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. The American Coal Company
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-183, LAKE 2011-184, and LAKE 2011-242): Nine violations upheld with $18,500 in penalties
The American Coal Company litigated ten citations involving an unclean bathhouse, unsupported roof and ribs, missing cutting goggles, an exposed electrical conductor, muddy travelways, and loose bridge boards at its large underground coal mine. Judge Michael E. Zielinski upheld nine violations but…
Bledsoe Coal Corporation
Bledsoe Coal Corporation (FMSHRC KENT 2011-835): Fifteen S&S violations uphold pattern designation
MSHA placed Bledsoe Coal's Abner Branch Rider Mine under a pattern-of-violations designation after a follow-up inspection produced eighteen citations marked significant and substantial. The parties agreed that MSHA needed at least nine valid S&S citations to sustain the pattern action. Judge…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.