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. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2022-0248): Ground-control and fire-boss citations upheld
MSHA issued 23 citations at Morton Salt's Weeks Island underground salt mine, a Class II-A domal salt mine with hazards from loose salt scales and unpredictable methane releases. The parties settled 17 citations for $38,320, including one vacatur and several reductions in gravity, negligence, and…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0120): Pattern notice itself held unreviewable
MSHA issued Morton Salt a pattern-of-violations notice after identifying 82 S&S citations in a 12-month period, including 45 involving loose-ground hazards. Morton Salt asked the Commission to review MSHA's decision-making process and mitigating-circumstances analysis behind the notice. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0009): Ground-control and access citations upheld
Five litigated citations at Morton Salt's Weeks Island underground mine concerned loose ground, inadequate ground examinations, unsafe access near washouts, and folded matting in a passageway. The judge affirmed all five violations and their significant and substantial designations. Four were…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt (FMSHRC CENT 2022-0176): Mixed ruling on training, ground, escape, and storage citations
The judge resolved seven contested citations and orders from an inspection of Morton Salt's Weeks Island Mine and approved settlement of seven others. He vacated three training orders because the documented instruction on the Femco warning system was adequate, and he vacated a ventilation-door…
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.