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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United Steelworkers, Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
United Steelworkers, Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited (FMSHRC WEST 2012-466-CM): Compensation limited to miners who worked during noncompliance
Hecla failed to take stress-gauge readings required by an amendment to a section 103(k) order at the Lucky Friday Mine. Nineteen miners continued working in the affected area until a second rock burst led to their withdrawal, while the union sought compensation for 218 miners idled during the full…
Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-642-R, et al.): Direct safeguard challenges dismissed
MSHA issued five mine-specific safeguard notices governing transportation at Pocahontas Coal's Affinity Mine. Pocahontas directly contested the notices before any citation alleged a violation of them. The Commission majority held that safeguard notices function as mine-specific mandatory standards…
Local 5929, United Mine Workers of America v. Big Ridge, Inc.
Local 5929, United Mine Workers of America v. Big Ridge, Inc. (FMSHRC LAKE 2012-88-C): Unanswered motion ended miner compensation claim
After a roof fall idled the Willow Lake Mine under a section 103(k) order, the union sought one week's compensation for 142 miners and argued that MSHA should have used a section 107(a) withdrawal order. Big Ridge moved for summary decision, contending that section 111 compensation did not apply to…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited (FMSHRC WEST 2012-466-CM): Nineteen miners awarded $13,150.48 plus interest
The United Steelworkers sought Mine Act compensation for miners affected by section 103(k) withdrawal orders at Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine. An earlier ALJ order determined which miners qualified, and the parties then stipulated that 19 miners were owed compensation for work performed from December 6…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited (FMSHRC WEST 2012-466-CM): Duplicate release of citation-settlement correction
This is a second official FMSHRC posting of the same January 5, 2015 amendment separately listed in the agency archive. Judge Richard W. Manning amended a footnote in his December 23, 2014 partial-summary-decision order concerning compensation for Lucky Friday Mine workers. The correction records…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited (FMSHRC WEST 2012-466-CM): Partial-summary order corrected to reflect citation settlement
Judge Richard W. Manning amended a footnote in his December 23, 2014 partial-summary-decision order concerning compensation for Lucky Friday Mine workers. The earlier footnote quoted Citation No. 8565565 without noting that the parties had settled the citation and deleted one inaccurate sentence…
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited
United Steel Workers Local No. 5114, on behalf of Miners v. Hecla Limited (FMSHRC WEST 2012-466-CM): Compensation limited to stress-gauge noncompliance period
Hecla failed to take stress-gauge readings required by a section 103(k) order modification before a December 14, 2011 rockburst at the Lucky Friday Mine. Judge Richard W. Manning held that fourth-sentence section 111 compensation applied only to miners who worked in the affected area while that…
Hecla Limited v. Secretary of Labor
Hecla Limited v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2012-353-RM, WEST 2012-354-RM): Overlapping post-accident withdrawal orders affirmed
MSHA issued a section 103(k) withdrawal order after a November 2011 fall of ground at Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine. A December rockburst then injured seven miners, and MSHA issued a second order covering the entire underground mine. Hecla argued that the mine-wide order made the first order moot and…
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.