Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

What Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission does

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1970 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Its sole statutory function is to adjudicate contests of citations and penalties issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) following workplace safety and health inspections of American workplaces. The agency serves three principal constituencies: cited employers contesting OSHA enforcement actions; affected employees and their authorized representatives contesting abatement dates; and OSHA itself, which prosecutes enforcement actions before the Commission. OSHRC is structurally independent from OSHA and the Department of Labor, ensuring impartial review of enforcement actions.

OSHRC operates a two-level adjudicative platform: (1) hearings conducted by Administrative Law Judges located in Washington, D.C. and a Denver regional office, and (2) appellate review by a three-member Commission. The technology stack comprises an Entellitrak-based E-Filing System for mandatory electronic submission of case documents (with automatic email-based service under Rule 8(c)), and a public Decision Search database containing 5,356 decisions (1,638 ALJ and 3,718 Commission decisions) dating to 1972. Codified Rules of Procedure at 29 CFR Part 2200 govern conventional and simplified proceedings, settlements, and discovery. Ancillary offerings include Spanish-language resources, a FOIA request system, an E-Alerts subscription service, and guides for both formal and simplified review. As of November 2025, two of three Commissioner seats are vacant, the agency lacks a quorum, and more than 30 cases have been delayed.

OSHRC's business model is statutory rather than commercial. The agency generates no revenue and charges no fees; it is funded entirely through congressional appropriations. There are no private customers, no pricing structure, and no go-to-market channel in the commercial sense. Distribution is limited to the public-facing website, the E-Filing portal, and the Decision Search database, complemented by an X (Twitter) account (@OSHRC_Chairman), E-Alerts email notifications, and FOIA-based public records dissemination.

Name

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

Legal name

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

Website

https://oshrc.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1970

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is an independent U.S. federal agency that adjudicates disputes arising from OSHA workplace-safety citations and penalties, serving cited employers, affected employees, and OSHA through a two-level ALJ and Commission review process.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Federal Administrative Adjudication

NAICS

Courts (92211), Courts (922110), Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Occupational Safety & Health Authorities (Workplace Safety Regulators) (HLAJAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Workplace Injury & Illness Reporting, Compliance & Enforcement Programs (HLAJAFAK), Occupational Health & Workplace Safety Public Health Regulation (BPAIAJAL), General Occupational Safety & OSHA Compliance (EDABAEAA)

Keywords

• Federal administrative adjudication
• Workplace safety disputes
• OSHA citation review
• Administrative law hearings
• Regulatory dispute resolution

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) adjudicates contests of citations and penalties that OSHA issues to employers following workplace safety inspections. It operates a two-tier adjudicative system: hearing-level decisions by Administrative Law Judges (Washington D.C. and Denver) and appellate review by a three-member Commission. The agency is supported by a mandatory electronic filing system, a public Decision Search database of ALJ and Commission decisions, codified Rules of Procedure (29 CFR Part 2200), and supporting services such as Spanish-language resources and FOIA access.

Product overview

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) is an independent federal agency that operates a single integrated platform for adjudicating workplace safety disputes. The core offering consists of a two-level adjudicative system: (1) Administrative Law Judge hearings conducted by ALJs in Washington D.C. and Denver, and (2) three-member Commission appellate review. This is supported by the E-Filing System for electronic case submissions, the Decision Search public database, and comprehensive Rules of Procedure codified in 29 CFR Part 2200. Additional services include Spanish-language resources, FOIA request processing, and E-Alerts subscription for case updates. OSHRC does not offer commercial software products; all services are government-provided adjudicative functions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OSHRC E-Filing System Mandatory electronic filing platform enabling parties, intervenors, and OSHA to submit legal documents, complaints, answers, motions, and other case filings electronically to the Commission and Administrative Law Judges; simultaneous email provides service of process.
• Decision Search Public searchable database of final Commission decisions and unreviewed Administrative Law Judge decisions, searchable by keyword, case name, docket number, and date range; covers 1,638 ALJ and 3,718 Commission decisions going back to 1972.
• Rules of Procedure (29 CFR Part 2200) Codified procedural rules (Part 2200, Title 29 CFR) governing all proceedings before the Commission, including conventional proceedings, simplified proceedings, settlement procedures, and discovery rules.
• Administrative Law Judge Adjudication Hearing-level adjudication conducted by OSHRC Administrative Law Judges located in Washington D.C. and the Denver regional office, providing fair and impartial hearings for contested OSHA citations and penalties.
• Commission Review Appellate-level review by the three-member Commission, occurring after an Administrative Law Judge issues a decision; reviews evidence, briefs, and arguments and issues the final adjudication of contested citations.
• Spanish Resources (Recursos en Español) Spanish-language versions of key OSHRC publications, including rules of procedure, guides to Review Commission procedures, and employee guides.
• FOIA Request System Online system for submitting Freedom of Information Act requests and accessing the E-FOIA Reading Room for OSHRC agency records.
• E-Alerts Subscription Service Email notification service allowing subscribers to receive updates on final Administrative Law Judge decisions, final Commission decisions, and latest news and information from the agency.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• National Labor Relations Board: Independent federal agency that adjudicates labor disputes through Administrative Law Judges and a multi-member Board, operating with a near-identical two-tier adjudicative model to OSHRC.
• Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission: Independent federal quasi-judicial agency that adjudicates disputes arising from mine safety and health enforcement actions, mirroring OSHRC's structure and function for a different industrial sector.
• Merit Systems Protection Board: Independent quasi-judicial federal agency that adjudicates federal employee appeals, using the same model of Administrative Law Judge hearings followed by multi-member Board review as OSHRC.
• Federal Labor Relations Authority: Independent federal agency administering labor-management relations in the federal sector, with adjudicative and regulatory functions closely parallel to OSHRC's workplace safety mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Federal independent agency adjudicating employment-related disputes with a broader civil-rights mandate; comparable institutional structure (multi-member commission, ALJ hearings, federal court appeals) to OSHRC.
• Surface Transportation Board: Independent federal adjudicative body with multi-member structure and formal hearing procedures; comparable as a small, specialized federal adjudicative agency.
• National Transportation Safety Board: Independent federal agency conducting investigations and quasi-adjudicative proceedings in transportation safety; comparable in scale, federal independence, and safety-domain focus.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Department of Labor agency responsible for issuing the workplace safety citations that OSHRC adjudicates; the central counterpart in OSHRC's adjudicative process.

Others

• Administrative Conference of the United States: Independent federal agency that studies and recommends improvements to federal administrative adjudication — including agencies like OSHRC — providing a policy and governance peer rather than a direct competitor.

Regional players

• Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board: Small independent federal agency focused on industrial chemical safety incidents; comparable in size, federal scope, and workplace/industrial safety adjacency to OSHRC.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/oshrc_chairman
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/occupational-safety-and-health-review-commission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission