Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Lockout citation affirmed as modified, individual penalty dismissed
Walker Stone operated a quarry and mill that processed construction aggregates and road-building materials. MSHA cited the company after employees worked on an electrically powered log washer without deenergizing and locking out the equipment. Judge Roy J. Maurer found a violation of the lockout…
Acme Brick Company
Brake violations modified and affirmed
Acme Brick Company operated a clay pit and transported clay to a brick plant. MSHA found that the front service brakes on two trucks were disconnected and not functional. Judge Roy J. Maurer found two violations of the braking-system standard, but concluded that the Secretary had not shown a…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Seven quarry citations resolved in part
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated the Wehrle Quarry, a limestone operation inspected in December 1993. The administrative law judge found violations involving an unguarded fuel-pump pinch point, broken glass in an access door, an uncovered electrical junction box, an uncleated walkway, and a low…
Howard Sand Company
Guard violation affirmed, penalty reduced
Howard Sand Company operated a sand and gravel mine using a dredge, diesel engine, and pump. MSHA cited the company because the drive shaft coupling on the dredge engine was not guarded. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed the violation and found it significant and substantial because workers could…
Ten-A-Coal Company
Highwall citations affirmed
Ten-A-Coal was cited after an unsafe highwall and an undersized bench were left in place while coal was being loaded at the Ward Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the operator violated the ground-control-plan and prompt-correction requirements, and that the highwall violation was significant and…
Bulk Transportation Services, Inc.
High-voltage citation affirmed, penalty reduced
A truck operated for Bulk Transportation Services contacted an energized 46,000-volt line after the driver raised the truck bed while parked beneath it at a coal preparation plant. Judge George A. Koutras found that Bulk was an independent contractor subject to the Mine Act and that the incident…
Mettiki Coal Corporation
Rib orders vacated or modified
Mettiki faced consolidated proceedings after a fatal rib-roll accident and related alleged violations at its underground mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer vacated two section 104(d)(2) orders and rejected the related penalty proposals, while modifying two other orders to S&S section 104(a) citations and…
Shamrock Coal Company
Roof citation vacated, settlement approved
Shamrock faced six citations, including one involving a fatal roof-fall accident and five citations resolved through a settlement. Judge Gary Melick approved the settlement for the five citations and found that the remaining Citation No. 3030499 was facially deficient because it did not allege that…
Ten-A-Coal Company
Two alarm citations affirmed, windshield citation vacated
Ten-A-Coal operated the Ward Mine, a small strip mine in West Virginia. MSHA cited two inoperative audible backup alarms and a cracked bulldozer windshield. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed the two alarm citations, vacated the windshield citation, and vacated the significant-and-substantial…
Blue Circle Atlantic, Incorporated
Barricade violation affirmed
MSHA cited Blue Circle Atlantic after an unsecured propane cylinder and hand truck were left on a pitched roof above an unbarricaded roadway and conveyor walkway at its Tulsa plant. Judge George A. Koutras found that the materials created a safety hazard that was not immediately obvious to…
Blue Circle Atlantic, Incorporated
Barricade violation affirmed
MSHA cited Blue Circle Atlantic after an unsecured propane cylinder and hand truck were left on a pitched roof above an unbarricaded roadway and conveyor walkway at its Tulsa plant. Judge George A. Koutras found that the materials created a safety hazard that was not immediately obvious to…
Ozarkamahoning Company
Noise and injury-reporting violations affirmed
Ozarkamahoning Company contested eight alleged violations involving excessive noise exposure and failure to report an injury at its Annabel Lee and Denton Mines. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed the noise citations, including an S&S citation for a jumbo drill operator exposed to noise levels far…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- 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 public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.