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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Ralph Taynton d/b/a Service Specialty
EAJA fee request denied despite prevailing
Service Specialty sought $34,512.95 in attorney, agent, and other expenses after the Commission vacated its citation in full. The Commission had held that OSHA lacked jurisdiction because the sole proprietorship had stopped operating and no longer had an employee before the citation issued. The fee…
Vergona Crane Co., Inc.
Crane lessor liable for broken boom stop
Vergona Crane supplied a crane, operator, and oiler to a construction contractor under a bare-rental arrangement. The Commission treated Vergona and its closely related affiliate as a single entity and found that Vergona remained the workers' employer because it controlled how the crane was…
K M Engineering Company
Sideboom rope, records, and worn-shackle violations affirmed
K M Engineering used knots to connect wire ropes on two sideboom tractors, maintained inadequate annual inspection records, and continued using an excessively worn boom-block shackle. The judge affirmed the knotted-rope item without penalty because knots weakened the ropes and exposed workers…
George B. Gaines, doing business as Western Steel Company
Water-container item affirmed and equipment items vacated
Western Steel Company was cited for an unmarked drinking-water container, a broken glass cover on an acetylene gauge, and alleged failure to inspect a leased crawler crane with bent boom lacings. The judge amended the pleadings to treat the corporation, rather than its president individually, as…
J. D. Blum Construction Company
Serious trench citation reinstated
J. D. Blum Construction excavated a water-main trench that was up to 7.5 feet deep, contained wet clay and loam, and was sloped at about 65 degrees without shoring or bracing. The Commission found the soil soft and unstable based on water seepage, sloughing, photographs, and witness testimony. It…
Crescent Erection Company
Derrick citation vacated after rooftop fall
Crescent Erection used a small derrick to install aluminum exterior panels on a high-rise building. To work from the roof, employees welded the derrick to a wheeled base that rolled on a permanent window-washing track and added counterweights. While a roughly 150-pound panel was being lowered, the…
Martin Iron Works, Inc.
Crane inspection violations added without penalties
Martin Iron Works used a crane beyond the manufacturer's rated lifting radius and capacity during structural steel erection at a Nevada casino project. The judge affirmed that serious violation for $850, along with an inadequate ladder for $55, unsecured gas cylinders for $55, and an improperly…
Winslow Crane Service, Inc.
Brace and power-line citations vacated
Winslow owned and operated a crane used near an energized power line during pipeline work. A worker employed by another company was electrocuted when the crane equipment contacted the line, but the administrative law judge vacated Winslow's serious citation because Winslow had a stricter 15-foot…
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.