denied discovery supporting an industry-wide economic-infeasibility defense to perimeter safety-net citations. The Commission initially granted review and partially stayed the hearing on the 29 C.F.R. § 1926.105(a) items. Four days later, both…
Collier-Keyworth Company
Noise appeal settled with one item affirmed and no penalty
Collier-Keyworth manufactured office-chair mechanisms using power presses and lathes at a Massachusetts plant. OSHA cited the company under the occupational noise standard for employee protection, engineering or administrative controls, and a hearing conservation program. The litigation produced…
Barretto Granite Corporation
Late contest dismissed after court reversal
Barretto orally disputed OSHA's citations at an informal conference within the contest period but did not send written confirmation until after the deadline. The Commission had previously treated the oral dispute as a valid contest and later affirmed vacatur when the Secretary declined to prosecute…
Stewart-Warner Corporation
Occupational-noise settlement approved
Stewart-Warner employees in three manufacturing departments were exposed to excessive noise from punch presses, screw machines, and air-ejection systems. The company had previously been cited for the same noise standard at the same plant. The judge found feasible engineering controls, affirmed the…
Keco Industries, Inc.
Record-access and blasting-respirator violations affirmed
Keco Industries manufactured military and aerospace equipment and performed abrasive blasting in an enclosed facility at its Ohio plant. The Commission affirmed a willful record-access violation because Keco refused repeated requests for prior injury and illness logs even after OSHA presented an…
Barretto Granite Corporation
Citations vacated after oral contest accepted
Barretto Granite orally disputed OSHA's citation and $240 proposed penalty at an informal conference held within the 15-working-day contest period, then sent written confirmation after the deadline. The Commission held that the company reasonably believed the conference and follow-up letter…
Red Star Marine Services, Inc.
Noise citation withdrawn and case dismissed
Red Star operated tugboats and marine towing services. An administrative law judge found that an engineer aboard the tugboat Stamford was exposed to excessive engine-room noise and that Red Star lacked a continuing, effective hearing-conservation program. The judge affirmed those two items as other…
New England Container Company, Inc.
Valve item affirmed, noise items vacated
New England reconditioned used 55-gallon drums and operated a noisy blasting machine. The judge affirmed an other-than-serious, no-penalty violation because drums of flammable liquid lacked self-closing valves after installed valves broke and replacements were ordered. Chairman Buckley agreed that…
Otis Elevator Company
Noise case remanded for further discovery
OSHA alleged that excessive noise at 15 locations in Otis Elevator Company's foundry required feasible administrative or engineering controls. The Secretary's expert completed one day of discovery but concluded that more inspection time was needed, and the judge denied a continuance before…
General Motors Corporation, Delco Products Division
Noise case remanded for discovery inspection
OSHA cited General Motors' Delco Products facility under the occupational noise standard, but the judge denied the Secretary's request for a discovery inspection and later vacated the item for lack of proof that engineering controls were feasible. The Commission held that the inspection was…
Genesee Brewing Company
Brewery noise case remanded for discovery
OSHA cited Genesee Brewing Company under the occupational noise standard after inspecting bottle and can line operations at its brewery. The judge repeatedly denied the Secretary's request to have a noise-control expert inspect the brewery, then vacated the citation because the Secretary had not…
Brabham-Parker Lumber Company
Noise and hearing-program items remanded
The Commission vacated the judge's ruling on Brabham-Parker Lumber Company's alleged failure to use feasible noise controls because an intervening decision replaced the prior cost-benefit test with an achievable-controls test. It remanded for new evidence and reconsideration of technological and…
Pabst Brewing Company
Noise-control case remanded under new feasibility test
The Commission vacated the judge's ruling on Pabst Brewing Company's alleged failure to use feasible noise controls because an intervening decision replaced the prior cost-benefit test with an achievable-controls test. It remanded for additional evidence and reconsideration of technological and…
Olin Corporation
Noise-control feasibility remanded for new evidence
Olin Corporation faced an alleged violation of the occupational noise standard's feasible-control requirement. After an intervening Supreme Court decision, the Commission abandoned its prior cost-benefit test and treated feasibility as technological and economic achievability. It vacated the…
Southwest Forest Industries
Noise-control allegation remanded under achievability test
Southwest Forest Industries faced an alleged violation of the occupational noise rule requiring feasible administrative or engineering controls. An intervening Supreme Court decision caused the Commission to replace its former cost-benefit analysis with an achievability test. The Commission vacated…
The Dolese Company
Noise-control violations remanded under new feasibility test
The Dolese Company faced alleged violations of the occupational noise standard's requirement for feasible administrative or engineering controls. An intervening Supreme Court decision led the Commission to replace its former cost-benefit approach with a test asking whether controls were…
Russell, Burdsall & Ward, Inc.
