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. LRock Industries
Secretary of Labor v. LRock Industries (FMSHRC WEST 2016-705): One citation vacated and total penalties reduced to $20,585
LRock Industries operated a surface sand and gravel pit where MSHA issued 19 citations involving berms, equipment defects, guarding, electrical safety, labeling, workplace examinations, and fall protection. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed most of the violations, including significant and…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2015-340 M, et al.): Fifty-eight citations resolved for $33,764
Three Northshore Mining dockets involved 58 citations at an aboveground iron-ore processing and taconite-pellet facility in Minnesota. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy approved settlement of 54 citations for $30,261. Of the four litigated citations, he vacated a fall-protection allegation and affirmed…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.