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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Trinity Solar, LLC, as successor to Trinity Solar, Inc.
Head and fall protection penalties reduced
Trinity Solar employees installed solar panels on a residence in Yonkers, New York. OSHA cited a serious head-protection violation for work below solar installers and a repeat fall-protection violation for roof work 25 feet above the ground, proposing $98,216 in total penalties. Trinity withdrew…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. MOSenecaManufacturer, LLC d/b/a American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0251): Review directed on discrimination and interference law
The Commission directed review on its own initiative of the ALJ's May 23, 2024 decision in Robert Baumann's case against American Tripoli. It identified a possible legal error concerning the meaning and application of the Mine Act's discrimination and interference protections. The review would also…
Wesley Mallery v. El Segundo Coal Company, LLC
Wesley Mallery v. El Segundo Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2024-0106): Pro se discrimination complaint dismissed
Wesley Mallery alleged that El Segundo retaliated after he raised concerns about blasting procedures and other workplace issues. The judge found that his January 2023 safety reports qualified as protected activity. She nevertheless concluded that paid administrative leave and disability benefits…
Secretary of Labor v. Ramaco Resources, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Ramaco Resources, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2023-0479): Unknown staff-turnover error did not justify reopening
Ramaco Resources sought to reopen 11 citations after a proposed assessment did not reach its vice president of safety for a timely contest. The company pointed to employee turnover, said it could not identify the specific error, and reported that it later trained new employees. The Commission…
Secretary of Labor v. Dyno Nobel
Secretary of Labor v. Dyno Nobel (FMSHRC SE 2023-0127): Prompt self-check excused a one-time address lapse
Dyno Nobel did not receive a proposed assessment because it had moved without updating its address of record with MSHA or the Postal Service. The contractor had already contested the underlying citation, later checked why no assessment had arrived, and moved to reopen less than two weeks after…
United Airlines, Inc.
Aircraft towing hazard citation affirmed
United Airlines technicians were moving an aircraft from a hangar at Newark Liberty International Airport when a wheel ran over an employee's foot. The employee sustained crushing injuries, underwent multiple surgeries, and had all five toes amputated. OSHA cited United under the General Duty…
Secretary of Labor v. R.J. Valente Gravel, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. R.J. Valente Gravel, Inc. (FMSHRC YORK 2023-0115): Prior contest and prompt follow-up supported reopening
R.J. Valente Gravel failed to forward a proposed assessment to counsel, who discovered it while checking the status of a related citation contest. The prior contest showed that the operator intended to challenge the citation, and it moved to reopen within 30 days after learning of the assessment…
Secretary of Labor v. Holcim-WCR, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Holcim-WCR, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2023-0313): Proactive assessment check supported reopening
Holcim-WCR missed the contest deadline because a proposed assessment was not routed to its regional health and safety manager. The manager found the assessment by checking MSHA's data system seven days after it became final, and Holcim immediately began seeking reopening before MSHA sent any…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company, Roger Peterson, and Matthew Zimmer
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-0248): Court mandate sent flagrant penalty back for reassessment
The Commission had previously upheld reckless-disregard and unwarrantable-failure findings, deleted a flagrant designation, and rejected individual liability for two Northshore Mining employees. The Eighth Circuit reversed the Commission on the flagrant and individual-liability issues. Its mandate…
Secretary of Labor v. J.R. Vinagro Corporation
Secretary of Labor v. J.R. Vinagro Corporation (FMSHRC YORK 2023-0064): New tracking controls supported reopening
A proposed assessment for one of nine citations issued during a fatality investigation was placed with other investigation papers instead of being sent to J.R. Vinagro's new safety director. The director learned in late February that this and two other assessment forms were delinquent. Vinagro…
Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2023-0351): Bare error claim and unexplained delay barred reopening
Pocahontas Coal said an administrative error delayed delivery of a proposed assessment to outside counsel. It did not identify the error, the people involved, or when its safety manager learned that the contest deadline had been missed. The company also filed more than two months after MSHA mailed…
Secretary of Labor v. Ramaco Resources, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Ramaco Resources, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2023-0336): Email failure and collection-stage delay barred reopening
Ramaco Resources said an email-system malfunction prevented its vice president of safety from receiving a scanned assessment. MSHA sent a delinquency notice in February and hand-delivered a scofflaw letter in March concerning unpaid penalties, but Ramaco did not move to reopen until May. The…
