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. Rockwell Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Rockwell Mining, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2017-220): $5,232 settlement approved on remand
The Commission vacated an earlier order denying Rockwell Mining's settlement and directed the Judge to reconsider it under the Commission's settlement-review standard. The agreement resolved seven citations, left three penalties unchanged, reduced three penalties, and vacated a cleanup-program…
Secretary of Labor v. Blue Diamond Coal Company
Secretary of Labor v. Blue Diamond Coal Company (FMSHRC KENT 2017-141): Cable-splice settlement denied for weak support and bad math
The parties proposed resolving six citations for an asserted total of $2,699, including reductions to two damaged-cable-splice citations under 30 C.F.R. § 75.604(b). Judge William B. Moran found that the listed settlement amounts actually totaled $2,749 and that another table also contained a major…
Secretary of Labor v. Rockwell Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Rockwell Mining, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2016-514): Settlement approved with a note on look-alike penalty cuts
MSHA cited Rockwell Mining nine times at the Gateway Eagle Mine, an underground coal mine, and originally assessed $4,611 in penalties. The parties proposed settling for $3,704, with several citations modified. Two ventilation-plan citations and two trailing-cable citations were reduced from…
Secretary of Labor v. White County Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. White County Coal, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2014-0062): Six litigated citations affirmed and partial settlement approved
White County Coal operates the Pattiki underground coal mine in Illinois, where MSHA issued citations involving ventilation, roof support, and damaged trailing-cable splices. After the company settled 31 citations, it contested the gravity or negligence findings for six others but conceded the…
Secretary of Labor v. Tri County Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Tri County Coal, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-309): Seven violations bring $8,853 penalty
MSHA cited Tri County Coal for roof-bolter dust-collection defects, inaccurate escapeway maps, failure to follow the roof-control plan, inadequate rock dust, and defective trailing-cable splices. Judge L. Zane Gill affirmed all seven litigated violations. He removed the S&S designations from two…
Tri County Coal, LLC
Tri County Coal, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-308, et al.): Equipment and examination violations yield $39,472
Tri County Coal faced citations involving defective ram-car brakes, unsupported roof, damaged cable splices, an inadequate electrical examination, a roof-bolter dust collector, and inaccurate escapeway maps. Judge Michael E. Zielinski affirmed every litigated violation but modified negligence…
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.