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. 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. Coal Field Construction Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Coal Field Construction Company, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-264): Fall-protection settlement approved at $5,009
MSHA cited Coal Field Construction after a miner lost his balance on a six-inch pipe about eight feet above a preparation-plant floor and fell while not wearing fall protection. The citation alleged a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 77.1710(g) and carried a specially assessed $15,700 penalty. The operator…
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…
Secretary of Labor v. Lewis-Goetz and Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Lewis-Goetz and Company, Inc. (FMSHRC WEVA 2012-1821): Fall protection required despite training policy
A Lewis-Goetz employee performed belt-splicing work on a wet, 30-inch-wide coal belt about 10 to 12 feet above the ground without using an available safety belt or line. The Judge vacated the citation because the contractor had a written fall-protection policy, trained the employee, and provided…
Secretary of Labor v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.; LVR, Inc.; and Roanoke Cement Co., LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Sunbelt Rentals, Inc.; LVR, Inc.; and Roanoke Cement Co., LLC (FMSHRC VA 2013-275-M, et al.): Workplace examinations must meaningfully identify hazards
Sunbelt Rentals erected scaffolding inside Roanoke Cement's preheat tower for maintenance contractor LVR. A Sunbelt supervisor examined the sixth level and visually inspected the seventh level without using an exterior doorway that revealed accumulated material above the work area; later that…
Secretary of Labor v. SCH Terminal Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. SCH Terminal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2013-413, KENT 2013-378): Barge lighting violation upheld and three citations vacated
MSHA issued four citations after a deckhand drowned while measuring a coal barge at SCH Terminal Company's riverside loading facility. Judge David P. Simonton vacated the fall-protection citation because the movable-barge setting made tie-off infeasible, the company required approved life vests…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 2008-881, SE 2008-268-R): No-negligence finding and $500 penalty affirmed
An employee of contractor O&O Services fell through an opening at Jim Walter Resources' coal load-out facility while not using fall protection. The judge held JWR strictly liable as the mine operator for the significant-and-substantial violation but found that JWR itself was not negligent and…
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Jim Walter Resources, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 2008-881, SE 2008-268-R): No-negligence finding and $500 penalty affirmed
An employee of contractor O&O Services fell through an opening at Jim Walter Resources' coal load-out facility while not using fall protection. The judge held JWR strictly liable as the mine operator for the significant-and-substantial violation but found that JWR itself was not negligent and…
Secretary of Labor v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Company, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2011-1354, et al.): Reporting and scene-alteration citations upheld
A miner fell nearly 22 feet from an elevated platform at Clintwood Elkhorn's preparation plant and sustained head, wrist, and other injuries. Judge Priscilla M. Rae vacated a citation alleging an unprotected opening because the space between the platform edge and nearby wall was not an opening…
Secretary of Labor v. Webster County Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Webster County Coal, LLC (FMSHRC KENT 2013-510): Gas-detector citations require a factual hearing
MSHA cited Webster County Coal after three miners working alone were found with their required multi-gas detectors switched off. The operator argued that the standard required only furnishing functioning detectors, so the citations should be dismissed as a matter of law. Judge Priscilla M. Rae held…
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.