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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Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Mixed rulings produced a $5,306 penalty
MSHA issued ten citations at three limestone plants operated by Nelson Quarries. The judge affirmed a seat-belt violation but removed its significant and substantial designation because the truck moved only a short distance for inspection, while affirming another seat-belt violation involving…
Weathers Crushing, Inc.
Fatality case produced mixed results
A new crusher operator died after a sledgehammer head was ejected from a running jaw crusher while he was clearing a blockage. The judge found that Weathers Crushing violated standards requiring machinery to be shut off and blocked, employees to be indoctrinated, and openings to be protected, but…
Root Neal & Company
Loader-bucket and training violations affirmed
Root Neal & Company was a contractor installing and calibrating loader scales at Elam Sand and Gravel's West Bloomfield surface mine. During the work, an unsecured front-end-loader bucket descended after a hydraulic line was removed, pinning Elam employee Michael Corbin and causing injuries. Judge…
Knock's Building Supplies
Multiple citations mixed, $3,139 penalty assessed
Knock's Building Supplies operated a small limestone, sand, and gravel mine in Iowa. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon vacated three citations, affirmed twelve others, and assessed a total civil penalty of $3,139. The affirmed citations covered mine access, haul-road berms, inspection access, guarding, backup…
Valdez Creek Mining Company
One citation vacated and 16 affirmed with a $990 penalty
Valdez Creek Mining Company operated a placer gold mine in Alaska with about 100 employees when MSHA issued 17 citations during July and August 1985. The company admitted that the violations occurred but disputed the penalty amounts. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that the operator's negligence…
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.