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.
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Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Crusher safety violation reversed and remanded
Walker Stone operated an open-pit limestone quarry in Kansas. During efforts to clear rock that had clogged a crusher, a worker reentered the crusher and was caught when the rotor was jogged, suffering fatal injuries. The Commission held that removing the rock to restore the crusher was repair or…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Crusher citations split
Walker Stone Company operated a quarry and mill where an employee was fatally crushed while workers were clearing a plugged impact crusher. Judge Roy J. Maurer vacated one citation because the cited repair and maintenance standard did not apply to the work being performed. He affirmed a second…
Morgan Corporation
Settlement approved and citation vacated
The Commission approved a joint settlement between Morgan Corporation and the Secretary in a civil-penalty proceeding. The ALJ had found a violation of former 30 C.F.R. § 56.9005 and assessed a $1,000 penalty, but that standard had been superseded by 30 C.F.R. § 56.14200. The Commission found…
Morgan Corporation
Fatal equipment accident, citation affirmed, $1,000 penalty assessed
Morgan Corporation was an independent contractor performing construction work at a surface gold mine. A pan scraper operator backed over a spotter who was working near the machine, and the spotter died at the scene. Judge George A. Koutras found that the operator did not make certain by signal or…
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.