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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Arc Erecting, Inc.
Access, crane, and welding citations affirmed
Arc Erecting was the structural steel subcontractor on a Maine arena project. Employees climbed to the top of steel joists about 10 feet above the ground without a ladder, and a crane operated near a power line without the required marked work-zone boundary and elevated warning line. A welder also…
Irwin Steel Erectors Inc.
Four contested construction items vacated
Irwin Steel Erectors performed steel erection and welding during construction of a Motorola facility in Austin, Texas. At the hearing, it resolved six serious citation items by withdrawing its contests in exchange for reduced penalties. The four remaining items concerned fire-extinguisher access…
Fluidics/Poole & Kent Joint Venture
Grinder guard and fire-extinguisher items affirmed
Fluidics/Poole & Kent Joint Venture performed mechanical work at a site in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. An employee removed the guard from a hand grinder to work in a confined area, and the ALJ credited the compliance officer's testimony that the employee used it without reinstalling the guard…
Skyline Crane Service, Inc.
Steel-erection citations and $780 penalty became final
Skyline Crane Service erected structural steel at a building project where employees worked about 60 feet above the ground. OSHA cited inadequate fall protection, missing perimeter nets, uncovered or unguarded floor openings, and the absence of immediately available fire-extinguishing equipment…
CAPA Iron Works, Inc.
Water drum and pails satisfied fire protection requirement
CAPA Iron Works employees used an acetylene torch at a construction site where OSHA found no portable fire extinguisher. The company relied on a 55-gallon drum of water and two fire pails as alternative equipment. The Commission accepted the judge's credibility finding that the equipment was…
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company
Serious fire-extinguisher citation affirmed, penalty reduced to $450
OSHA cited Chicago Bridge & Iron for failing to keep suitable fire-extinguishing equipment immediately available and ready for use in a work area. The judge affirmed the citation as a serious violation. The Commission initially vacated the citation because it considered the citation untimely…
General Bronze Architectural Products
Serious fall citation affirmed and penalty reduced
A General Bronze employee welded at the fifth-floor perimeter without a safety belt while a foreman was close enough to observe him. The Commission held that the pre-amendment personal-protective-equipment standard was enforceable here because the employee faced a fall of more than 25 feet and…
Chicago Bridge & Iron Co.
Fire-equipment citation vacated for issuance delay
A Chicago Bridge & Iron employee was welding on top of a chemical tank at least 80 feet above ground when his clothing caught fire and he was fatally injured. OSHA inspected six days later and cited the company for failing to have suitable fire-extinguishing equipment immediately available…
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.