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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John B. Coffman, d/b/a Southeast Industrial Painting
Penalties cut for a small painting contractor who admitted the violations
John B. Coffman ran Southeast Industrial Painting, a small tank painting and renovation business in Florida. OSHA inspected a jobsite in Orange Park, Florida in August 1997 and issued five citations spread across two dockets. Coffman first contested the citations, but the cases were held while a…
Donald Harris, Inc.
Unguarded scaffold violation properly classified as repeated
OSHA found the company's foreman working on a scaffold about 15 feet high without a standard guardrail. Donald Harris argued that the citation should be vacated because it was not invited to join the inspection, but the Commission found no prejudice to its defense. The company had two earlier final…
Austin Road
Repeated trench violation remanded under Potlatch test
Austin Road was cited for a serious and repeated violation after employees worked near an inadequately protected trench in hard or compact soil. The judge found the violation repeated under an older test. The Commission set aside that classification and remanded for reconsideration under its…
Quillian Pipe Company, Inc.
Trench violation reduced from willful to serious
Quillian Pipe employees worked in an inadequately protected trench that was more than five feet deep while installing underground pipeline in Macon, Georgia. OSHA had recently explained trenching requirements to the company's president after an earlier inspection, then cited the later condition as…
Northern Metal Company
Hard-hat violations affirmed but repeat claims and penalties removed
Northern Metal's longshore employees repeatedly worked without protective hats despite the company's efforts to encourage their use. The Commission held that Northern Metal remained their employer under the economic realities of the hiring-hall arrangement because it paid the workers, determined…
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.