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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Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Shane T. Wetzel, employed by Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2014-108): Reckless-disregard penalties set on remand
The Commission had ruled that Lehigh Anthracite and foreman Shane Wetzel acted with reckless disregard when a miner was exposed to hazards while recovering a buried dragline bucket, and it sent the case back solely for new penalties. Judge L. Zane Gill credited Lehigh's immediate investigation…
Secretary of Labor v. Kanaval's Excavating & Gravel
Secretary of Labor v. Kanaval's Excavating & Gravel (FMSHRC YORK 2013-217-M): Late quarterly report draws $50 penalty
Kanaval's Excavating & Gravel filed its fourth-quarter employment report 14 days after the regulatory deadline. The one-person sand and gravel mine was seasonally closed when the report was due, and the operator corrected the oversight before MSHA identified it. Judge Alan G. Paez granted summary…
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2013-32-M): Simplified procedure ended but hearing tightly limited
Cactus Canyon contested two $100 machine-guarding penalties and sought broader discovery than the Commission's simplified-proceedings rules ordinarily allow. Judge David F. Barbour agreed to discontinue simplified proceedings because an unwilling party's insistence on additional discovery defeated…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.