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. Magorian Mine Services
Secretary of Labor v. Magorian Mine Services (FMSHRC WEST 2016-270 M, WEST 2016-445 M): Mixed ruling on ground support, fall protection, and safe access
Magorian Mine Services was an independent contractor performing development work at the Pinson underground gold mine in Nevada. Judge Richard W. Manning affirmed an S&S ground-support citation because the company used inadequate support in unstable ground and allowed miners to travel through the…
Secretary of Labor v. Arnold Stone, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Arnold Stone, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2016-540): Exposed energized saw controls required lockout
Arnold Stone removed a touch-screen control from a large saw, leaving electrical wires exposed while the power disconnect was unlocked and untagged. A supervisor later energized the saw and left it on while miners had access to the building. Judge Margaret A. Miller held that the repair remained…
Secretary of Labor v. Alcoa World Alumina, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Alcoa World Alumina, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2015-128, CENT 2015-365, CENT 2015-401): Negligence reduced and unwarrantable findings deleted
A Turner Industries contractor supervisor was seriously burned by heated caustic process liquor while a crew cleared a blocked pipe at Alcoa's Bayer Alumina Plant. Alcoa conceded three violations and their significant and substantial designations but disputed the high-negligence and…
Secretary of Labor v. Alcoa World Alumina, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Alcoa World Alumina, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2015-128, CENT 2015-365, CENT 2015-401): Original decision cutting negligence and deleting unwarrantable findings
A contractor employee from Turner Industries was seriously injured by hot caustic liquid while a crew worked to clear a blocked pipe at Alcoa's Bayer Alumina Plant in Point Comfort, Texas. MSHA issued one citation and two orders, alleging that Alcoa failed to protect miners from the hazardous…
Secretary of Labor v. Tim M. Ball, employed by Mountain Materials, Inc. and Secretary of Labor v. Ricky A. Rose, employed by Materials, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Tim M. Ball and Ricky A. Rose, employed by Mountain Materials, Inc. (FMSHRC VA 2014-148-M): Two supervisors personally penalized for plant buildups and blank exam records
This case penalized two supervisors personally, not their employer. Section 110(c) of the Mine Act lets MSHA assess individual penalties against a corporate agent who knowingly authorizes, orders, or carries out a violation. An MSHA inspector arrived at Mountain Materials' Castlewood limestone…
Secretary of Labor v. Kentucky Fuel Corporation
Secretary of Labor v. Kentucky Fuel Corporation (FMSHRC KENT 2014-706): Loose boulders above working loaders and a skipped pre-split, both citations upheld
An MSHA inspector at Kentucky Fuel's Bevins Branch Surface Mine in Kentucky found large loose boulders sitting on top of a 70-foot highwall while two end loaders worked below, and cited the company for failing to strip loose hazardous material under 30 C.F.R. § 77.1001. At a second pit he found a…
Secretary of Labor v. Rex Coal Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Rex Coal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2010-956, et al.): Fire-reporting and preshift violations affirmed
A foreman discovered an underground fire while only one other miner was working below ground, searched for that miner, and did not notify MSHA within the required 15 minutes. MSHA also found from the foreman's gas-detector data that he could not have completed the recorded preshift methane and…
Secretary of Labor v. CR Meyer & Sons Company, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. CR Meyer & Sons Company, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2014-834-M): Agitator citation reduced to moderate negligence
CR Meyer sent a foreman and another employee to replace a displaced guard over a rotating agitator shaft at Molycorp's Mountain Pass Mine and Mill. The foreman flipped the guard into place before asking Molycorp to shut down and lock out the operating agitator. Judge Richard W. Manning held that…
Secretary of Labor v. Traylor Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Traylor Mining, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2014-351-M): Excavator right-of-way citation reduced to moderate negligence
A Traylor Mining supervisor walked in front of a Bobcat excavator's blade while the machine was backing away from the face, and an accidentally activated boom struck and seriously injured him. Traylor conceded the violation of its right-of-way rule, the S&S designation, and the gravity findings…
Secretary of Labor v. Highland Mining Co., LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Highland Mining Co., LLC (FMSHRC KENT 2013-112): Four litigated citations bring $15,096 penalty
MSHA litigated four citations against Highland Mining involving loose ribs, two misaligned conveyor belts, and an inadequate on-shift examination. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews affirmed the loose-rib violation but changed it to unlikely and non-S&S because miners traveled the area infrequently, reducing…
Secretary of Labor v. Quality Materials and CDG Materials, Incorporated
Secretary of Labor v. Quality Materials and CDG Materials, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2009-557-M, et al.): Eight citations affirmed and $47,700 assessed
MSHA inspectors found two miners standing on an operating cone crusher without fall protection, while the person acting as site foreman also lacked a hard hat and safety glasses. They also found an accessible tail pulley unguarded and, two weeks after it was cited and guarded, found the same pulley…
Secretary of Labor v. Cemex de Puerto Rico
Secretary of Labor v. Cemex de Puerto Rico (FMSHRC SE 2011-502-M, et al.): Four safety actions and $29,711 in penalties affirmed
MSHA issued four enforcement actions involving Cemex's Ponce Cement Plant and Cantera Canas Mine in Puerto Rico. Two citations concerned a welder working untied on top of a mill and reaching it by climbing handrails and mill structure instead of using safe access. A third citation covered multiple…
Secretary of Labor, MSHA v. Taft Production Company
Secretary of Labor v. Taft Production Company (FMSHRC WEST 2012-1484-M): Four housekeeping citations affirmed
MSHA cited four powder and material accumulations at Taft Production Company's California cat-litter mine under the housekeeping standard for workplaces and passageways. Judge James G. Gilbert rejected Taft's arguments that the milling areas fell outside Mine Act jurisdiction, that the areas were…
United Taconite, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor, MSHA v. United Taconite, LLC
United Taconite, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2012-687-M, et al.): Fall and oily-walkway violations affirmed with reductions
At United Taconite's Minnesota plant, a miner worked without fall protection beside an open slurry-filled box, and another area had oily walkways and saturated absorbent pads around a compressor. Judge John Kent Lewis affirmed the imminent-danger order and found the fall-protection violation S&S…
Eagle Wings Construction, LLC
Eagle Wings Construction, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2010-1003-M): Unguarded tail pulleys upheld with $4,000 in statutory minimum penalties
MSHA cited two separate unguarded conveyor tail pulleys at Eagle Wings Construction's newly relocated sand and gravel plant. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found two distinct violations of 30 C.F.R. § 56.14107(a), not one duplicative violation, because the pulleys belonged to separate conveyors. He…
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.