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 Monongalia County Coal Company
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-509): Flagrant and unwarrantable designations deleted
Monongalia stipulated to significant-and-substantial violations involving extensive combustible accumulations along a belt and an inadequate preshift examination, but disputed unwarrantable-failure and flagrant designations. Judge Jerold Feldman found high negligence and serious violations, yet…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2016-232, et al.): Violations upheld but six unwarrantable findings removed
MSHA issued Peabody Midwest Mining seven section 104(d)(2) orders involving loose ribs, missed or inadequate preshift examinations, and damaged or missing belt rollers at the Francisco Underground Pit. Judge William B. Moran upheld every violation, including the S&S findings for the loose-rib…
Secretary of Labor v. Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Oak Grove Resources, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2013-301): Oral argument set on repeated flagrant standard
MSHA designated extensive coal-dust and coal-fines accumulations along a conveyor entry as a repeated flagrant violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.400. Judge Jerold Feldman identified the unresolved issue as whether those accumulations could substantially and proximately cause serious injury or death…
Secretary of Labor v. Highland Mining Company LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Highland Mining Company LLC (FMSHRC KENT 2011-97): Four belt and noise violations upheld
Highland Mining contested four citations involving its No. 4 unit, conceding two underlying violations but disputing their gravity and negligence. Judge William B. Moran upheld an S&S citation for a misaligned conveyor belt rubbing six warm frames and an S&S noise citation after a continuous-miner…
Highland Mining Company, LLC
Highland Mining Company, LLC (FMSHRC KENT 2009-1582): One citation affirmed, nine modified, and three vacated
Highland Mining admitted many of the cited conditions at its Highland 9 underground coal mine but disputed significant and substantial and unwarrantable-failure findings across thirteen litigated enforcement actions. Judge Priscilla M. Rae evaluated roof and rib hazards, belt accumulations and…
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.