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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Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc.
Electrical contact violations affirmed
Wayne J. Griffin Electric installed replacement substations during a large electrical upgrade at a New Hampshire office complex. An electrician was seriously injured when his face contacted an energized bus bar while he worked inside a switchgear compartment believed to be de-energized. The judge…
Monroe Drywall Construction, Inc.
Serious-item penalties increased to $6,300
Monroe Drywall employees worked near exposed energized wires at a Florida construction site where a worker died after contacting the electrical hazard. The affirmed violations involved failure to train employees to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions and failure to determine the status of exposed…
Monroe Drywall Construction, Inc.
Employer finding reversed and citations remanded
A drywall worker was electrocuted after contacting exposed wiring at a retail-store renovation. The judge vacated the citations because he found OSHA had not proved that Monroe Drywall employed the workers performing the drywall work. The Commission held that the judge improperly discounted worker…
Florida Power and Light Company
Arc-flash citations affirmed
An electrical contractor at Miami International Airport needed Florida Power and Light to open a meter can and remove a protective plate so it could replace wiring and a breaker. The FPL employee raised an energized bypass handle without first asking what work had been done or inspecting the…
Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc.
Electrical citation items vacated
A Shaw electrician was severely burned by an electrical arc after opening an energized panel box at a Maryland waste-removal project. OSHA concluded that he was loosening a live lug bolt with an Allen wrench, while Shaw's investigation concluded that a wrench left on top of the box fell when the…
Miller Electric Company
Electrical violations affirmed before Commission remand
A Miller Electric journeyman was electrocuted while connecting a light fixture to an energized 277-volt circuit at a medical-center construction project. The judge found that Miller permitted work near the energized circuit and failed to ascertain and warn employees that the circuit was live. She…
Miller Electric Company, Inc.
Electrical case remanded after testimony was misunderstood
Miller Electric received three serious electrical citations after a journeyman electrician was electrocuted while connecting a light fixture to an energized circuit. The administrative law judge affirmed two items and rejected the company's employee-misconduct defense. The Commission found that the…
CMC Electric, Inc.
Electrical-hazard and worksite-safety items affirmed
CMC Electric sent three journeyman wiremen to install electrical service at a cellular-telephone construction site near Andover, Ohio. An employee died after climbing a utility pole and contacting an energized 7,200-volt line that was not shown on the work schematic. CMC had not inspected for…
National Acoustics, Inc.
Housekeeping citation tossed, but electrical-hazard citations upheld against a demolition subcontractor
National Acoustics was a demolition and cleanup subcontractor on a hotel renovation in Chicago. OSHA inspected in August 1996 and issued a serious citation with three items: one for scrap lumber with protruding nails and other debris on the floor, and two for letting employees work close to live…
Stein, Inc.
Crane inspection and power-line clearance items affirmed
Stein provided a crane and crane operator for installation of a truck scale at an Ohio steel-mill site. A ground worker employed by the scale contractor was electrocuted when the crane boom contacted a 13,000-volt power line. The judge found that Stein remained an employer responsible for its…
Hirsch Electric Company
Energized-wiring item affirmed, penalty reduced to $1,000
Hirsch Electric installed energized wiring for operating rooms under construction at Hillcrest Hospital in Ohio. A flexible conduit containing 270-volt lines hung into the area where another contractor's employees were installing metal duct diffusers, and one worker received an electrical shock…
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.