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. Hanson Aggregates Southeast, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Hanson Aggregates Southeast, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2017-62, et al.): Fatality-related settlement reductions rejected
The parties proposed reducing total penalties across four dockets from $33,756 to $11,801, including large reductions to two orders arising from a haul truck that left a graded road and went over a 201-foot highwall, killing the operator. Hanson Aggregates suggested that a cardiac event might…
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. APAC-Kansas, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. APAC-Kansas, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2015-1 M): Highwall, guarding, training and workplace-exam citations all upheld
APAC-Kansas runs the Bonner Springs limestone quarry in Kansas, where MSHA opened a multi-week inspection in July 2014 and issued 32 citations and orders. The parties settled 27 of them, and Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck tried the remaining four citations and one order. She upheld all five. Two…
U.S. Silica Company v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Silica Company
U.S. Silica Company v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. U.S. Silica Company (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-802-RM, WEVA 2014-803-RM): Highwall violations affirmed with $22,248 penalty
A large slope failure at U.S. Silica's West Virginia surface mine covered a bench and the only access road into the pit, yet the company cleared the road and resumed work without maintaining the highwall or preventing another slide. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed an S&S highwall-maintenance…
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.