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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Hanson Aggregates New York, Inc.
Crane citation remanded for an evidentiary hearing
Hanson Aggregates was cited under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14211(c) after a crane's hoist ball and hook fell during setup and fatally struck a crew supervisor. The judge granted summary decision to the Secretary, affirmed the citation, and assessed a $9,100 penalty after inferring that the crane's…
Elmore Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Safety-prop violation affirmed, defect citation dismissed
A haul-truck operator was fatally pinned when a raised dump bed lowered while he was checking the truck's brakes. Judge Avram Weisberger dismissed the equipment-defect citation because inconsistent post-accident testing did not prove that a wiring defect existed before the accident or made…
Hanson Aggregates New York, Inc.
Crane safety citation affirmed after summary decision
Hanson Aggregates New York was preparing a mobile crane to repair a primary crusher when its auxiliary hoist line failed and a raised hook and ball struck and killed a mine foreman. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held that the crane's anti-two-block device did not function properly and that Hanson violated…
K.R. Wilson Contracting, Inc.
Four citations affirmed, one vacated, and penalties assessed at $40,688
K.R. Wilson Contracting operated a limestone quarry where a worker died after a raised loader fender fell during repairs. The judge affirmed two accident-related citations, finding that the fender was not mechanically secured and that the worker was not wearing a hard hat, while vacating a citation…
U.S. Steel Group, Minnesota Ore Operations
Imminent-danger order affirmed
U.S. Steel Group contested an imminent-danger order and associated citation issued after an inspector saw a worker leaning under a raised railroad ore car that was not blocked or mechanically secured. The judge found that inspecting the underside of the raised car was work covered by the blocking…
Dolese Brothers Company, aka Dolese Bros., A Corporation
Manbasket safety citation affirmed after 19-foot fall
At Dolese Brothers’ Hartshorne Rock Quarry, employee Terry Allen was working from a manbasket suspended by the load line of a crane when the line two-blocked and broke, causing a fall of about 19 feet and serious injuries. Judge William Fauver found that the manbasket was a raised component of…
Medusa Cement Company-Div/Medusa Corporation
Work-platform citation affirmed
Medusa Corporation used a mobile crane at the Clinchfield Mine to raise workers in a work platform attached to a wire rope and swivel hook. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the platform lacked a device preventing free and uncontrolled descent, as required by the cited standard. The citation was found…
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.