Noise-control feasibility issue remanded
The case concerned whether engineering controls required by the occupational noise standard were feasible. After an intervening Supreme Court decision, the Commission replaced its former cost-benefit test with a test asking whether controls were technologically and economically achievable. It…
KIN-BUC, Inc.
Noise citation item remanded for feasibility evidence
Item 3 of citation 1 concerned the occupational noise standard's requirement for feasible administrative or engineering controls. An intervening Supreme Court decision led the Commission to replace its prior cost-benefit test with an achievability test. The Commission vacated the judge's ruling on…
Texaco, Inc.
Settlement order became final after divided Commission review
Texaco and the Secretary settled four citation items, but the employees' union objected to withdrawal of three items and sought to continue their prosecution. The two participating commissioners disagreed over whether employees with party status could raise settlement objections unrelated to the…
General Motors Corporation, Fisher Body Division
Noise case dismissed without prejudice
OSHA alleged an other-than-serious noise violation at General Motors, but its counsel sought a postponement and broad additional discovery only one day before the hearing. The judge denied those requests and dismissed the case when the Secretary said the case could not proceed. The Commission found…
Samsonite Corporation
Discovery dismissal reversed and citations remanded
OSHA cited Samsonite for alleged excessive noise, inadequate hearing protection and conservation measures, insufficient skin protection from epoxy, and ergonomic stress from repetitive work. The judge treated the Secretary's late responses to requests for admission as binding, dismissed the case…
American Can Company
Noise standard upheld and cases remanded
OSHA alleged that American Can exposed employees to excessive noise without feasible engineering or administrative controls and, in one case, without an effective hearing conservation program. American Can argued that the federal noise standard was invalid because OSHA did not adopt scope and…
Federated Metals, Inc.
Citation dismissals set aside for obstructed discovery
Federated Metals contested citations involving employee exposure to lead, copper, and noise, along with related respiratory protection and lead-control requirements. The judge dismissed the cases when the Secretary declined to present evidence at the scheduled hearing. The Commission found that…
John Deere Foundry, a Division of Deere Company; Bunge Corporation
Selective settlement approval rejected
In two cases, the judge approved selected settlement terms while rejecting non-admission provisions and entering factual findings without a hearing. The Commission held that it may review settlements for consistency with the Act but may not rewrite them through selective approval. It also held that…
Turner Company
Noise-control feasibility issue remanded for evidence
Turner Company was cited for excessive noise from three machines in the Waterbury room of its Sycamore, Illinois, plant. An earlier Commission decision treated the company as having conceded that engineering controls were economically feasible, but the Seventh Circuit set that decision aside. The…
Nashua Corporation
Open-ended noise settlement rejected
The proposed settlement required Nashua to test a prototype noise enclosure but allowed it to abandon the control if it interfered with production, without setting a final abatement date or assuring another corrective measure. The Commission held that experimentation could support abatement but…
Metropak Containers Corp.
Protected noise-study evidence excluded after unauthorized disclosure
The Secretary used a private expert to study engineering controls for a noise citation at Metropak's facility under an order limiting the information to the case. An OSHA compliance officer showed one of the protected reports to an area director, who disclosed it to a Metropak competitor. The judge…
Babcock & Wilcox Co.
