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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Beco Construction Company, Inc.
Crusher safety citations split, $824 penalty assessed
Beco Construction operated portable crushers in Idaho, and MSHA cited guarding, access, electrical, housekeeping, and equipment conditions. Judge Richard W. Manning held that some conditions violated the cited standards, while others were too speculative or lacked fair notice on the record. He…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Conveyor citations vacated and remanded
Nolichuckey Sand Company operated a sand and gravel pit in Greenville, Tennessee, where miners used platforms beside conveyor belts for inspections and maintenance. MSHA cited six conveyors because they lacked emergency stop cords or railings, and the judge affirmed all six citations under 30…
Nolichuckey Sand Company
Six conveyor citations affirmed
Nolichuckey Sand Company operated a sand and gravel operation where miners used catwalks beside conveyor belts for inspections. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the catwalks were travelways and that the conveyors therefore fell within 30 C.F.R. § 56.14109(a). He rejected the company's arguments…
Martin Marietta Aggregates
Train-safety violations affirmed, unwarrantable findings vacated
At Martin Marietta's Camak Quarry, employee Jut Anderson was struck and killed by a locomotive after railcars were pushed into a train while he cleaned railroad scales. The operator withdrew its contest of one citation and agreed to pay $267. Judge Paul Merlin affirmed the two litigated violations…
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.