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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Ranch Masonry, Inc.
Scaffold-gap and balcony fall violations resulted in $9,000 in penalties
Ranch Masonry employees applied stucco from a fifth-level scaffold about 33 feet above the ground. An employee fell between the scaffold and building and died. The judge found that the scaffold platform was more than the permitted 18 inches from the wall, employees routinely crossed a roughly…
Lawrence B. Wohl, Inc.
Mobile-scaffold penalties increased to $1,000
Lawrence B. Wohl employees installed lathing and sprayed fireproofing from small mobile scaffolds at a Yonkers waste-transfer-station project. One scaffold had unlocked casters and exposed an employee to a four-foot fall, while another lacked a midrail and toeboard and exposed two employees to a…
Island ADC, Inc.
Four conceded serious violations affirmed, full $3,125 penalty upheld
Island ADC was a construction subcontractor working at a New York City job site. After OSHA inspections in early 1993, the company received one citation with four serious items: an ungrounded electric cutter, a five-foot scaffold without guardrails, unlocked scaffold casters, and a stairway missing…
Engle, Inc.
Scaffold citation settled without penalty
OSHA cited Engle, a construction company, for one serious violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.451(e)(8) and proposed a $240 penalty. An administrative law judge affirmed the citation and assessed $150, after which the Commission granted review. In the settlement, the Secretary reclassified the citation…
Bechtel Power Corporation
Unsafe scaffold access affirmed after fatal fall
A Bechtel pipe welder fell 24 feet and died after reaching from a scaffold ladder toward a platform whose access was obstructed by an overhead beam. The Commission held that the mobile-scaffold rule requires genuinely safe and proper access, not merely the presence of a ladder. Bechtel could have…
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.