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…
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…
Massman-Johnson (Luling), a Joint Venture
Witness-statement dismissal reversed
OSHA issued a willful-serious citation after an employee fell from a barge into the Mississippi River, and the judge later dismissed the case when the Secretary refused to disclose prospective witnesses' statements before hearing. The Commission held that the government's informer privilege can…
Perini Corporation
Commission affirms a $110 flotation-vest violation for construction work performed from a barge
Perini Corporation employees worked from an unguarded barge on the Mystic River while placing rip-rap to prevent shoreline erosion and assisting a diver cutting holes in an underwater steel bulkhead. No crew member wore a flotation device. The Commission held that this work was construction, not…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.