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. MOSenecaManufacturer LLC dba American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Robert Baumann v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0251): Discrimination and interference violations proven
Robert Baumann served as a miners' representative and repeatedly raised safety concerns at American Tripoli's mill before the company terminated him. The judge found that his protected activity was the reason for the discharge and rejected the company's performance explanations as not credible. He…
Secretary of Labor v. Continental Cement Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Continental Cement Company, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2022-0064): Prompt motion excused missed petition and show-cause order
Continental Cement's counsel received two penalty petitions but mistakenly forwarded one to himself instead of an assistant, leaving 11 citations unanswered. Counsel later overlooked a show-cause order while engaged in trial, and his tracking system incorrectly showed an active docket. He…
Secretary of Labor v. Alleyton Resource Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Alleyton Resource Company, LLC (FMSHRC CENT 2024-0206): Timely citation contest and proactive check supported reopening
Alleyton Resource timely contested a citation, but administrative staff later sent the related assessment for payment without realizing the citation was disputed. Counsel found the mistaken payment while proactively reviewing MSHA's data system and moved to reopen within 30 days after the…
JK Proctor, LLC
Roofing violations affirmed but willful classifications rejected
A nine-person JK Proctor crew replaced shingles on a one-story house in Canandaigua, New York. The crew worked more than nine feet above the ground without compliant fall protection and used a ladder whose rails extended less than three feet above the roof. A foreman incorrectly measured the roof…
Secretary of Labor v. Giant Cement Company
Secretary of Labor v. Giant Cement Company (FMSHRC SE 2024-0022): One timely contest dismissed, one misaddressed contest reopened
Giant Cement sought relief in two assessment matters with different filing problems. In SE 2024-0022, the company had timely filed two contest notices, but their separate processing confused MSHA's system and produced an erroneous delinquency notice. The Commission dismissed that reopening motion…
Secretary of Labor v. Hamilton County Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Hamilton County Coal, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2023-0037): Delivery uncertainty and wrong email excused default
Hamilton County Coal timely contested a penalty but did not answer the Secretary's later petition, leading to a default order. Its safety director discovered the default while reviewing a different assessment and then learned that the case had been transferred to an MSHA representative. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Westfall Aggregate & Materials, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Westfall Aggregate & Materials, Inc. (FMSHRC LAKE 2019-0317): Eight-year delay exceeded the reopening limit
Westfall Aggregate received a $16,400 proposed assessment in July 2011, missed the contest deadline, and did not seek reopening until July 2019. The Commission had previously treated the request as moot because it believed the assessment never became final. The D.C. Circuit reversed that conclusion…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0248): Repeated process failures and long delay barred reopening
Morton Salt sought to reopen five orders after a new environmental, health, and safety manager failed to contest the associated penalties. The company had timely contested four underlying orders, but it did not identify concrete corrective steps for the penalty-processing failure. The Commission…
Secretary of Labor obo Kenneth M. Adkins v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Kenneth M. Adkins v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2024-0248): Equipment operator temporarily reinstated
Kenneth Adkins repeatedly documented safety problems with his assigned dozer, and an MSHA inspection followed after his wife reported the conditions. He later complained that reassignment to haul-truck work was retaliation and was terminated after a dispute about a work assignment. At the…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0009): Ground-control and access citations upheld
Five litigated citations at Morton Salt's Weeks Island underground mine concerned loose ground, inadequate ground examinations, unsafe access near washouts, and folded matting in a passageway. The judge affirmed all five violations and their significant and substantial designations. Four were…
Secretary of Labor v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2023-0121): Frozen eyewash station violated first-aid rule
Cold weather froze the water supply to the eyewash station in Vulcan's quarry maintenance shop, where miners handled battery acid, oils, and aerosol chemicals. Vulcan pointed to bottled drinking water in an adjacent office and small eyewash bottles stored on vehicles outside. The judge held that…
Secretary of Labor v. Bradley T. Wiley, et al. and Vulcan Materials Company v. Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Labor v. Bradley T. Wiley, et al. (FMSHRC SE 2023-0013): MSHA jurisdiction attached before quarry production began
Vulcan was preparing a Georgia property for a future stone quarry when a Terra Excavating employee died in a compactor rollover before extraction or processing had begun. Vulcan, Terra, and contractor Bradley Wiley argued that MSHA lacked jurisdiction because the site was still in development. The…
Williams Brothers Construction Co., Inc.
