Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Secretary of Labor v. Prospect Mining and Development Company, Inc.
Missing roof-bolt warning drew no negligence, unexamined charger drew high
MSHA cited Prospect Mining's Carbon Hill Mine in two separate dockets, and Judge Thomas P. McCarthy heard both together under simplified proceedings. The first citation alleged that the last row of roof support bolts was not marked with a visible warning as 30 C.F.R. § 75.208 requires. The judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Blanchard Machinery Company
Stepping out of the cab leaves a truck unattended, but one flustered lapse is not operator negligence
A Blanchard rental representative was sitting in a company pickup at the Haile Gold Mine when an MSHA inspector walked up behind him. He hopped out to shake hands and forgot to set the parking brake, and the inspector cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14207, which requires mobile equipment…
Secretary of Labor v. Sims Crane
Suspended spreader-bar citation increased to high negligence
Sims Crane employees twice walked beneath a 625-pound steel spreader bar suspended more than 25 feet above the ground at S.D.I. Quarry. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that the spreader bar was a suspended load under the cited standard and that workers had to stay clear of its fall zone. The judge…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- 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 public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.