Worker Safety Commission Vacant as Case Backlog Grows

The federal agency that oversees disputes of workplace safety violations, including in meatpacking plants, has been without leadership for more than five months.

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an entity independent from both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Department of Labor, has had no commissioners since the beginning of May.

The three-person commission, which reviews business appeals of OSHA fines and violations, has been plagued by backlogs and procedural slowdowns for years. This has led to backlogs of safety reviews and a drawn-out appeals process, according to a newsroom investigation in March 2025.

When a case is under review, businesses are not legally required to make safety changes and avoid paying fines.

There are currently 31 cases awaiting review by the memberless commission, with some dating back to 2017.

The appeal process for companies fined for workplace safety violations is split into two parts under the commission. First, a case review is done by one of 12 administrative judges. Then, if a company still contests the judges’ findings, the commission makes a final decision.

Since 2015, the time it takes judges working with OSHRC to examine case appeals has increased from less than 18 months to over two years, according to Investigate Midwest’s analysis of hundreds of appeals.

This longer review process occurred while the number of cases before judges fell by more than half.

A commission spokesperson confirmed the lack of commissioners and quorum, but told Investigate Midwest the work of the commission’s judges “is not directly impacted by the current lack of commissioners.”

The commission had a single member since April 2023, who retired this April. The commission has had vacant positions since 2021.

The Biden administration nominated two commissioners, but their appointments were rescinded from the confirmation calendar at the end of the 2024 Senate session.

In March, President Trump nominated Jonathon Snare to the commission. Snare was appointed Deputy Solicitor for the U.S. Labor Department in February. Previously, he worked for OSHA and the Labor Department from 2003 to 2009, and then worked as a private employment lawyer for the D.C. law office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius.

The Senate committee responsible for confirming new commissioners has yet to hold a confirmation for Snare. Investigate Midwest reached out to committee leadership, Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Democrat, but did not receive a response.

A March 2025 Investigate Midwest report found that the commission has been without a quorum for over a year and did not review a single case during fiscal year 2024. Previous OSHA violations that were under review included two separate fatalities at a Georgia poultry processing facility, one of which was the death of a 16-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who was too young to be working at the plant.

OSHA fined a poultry plant after a worker died. While the case was appealed, another worker was killed.

The little-known Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission is taking longer to review appeals of OSHA fines and orders. Now the three-person commission is about to lose its only member.

by John McCracken, Investigate Midwest

Milton Jones, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, said in a statement to Investigate Midwest that without any OSHRC commissioners, the commission has been rendered useless, allowing employers to delay implementing safety solutions and paying fines for past violations, endangering workers across the country.

“When cases aren’t heard, workers die, and without a functioning commission, weaponizing this process to escape responsibility will only become more prevalent,” Jones said.