Silica settlement approved subject to service on the union
OSHA cited excess respirable silica exposure for two foundry shakeout employees. The settlement reclassified the violations as other than serious, eliminated the $480 penalty, extended abatement to July 1, 1979, and required engineering controls, monitoring, reports, and respiratory protection. A…
Otis Elevator Company
Settled dockets severed from noise review
OSHA issued seven citations after inspecting Otis Elevator's Ohio iron foundry, and the resulting contests were consolidated. The parties settled most citations, the Secretary withdrew one remaining crane item, and the judge vacated a repeated noise citation after a hearing. The Secretary sought…
Druth Packaging Corporation
Noise violations affirmed but abatement dates remanded
Employees at two corrugators were exposed to excessive noise and did not use available hearing protection. The Secretary's acoustical expert identified feasible rigid or flexible barriers that could reduce noise by three to eight decibels. The Commission affirmed the judge's finding that Druth…
National Manufacturing Company
Noise-case discovery remanded under trade-secret protections
OSHA cited National Manufacturing Company for excessive workplace noise and inadequate engineering or administrative controls. During discovery, the Secretary sought to have an outside acoustical expert inspect the plant, but the judge limited entry to federal employees because National claimed the…
Amoco Chemical Corporation
Noise-abatement extension remanded for hearing
Amoco sought a second extension of the abatement deadline for a final noise-standard citation. The Secretary said he lacked enough data to support or oppose the request and asked for a hearing, but the judge treated that position as no objection and granted the extension. The Commission held that…
International Harvester Company
Divided Commission leaves noise settlement approved
OSHA cited excessive noise affecting salaried testers and engineers in International Harvester's endurance-testing corridor. A settlement required the company to withdraw its contest and install an acoustical ceiling over that corridor, but a union representing mechanics objected that the plan did…
American Can Company
Noise citation reinstated for protected expert discovery
OSHA alleged that excessive noise at American Can's North Kansas City plant required feasible controls and an effective hearing-conservation program. To develop evidence about engineering feasibility, the Secretary sought a discovery inspection by an outside acoustical expert. The judge denied that…
Gardinier, Inc. & International Chemical Workers
Settlement approved after union participation
OSHA issued Gardinier two citations containing multiple serious and nonserious items and proposed $900 in total penalties. Gardinier contested most of the items, and the company and Secretary later reached a settlement. International Chemical Workers Union Local 439 had requested participation and…
Meadows Industries, Inc.
Noise citation reinstated and remanded
OSHA cited Meadows Industries' yarn twisting plant for failing to use feasible controls against excessive noise in its primary and secondary twisting areas. An Administrative Law Judge dismissed the citation because it did not state the measured noise levels or more exact locations. The Commission…
Borg-Warner Corporation, Morse Chain Division
Noise-control citation vacated for lack of feasible abatement
Borg-Warner's Morse Chain Division used high-speed presses to make automotive and industrial chains at its Ithaca plant. OSHA cited the company under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.95(b)(1) for failing to reduce excessive press noise through feasible engineering or administrative controls. The judge found that…
Meadville Forging Company
Noise failure-to-abate notification vacated
OSHA issued Meadville Forging a failure-to-abate notification under the occupational-noise standard for employees in its press, hammer, and shear departments, with a proposed additional penalty of $5,200. The final underlying citation required feasible administrative or engineering controls that…
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation
Noise case remanded for protected expert discovery
OSHA cited Kaiser Aluminum under the occupational-noise standard and sought a discovery inspection of its plant by an outside expert. The judge found that the inspection could reveal trade secrets, limited entry to federal employees, and dismissed the citation when the Secretary said he could not…
Fred's Frozen Foods, Inc.
Noise-expert inspection allowed with safeguards
OSHA cited Fred's Frozen Foods under the occupational noise standard and sought a plant inspection by an outside noise expert to evaluate possible engineering controls. The company argued that a nonfederal expert could reveal trade secrets and asked either to bar entry or require a nondisclosure…
Auto Bolt & Nut Co.
Noise-abatement extension conditioned on employee notice
Auto Bolt requested six additional months to complete and evaluate abatement of an occupational-noise violation. The Secretary withdrew his objection, and the judge extended the deadline to February 8, 1979. The record did not show that affected employees had received the required posted notice of…
Kama Corp.
Noise-inspection trade-secret dispute remanded
OSHA alleged excessive noise at Kama's plastic manufacturing plant and sought a discovery inspection by government personnel and a private acoustical consultant. Kama acknowledged no trade secrets in the specific machinery being tested but said a walk through the plant would expose other…
Bristol-Myers Company
Post-citation noise inspection allowed
OSHA cited Bristol-Myers under the occupational noise standard and later sought a plant inspection by an acoustical expert to evaluate feasible controls. The judge denied discovery because he believed the Secretary should have fully developed that evidence before issuing the citation. The…
Walling Crate Company
Settlements remanded to clarify abatement dates
Walling Crate faced two consolidated cases covering numerous serious, repeated, and nonserious violations, including repeated occupational-noise and failure-to-abate allegations. The parties agreed to reduce penalties, withdraw Walling's contests, and state that the conditions would be abated and…
Continental Can Company, U.S.A., a member of The Continental Group, Inc.
