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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E. Smalis Painting Co., Inc.
Commission reduced lead-case penalties to $1.09 million
E. Smalis Painting removed lead-based paint from the Tarentum Bridge using abrasive blasting inside a tarp containment. OSHA measured six workers at lead exposure levels ranging from more than 18 to 669 times the permissible exposure limit, then cited four serious and 202 willful violations with…
Thomas Industrial Coatings, Inc.
Water cooler was inadequate for washing lead from workers' hands
Thomas sent a two-person crew to remove lead paint from a bridge while initial air-monitoring results were still pending. The Commission held that the lead standard's interim protections applied during that period, but its overlapping general protections did not yet apply. A water cooler and…
Manganas Painting Co., Inc.
Lead-control citations partly affirmed with $383,590 assessed
Manganas used abrasive blasting to remove lead-based paint from an interstate highway bridge. OSHA cited the company shortly after a new lead-in-construction standard took effect, proposing more than $1.3 million in penalties. The Commission upheld the standard's validity and found OSHA's sampling…
Techno Coatings
Lead-abatement citations split
Techno Coatings removed lead-based paint at a naval pier in San Diego. The judge found that the company lacked a valid initial exposure assessment because its historical data came from different bridge locations and did not reliably match the current work. OSHA's own air samples did not credibly…
SC Development Corporation
Lead-protection violations affirmed and willful classification reduced
SC Development demolished a lead-painted railroad bridge by torch cutting without first assessing employee lead exposure. Employees lacked required interim respiratory protection, protective clothing, washing facilities, biological monitoring, training, and a site-specific compliance program. The…
Sierra Resources, Inc.
Nine serious lead violations affirmed
Sierra Resources removed and replaced bridge bearing assemblies in Blue Island, Illinois, using torch cutting on paint that testing showed contained 50 percent lead. OSHA sampling measured one employee's exposure at 119.7 micrograms per cubic meter, more than twice the permissible limit, and…
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.