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. Meyer Aggregate, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Meyer Aggregate, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2015-654, et al.): One citation vacated and penalties reduced to $3,742
Meyer Aggregate operated a small portable sand-and-gravel mine with three regular employees, and the case covered eight citations across five dockets. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed an S&S, high-negligence, unwarrantable violation where an unstable 40-foot stockpile sloughed about 100 tons of…
Secretary of Labor v. Tilcon New York, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Tilcon New York, Inc. (FMSHRC YORK 2016-66, et al.): Six of seven contested citations upheld, total penalty raised to $4,458
Tilcon New York runs the Haverstraw Quarry and Mill, a surface granite mine in Rockland County, New York. An MSHA inspector wrote sixteen citations over a December 2015 and January 2016 inspection, and the parties settled nine of them before or during the hearing. Judge Margaret A. Miller decided…
Secretary of Labor v. Climax Molybdenum Company
Secretary of Labor v. Climax Molybdenum Company (FMSHRC WEST 2015-838 M): Handrails and a lockout policy are not a substitute for machine guards
Climax Molybdenum's mill in Colorado uses two large grinding mills whose rotating cylinders are moving machine parts. Some sections had eight-foot metal guarding, but elsewhere the only barrier was a waist-high handrail with warning signs and locked gates, set at least seven feet back from the…
Secretary of Labor v. Stone Plus, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Stone Plus, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2013-263-M, et al.): Thirteen unwarrantable failures sustained with $28,000 penalty
MSHA cited Stone Plus for thirteen conditions at its small quarry, including missing berms and guards, defective loader brakes and seat belt, inadequate overtravel protection, and failure to conduct workplace and equipment examinations. Judge L. Zane Gill rejected the operator's jurisdictional…
Secretary of Labor v. Duke's Sand & Gravel
Secretary of Labor v. Duke's Sand & Gravel (FMSHRC YORK 2012-97-M): All 22 violations upheld, penalties reduced to $2,085
MSHA found 21 section 104(a) violations and one section 104(g)(1) training order during Duke's Sand & Gravel's first inspection. The one-employee operation lacked required filings, guards, electrical protections, first-aid coverage, firefighting equipment, miner training, berms, sanitation…
Secretary of Labor v. Winn Materials, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Winn Materials, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2013-50-M, et al.): Seven guarding violations modified and penalties reduced
An anonymous complaint led MSHA to cite seven missing or inadequate tail-pulley guards at Winn Materials' surface limestone mine in Tennessee. Winn Materials accepted the underlying guarding violations but disputed the S&S, unwarrantable-failure, reckless-disregard, flagrant, and penalty findings…
Secretary of Labor, MSHA v. John Richards Construction
Secretary of Labor v. John Richards Construction (FMSHRC WEST 2011-129-M): Simplified proceeding set and depositions denied
MSHA alleged that John Richards Construction operated machinery without a securely installed guard and proposed a $100 penalty. Judge William B. Moran designated the single-citation case for the Commission's simplified-proceedings track and denied the operator's request to take depositions. He…
Taft Production Company
Taft Production Company (FMSHRC WEST 2009-1402-M): Six shop and plant citations upheld with one reduced
MSHA issued six citations at Taft Production's clay mine for an obstructed eyewash station, improper bolts in feeder turnbuckles, damaged electrical conduit, unstable storage shelves, an open energized switchgear box, and an unsecured conveyor guard. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck affirmed every…
Kloepfer Inc.
Kloepfer Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2009-749-M and WEST 2009-750-M): Guarding violations upheld but special findings removed
MSHA cited Kloepfer's newly started portable crushing plant for four missing guards, a removed handrail section, and an allegedly inadequate workplace examination. Judge William B. Moran held that the portable plant properly remained under the company's existing mine ID because the two plants had…
Stansley Mineral Resources, Incorporated
Stansley Mineral Resources, Incorporated (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-693-M): Unguarded tail pulley upheld with penalty reduced to $1,000
A Stansley employee repeatedly shoveled spillage within a few feet of an unguarded, fluted conveyor tail pulley at a sand-and-gravel plant. The operator admitted the guarding violation but disputed the S&S and unwarrantable-failure designations. Judge David F. Barbour found a serious entanglement…
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.