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.
No decisions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Shane T. Wetzel, employed by Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Shane T. Wetzel (FMSHRC PENN 2014-108, PENN 2014-109, PENN 2016-135): Reckless-disregard finding required penalty remand
Lehigh foreman Shane Wetzel authorized a miner to enter an open pit twice beneath unstable highwalls and banks to attach chains to a buried dragline bucket. The ALJ found an S&S and unwarrantable violation, held Wetzel individually liable under section 110(c), but classified the operator's and…
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Shane T. Wetzel, emp. by Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Anthracite Coal, LLC and Shane T. Wetzel (FMSHRC PENN 2016-135, PENN 2014-108, PENN 2014-109): Both violations upheld, penalties cut, negligence reduced to high
A dragline bucket became buried under fallen coal at Lehigh's Tamaqua Mine in June 2013. Rather than clear it mechanically, the company sent hourly employee Erik Osenbach down a steep path into the pit twice, without fall protection, to hook chains to the bucket. The highwall above him had cracks…
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review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j): it binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent in other cases.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.