Highway work-zone citation vacated
Williams Brothers Construction was preparing new traffic lanes at the I-69 and I-610 interchange in Houston during an overnight highway closure. A vehicle entered the closed work zone and struck three workers, including a Williams Brothers employee who suffered hip and rib fractures and other…
Secretary of Labor v. Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc. (FMSHRC KENT 2022-0079): Ground-control citation upheld after falling-tree accident
A large tree fell from above a surface-mine highwall onto a pickup truck traveling below, killing one miner and seriously injuring another. The judge held that Nally & Hamilton violated its approved ground-control plan by leaving trees too close to the highwall edge without an adequate drop bench…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2024-0152): Expedited review of ventilation order denied
Canyon Fuel contested a section 104(d)(2) withdrawal order alleging that two converted mine seals lacked discharge pipes required by the approved ventilation plan. The company sought an expedited hearing, arguing that the plan language resulted from a mutual mistake and that prompt review would…
U.S. Postal Service, dba Portland Processing and Distribution Center
Lockout and machine-guarding citations vacated
OSHA inspected the U.S. Postal Service's Portland processing and distribution center after a complaint and cited lockout, lockout-training, and machine-guarding conditions. The three contested items carried proposed penalties totaling $148,137. The judge found the lock-removal standard did not…
Kenvil United Corp., dba Kenvil Steel, Inc.
Steel-erection fall citation vacated
Kenvil Steel erected structural steel for a municipal-building project in Belle Mead, New Jersey. An OSHA compliance officer observed four employees working 15 to 30 feet above the ground and issued a repeat-serious fall-protection citation with a proposed $30,037 penalty. The judge found that one…
Secretary of Labor v. Heidelberg Materials Southwest Aggregates, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Heidelberg Materials Southwest Aggregates (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0165): Cross-motions denied over disputed slurry-line facts
MSHA cited Heidelberg Materials after hot water and steam escaped from a clogged slurry line while four miners were working to clear it, injuring them. The citation alleged that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 56.14105 by failing to block the hot water or steam against hazardous motion. Heidelberg…
Mineral Manufacturing Corp. v. Secretary of Labor & Secretary of Labor v. Mineral Manufacturing Corp.
Mineral Manufacturing Corp. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC SE 2023-0191): MSHA has jurisdiction over the Eufaula Plant
Mineral Manufacturing argued that its Eufaula Plant made ceramics and belonged under OSHA jurisdiction rather than MSHA jurisdiction. The judge found that the plant milled kaolin clay by crushing, reducing particle size, kiln treating, and sizing the material before selling the resulting mullite…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. & Quinn Norwood
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt and Quinn Norwood (FMSHRC CENT 2022-0135): Blasting violation and individual liability affirmed
Morton Salt initiated three explosive rounds at its underground Weeks Island salt mine while four contractors remained underground and their tags still showed them in the mine. The judge affirmed a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 57.22601(a), finding that the incident was significant and substantial…
American Civil Constructors LLC, dba American Civil Constructors Mountain West
Excavator-bucket hazard citation affirmed
American Civil Constructors installed water pipe at a construction project in Aurora, Colorado. An excavator operator used a bucket to deliver a pipe plug to an employee in a trench, and the approximately 2,500-pound bucket detached and struck the employee, who died from his injuries. OSHA cited…
Secretary of Labor v. Prairie State Generating Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Prairie State Generating Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2022-0017): Damaged continuous-miner cable violation affirmed
An MSHA inspector found a hole through the outer jacket of a 995-volt cable on a continuous mining machine at Prairie State's Lively Grove Mine. The judge found that the damaged jacket exposed the cable's interior and violated the requirement to insulate and protect power wires and cables. He also…
Secretary of Labor v. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Vulcan Construction Materials (FMSHRC SE 2023-0117): Unguarded ladderway citation affirmed
MSHA cited Vulcan Construction Materials because the opening at the top of a fixed ladder to an elevated conveyor walkway lacked a chain, gate, railing, or warning signal. Vulcan argued that the opening was not near a travelway and that miners did not work near it. The judge found that miners used…
Robert Thomas v. CalPortland Company
Robert Thomas v. CalPortland Company (FMSHRC WEST 2018-0402): Commission rejected but-for causation and dismissed complaint
