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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Secretary of Labor v. Twentymile Coal Company
Training violation affirmed, penalty vacated
MSHA issued Twentymile Coal Company an order after miners worked to unplug a rock chute without task training, and one miner suffered serious, non-fatal head injuries when material spilled from the chute. The Commission held that the training violation was significant and substantial, found the…
Lakehead Constructors, Inc.
Discrimination found for unpaid training and retaliation
Lakehead Constructors, an industrial contractor that worked at mine sites, did not pay Daniel McClernan for required MSHA refresher training and later threatened his employment after he filed a discrimination complaint. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found that McClernan was a miner with a right to…
Alcoa Alumina & Chemicals, L.L.C.
Part 48 training orders affirmed
Alcoa Alumina & Chemicals operated the Bayer Alumina Plant at Point Comfort, Texas, which processed bauxite into alumina. MSHA found that more than 80 supervisors lacked annual refresher training and six salaried employees lacked hazard training, then issued withdrawal orders under Mine Act section…
Joy Technologies Inc. - Coal Field Operations
Contractor-operator status affirmed
Joy Technologies provided mining equipment and service support at Somerset Mining Company's underground Sanborn Creek Mine. A Joy service representative visited the mine regularly, worked with essential mining equipment, and operated a continuous miner during an assembly task without the required…
Western Fuels-Utah, Inc.
Task-training violation reinstated on remand
Western Fuels-Utah, Inc. was cited under the Mine Act and mining regulations after a section foreman operated a roof-bolting machine without the task training required for miners. The Commission initially held that a state-certified supervisor was exempt from the training requirement, but the D.C…
Frank Irey, Jr., Inc.
Training order modified and $700 in penalties assessed
Frank Irey, Jr., Inc. faced two citations at the Loveridge Preparation Plant concerning miner training and welding near float coal dust. The parties settled one citation for its proposed $500 penalty, while the judge found that employees doing extended maintenance work were miners covered by the…
Western Fuels-Utah, Inc.
): State-certified mine foreman exempt from Part 48 task training
Western Fuels-Utah operated the Deserado underground coal mine in Colorado. MSHA alleged that the company violated the Mine Act and 30 C.F.R. § 48.7 by allowing section foreman Carson Julius to operate a roof-bolting machine without task training. During the investigation, MSHA also identified a…
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.