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. Gentry Mountain Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Gentry Mountain Mining, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2024-0064): Safety findings affirmed and penalties increased
MSHA cited Gentry Mountain's underground coal mine for loose ribs along a haulage way, a come-along missing safety latches, a Jeep parked beneath the lifeline in the primary escapeway, and two nonfunctioning methane monitors. The Judge affirmed the loose-rib citation as significant and substantial…
Secretary of Labor v. Perry County Resources, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Perry County Resources, LLC (FMSHRC KENT 2022-0024): Unrelated abatement order was not required for settlement
Perry County Resources and the Secretary proposed settling four citations involving roof support, escapeways, a lifeline, and equipment guarding. A Judge denied approval because the Secretary would not provide a separate failure-to-abate order associated with a citation Perry accepted as written…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (FMSHRC PENN 2022-0011): Escapeway obstruction citation affirmed
Six pressurized hoses from a pump car protruded into the secondary escapeway at Consol's Enlow Fork Mine. The judge found that the hoses narrowed and obstructed the path used with the escapeway lifeline and could impede miners, including a disabled miner on a stretcher, during an emergency…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2019-0094): Lifeline over hoses violated the escape standard
Consol operated the Harvey Mine, where an emergency lifeline ran directly above nine hydraulic hoses in a longwall escapeway. The hoses extended as much as 43 inches into the route and rose as high as 38 inches above the floor. The Commission held that a lifeline is not located for effective escape…
Secretary of Labor v. Perry County Resources
Secretary of Labor v. Perry County Resources (FMSHRC KENT 2022-0024): Secretary ordered to disclose missing abatement order
Perry County Resources and the Secretary proposed resolving four citations with a total penalty reduction from $1,470 to $1,204. The record showed that MSHA had issued a section 104(b) failure-to-abate order connected to an admitted roof-support citation, but the order and related documents were…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Southeast Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Southeast Mining, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2019-0075, SE 2019-0146): Three serious violations affirmed
Peabody operated the underground Shoal Creek Mine, where MSHA cited combustible accumulations in two belt areas and an alternate escapeway obstructed by holes, muck, and water. Judge Jacqueline Bulluck found that the belt conditions created fire and smoke hazards and that the escapeway could not…
Secretary of Labor v. Brody Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Brody Mining, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2009-1000, et al.): Seven orders reassessed at $85,000 on remand
The Commission remanded findings for seven section 104(d)(2) orders issued at Brody Mine No. 1 for coal accumulations, ventilation-plan failures, an inadequate preshift examination, a flooded escapeway, and an unguarded shuttle-car opening. Judge L. Zane Gill reconsidered S&S, unwarrantable…
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.