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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Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Scaffold-gap items vacated and ten violations classified as repeated
Two inspections of a supertanker at Bethlehem Steel's shipyard produced scaffold, platform, opening, and housekeeping citations. The Commission vacated the scaffold-gap items because the cited maintenance rule addressed structural soundness, not the allowable distance between staging and a…
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Five shipyard violations reclassified as repeated
Bethlehem Steel was cited at its Beaumont shipyard for an uninterrupted fixed ladder without required platforms, flexible electrical cords run through a wall opening, unguarded deck openings, poor housekeeping, and a suspended load passing over an employee. The judge affirmed the conditions but…
FMC Corporation
Repeated shipyard housekeeping violation affirmed
FMC was constructing two oil tankers at its Portland, Oregon, shipyard when OSHA found tools, equipment, hoses, cords, and other objects obstructing walkways and passageways. The Commission held that the standard's exception for materials that were “in use” was an affirmative defense, and FMC did…
National Steel & Shipbuilding Co.
Three shipyard violations affirmed with reduced repeat penalty
National Steel & Shipbuilding was repairing the U.S.S. Roanoke at its San Diego shipyard. An abrasive blaster working outdoors with silica-free abrasive wore no respirator, and the judge held that the standard still required respiratory protection while permitting a less protective filter type. A…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.