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. Newmont Slate Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Newmont Slate Company, Inc. (FMSHRC YORK 2016-20 M): Fifteen citations upheld and one vacated
MSHA issued Newmont Slate 16 citations covering fire and explosion warnings, compressed-air tanks, electrical circuits, machine guards and windows, explosives, training, noise records, and other quarry conditions. After a hearing, Judge David F. Barbour found 15 violations and vacated the citation…
Secretary of Labor v. Newmont Slate Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Newmont Slate Company, Inc. (FMSHRC YORK 2016-20 M): Original multi-citation decision superseded
MSHA issued Newmont Slate 16 citations covering fire and explosion warnings, compressed-air tanks, electrical circuits, machine guards and windows, explosives, training, noise records, and other quarry conditions. Judge David F. Barbour found 15 violations and vacated the citation alleging…
Midwest Fuels, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Midwest Fuels, Inc.
Midwest Fuels, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2013-157-M, et al.): Fuel delivery driver was not a miner
Midwest Fuels delivered diesel and other fuels to equipment at a portable crushing operation. MSHA cited the company because driver Travis Pearson had site-specific hazard training but no certified new-miner or experienced-miner training. Judge L. Zane Gill held that Part 46 clearly excludes…
Secretary of Labor v. Hanson Aggregates New York, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Hanson Aggregates New York, Inc. (FMSHRC YORK 2013-66-M): training record omission upheld with $50 penalty
Hanson Aggregates completed annual refresher training at its crushed-limestone plant but used MSHA Form 5000-23 without listing the instructors or the duration of training. Judge Alan G. Paez found the recordkeeping rule ambiguous because the form itself did not request that information, but held…
Secretary of Labor v. Conmat, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Conmat, Inc. (FMSHRC LAKE 2014-9-M): Improper task-training certification upheld
A competent trainer at Conmat task-trained a miner and signed the form's certification line, but he was not one of the people designated in the mine's approved Part 46 plan as responsible for health and safety training. Conmat argued that it had up to 12 months to obtain a proper certification and…
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.