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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Active Minerals Intl., LLC
Loader safety violations affirmed with $77,000 penalty
A contractor's loader operator was fatally run over after an unsecured passenger accidentally released the parking brake while the loader was stopped on an inclined ramp. Judge Priscilla M. Rae affirmed violations for transporting a passenger without a secure seat, leaving the loader bucket raised…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Loader-riding citation reduced to non-S&S
Two miners rode on the engine hood behind the cab of a front-end loader without seats or seatbelts while returning from servicing a water pump. The Judge affirmed the violation because the equipment had no provision for secure travel outside the cab. He vacated the S&S designation after finding…
Rinker Materials Western, Inc. and William E. Reffalt
Unsecured loader training violation upheld, personal penalty dismissed
Rinker trained front-end-loader operators with a second person sitting unsecured on an armrest or folding chair inside a one-seat cab. Judge Richard W. Manning deferred to MSHA's interpretation that section 56.9200(d) requires secure travel for a trainer outside the equipment operator's station and…
R. J. Taggart Construction Company, Incorporated
Settlement disapproval order
R. J. Taggart Construction Company faced a citation after a miner being trained on a front-end loader rode unsecured outside the operator’s cab, fell when the loader backed over a rock, and was killed. Judge Paul Merlin denied the parties’ motion to approve a settlement reducing the proposed…
Benevento Sand and Gravel
Citations affirmed with modifications
Benevento Sand and Gravel, a small quarry and mill operator, faced eight citations and orders involving truck alarms, seat belts, a loader passenger, a conveyor guard, and other equipment conditions. Judge Paul Merlin affirmed the fact of each violation and most significant and substantial and…
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.