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.

5,593 decisions and counting · Latest decision July 17, 2026
3 decisions 30 C.F.R. § 75.371(z)

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ALJ

Knight Hawk Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor

Knight Hawk Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2019-0087-R): Ventilation-plan revocation vacated

MSHA revoked Knight Hawk Coal's long-approved ventilation plan for perimeter mining at the Prairie Eagle Underground Mine and cited the company for operating without an approved plan. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that MSHA relied on unreliable smoke testing and evidence of agency bias against…

August 19, 2019 ·Thomas P. McCarthy
Citations vacated
ALJ

Knight Hawk Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor

Knight Hawk Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2019-0087-R): Initial ventilation-plan ruling later amended

MSHA revoked Knight Hawk Coal's approved ventilation plan for perimeter mining at the Prairie Eagle Underground Mine and cited the company for operating without an approved plan. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that MSHA relied on unreliable smoke testing and evidence of agency bias, while failing…

August 16, 2019 ·Thomas P. McCarthy
Citations vacated
ALJ

Knight Hawk Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor

Knight Hawk Coal, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2019-0087-R): Evidence limits denied in ventilation-plan case

Knight Hawk contested MSHA's revocation of its ventilation plan for perimeter mining at the Prairie Eagle Underground Mine. Before hearing, the Secretary sought to exclude evidence about other mines, information not presented to the district manager during negotiations, and testimony from a former…

March 26, 2019 ·Thomas P. McCarthy
Procedural

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.