Noise cases dismissed under court order
Multiple Continental Can cases alleged excessive noise at company facilities across the country. Continental argued that an earlier Commission ruling barred the Secretary from relitigating the economic feasibility of noise controls at other plants, but the Commission had previously rejected that…
General Motors Corporation
Noise-abatement date corrected to March 1979
General Motors requested an extension of the deadline for abating an excessive-noise violation, and the settlement set March 14, 1979 as the new date. The judge's approval order mistakenly used March 14, 1978, and the judge lacked jurisdiction to correct the filed order himself. The agreement had…
Atlantic Steel Company
Noise-control case remanded for economic feasibility
OSHA cited Atlantic Steel for failing to use feasible engineering or administrative controls to reduce excessive noise exposure for a rougher, assistant roller, and shearman in its fabrication mill. The Commission upheld the judge's findings that proposed booths, barriers, fan changes, a quiet…
Continental Can Company, Inc.
Four plant-noise cases remanded
OSHA cited four Continental Can plants for allegedly failing to use feasible engineering or administrative controls for excessive noise. The company sought summary judgment, arguing that an earlier Continental Can decision barred OSHA from relitigating the economic feasibility of controls across…
World Color Press, Inc., d/b/a Crossroads Press
Divided Commission affirms dismissal of a noise citation over a trade-secret discovery dispute
World Color Press prints magazines at a plant in Effingham, Illinois. After an inspection, OSHA issued a nonserious citation under 29 C.F.R. § 1910.95(b)(1) and (b)(3) for excessive noise and an inadequate hearing conservation program, and the Secretary later pursued only the engineering-controls…
KLI, Inc.
Machine-noise case remanded for economic-feasibility evidence
KLI manufactured screw-machine products and was cited for failing to use feasible controls to reduce noise from thirteen Davenport machines. A silencer substantially reduced noise on one machine, but KLI said it also caused productivity losses and safety problems. The judge treated economic…
Louisiana-Pacific Corp.
Noise and conveyor violations affirmed
Louisiana-Pacific sold lumber products and operated a chipper and conveyor system at its Portland facility. OSHA cited excessive chipper noise and an unguarded passageway where lumber crossed from live rolls to another conveyor. The Commission found that the citation gave fair notice and that the…
Union Camp Corporation
Noise citation vacation affirmed
An OSHRC judge vacated a citation alleging that Union Camp failed to comply with the occupational noise-control standard. The company challenged four findings in the judge's decision but did not ask the Commission to reverse the result. The Commission declined to address issues that would not…
Great Falls Tribune Company
Proposed pressroom noise controls were not economically feasible
The Great Falls Tribune operated newspaper presses that exposed pressroom employees to average noise near 100 dBA during runs averaging about three and one-half hours. The company required earmuffs that reduced exposure by at least 20 dBA when worn properly. Engineering controls modeled on another…
Castle & Cooke Foods, a Division of Castle & Cooke, Inc.
Commission finds proposed noise controls economically infeasible
Castle & Cooke Foods operated a Hawaiian can plant and cannery where employees worked around machines producing noise above the limits in OSHA's noise standard. The company provided mandatory hearing protection, while the proposed engineering controls would require custom machine enclosures and a…
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.
Noise citation fails without proof that specific controls were feasible
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel employees at an Ohio mill were exposed to noise above OSHA's permissible levels in five work areas. OSHA's industrial hygienist described general noise-reduction methods for four areas but lacked noise-control expertise, gave no expected reduction levels, and offered no…
Idaho Travertine Corporation
Most stone-processing citations affirmed with penalties reduced to $125
Idaho Travertine Corporation processed quarried stone at a small plant in Idaho Falls. OSHA issued one serious radial-saw citation and 13 nonserious items covering noise, personal protective equipment, machinery, compressed gas, emergency flushing, exits, and housekeeping. The judge affirmed 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.