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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Francis J. Palo, Inc.
Bridge load-bearing item affirmed
Francis J. Palo served as general contractor for the phased demolition and reconstruction of a concrete arch bridge. The company placed a tracked excavator weighing more than 90,000 pounds on the section being demolished while cuts through the supporting abutments were underway. That side of the…
Abdo S. Allen Co.
Demolition, posting, and recordkeeping allegations vacated
A front-end loader operator was killed when he drove onto an underground tunnel roof despite repeated instructions and warnings to avoid it. The Commission affirmed the judge's order vacating every allegation. The employer could not reasonably have anticipated the experienced operator's conduct…
Ark Wrecking Co., Inc.
Recordkeeping violation affirmed without penalty
An Ark Wrecking employee was killed when the loader he was operating fell through the second floor of a building being demolished. OSHA alleged that the company failed to conduct the required engineering survey and used equipment on a floor too weak to support it. The Commission agreed with the…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.