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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Christie Constructors, Inc.
Barge safety citations produce $2,750 penalty
Christie Constructors performed bridge construction from two connected barges on the Columbia River. Judge Stanley M. Schwartz held that federal OSHA retained jurisdiction over non-maritime construction on vessels in navigable waters despite Washington's state plan. He affirmed serious violations…
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…
Paschen Contractors, Inc.
Skyway Bridge citations settled for $1,400
Paschen Contractors built bridge piers for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge using cofferdams and work barges. After an employee fell from an unguarded cofferdam rim and was seriously injured, OSHA cited missing cofferdam guardrails, an unsafe gangplank, and employees working on unguarded barge decks…
Puget Sound Tug & Barge; Mission Viking, Inc.; Northwestern Construction, Inc.
Maritime citations affirmed despite Coast Guard authority
Three maritime employers argued that Coast Guard authority displaced OSHA requirements for work on vessels and barges. The cited conditions included respiratory and flotation protection, crane and deck hazards, recordkeeping, unguarded rigging, unsecured propane tanks, and unsafe passage between…
Edward B. Fitzpatrick, Jr., Associates, Inc. and Schiavone Construction Co., Inc., a Joint Venture
Barge-access citation remained vacated
Employees used wobbly, unsecured planks along a concrete footing beside the North River to move between a barge gangway and their work area. The judge vacated the barge-access citation because the gangway itself was safe and the planks were a separate work area rather than part of the access ramp…
McHugh & McHugh
First-aid and crane swing-radius items affirmed
McHugh & McHugh used two barges and a crane while constructing a railroad bridge over the Willamette River. The Commission affirmed a first-aid item because supplies locked in a shore-side trailer were not easily accessible to employees working on barges in the river. It also affirmed a serious…
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.