The Ninth Circuit directed the Commission to apply but-for causation to Robert Thomas's claim that CalPortland retaliated for safety complaints and protected activity. The ALJ again found discrimination, but the Commission concluded that substantial evidence did not connect Thomas's protected…
Secretary of Labor v. Thunder Basin Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Thunder Basin Coal Company (FMSHRC WEST 2023-0157): Ground-control-plan citation vacated
MSHA cited Thunder Basin Coal after an inspector saw dozer and haul-truck tire marks near a berm at the Black Thunder Mine and concluded that the ground control plan did not adequately address rollover and breakthrough hazards. Mine witnesses testified that the berm was stable, the tire impressions…
Secretary of Labor v. Chad Buus, employed by United States Steel - Minnesota Ore Operations
Secretary of Labor v. Chad Buus (FMSHRC LAKE 2024-0016): Timely emailed contest prevented finality
Chad Buus timely emailed a contest of an individual penalty assessment to MSHA. The agency received the filing but did not assign or process it, causing the assessment to appear final. After the error was identified, MSHA processed the contest and agreed that reopening was moot. The Commission held…
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2023-0015): Stay request denied
Grimes Rock asked the judge to stay three enforcement proceedings while the Ninth Circuit considered a related temporary-reinstatement appeal. The company argued that the court of appeals had exclusive jurisdiction and that its ruling could undermine the orders on which MSHA's citations and…
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Grimes Rock, Inc.
Grimes Rock, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC WEST 2022-0334): Discovery limited to the disputed enforcement actions
The Secretary asked the judge to stop Grimes Rock from seeking discovery about MSHA inspections conducted in December 2023 and January 2024. The underlying cases concerned citations and an order issued in August 2022 after Grimes Rock allegedly failed to comply with temporary-reinstatement payment…
Secretary of Labor v. Leesville Land, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Leesville Land, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2024-0051): One assessment time-barred, nine reopened after staffing change
Leesville Land sought to reopen ten assessments missed by a former safety director who had limited contest experience and did not understand the assessment process. After MSHA warned that the mine's enforcement history was trending toward pattern-of-violations consideration, Leesville hired an…
Secretary of Labor v. ITAC
Secretary of Labor v. ITAC (FMSHRC SE 2023-0197): Prompt recovery of mail excused stale address
ITAC moved in 2009 without updating its MSHA address, and a 2023 assessment was delivered to the former location and signed for by an unidentified recipient. An employee looking for missing packages recovered the assessment on May 25, and ITAC contacted MSHA on the next business day and moved to…
Cedar Springs Hospital, Inc. / UHS of Delaware, Inc., dba Cedar Springs Hospital
Workplace-violence and records citations affirmed
Cedar Springs operated a behavioral health hospital in Colorado Springs where employees were frequently assaulted by patients and suffered serious injuries. The judge found that Cedar Springs and UHS of Delaware functioned as a single employer at the worksite through a common workplace, integrated…
Secretary of Labor v. American Soda, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. American Soda, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2020-0278): Tie left 15-minute reporting citation and penalty standing
A roof fall struck miner Delbert Hauser, knocked off his hard hat, caused a head wound and serious eye injury, and knocked him to the ground. American Soda did not notify MSHA within 15 minutes because Hauser remained conscious, walked out of the mine, and appeared coherent to coworkers with…
Secretary of Labor v. Billy Cooper Stone Co., Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Billy Cooper Stone Co. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0216): Guarding and berm citations affirmed with reductions
MSHA cited Billy Cooper Stone for operating a stone splitter without required guards and for a missing berm along a narrow mine road with an eight-foot drop-off. The judge found evidence that the splitter had been used unguarded and held that the company remained responsible for road safety where…
Peabody Gateway North Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Peabody Gateway North Mining v. Secretary of Labor (FMSHRC LAKE 2023-0075): MSHA contact-information request upheld
During an investigation of a mine fan outage, MSHA asked Peabody Gateway North for personal contact information for miners who worked the relevant shift. Peabody withheld information for eight miners it considered company agents, arguing that MSHA could contact them only through counsel. The judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Billy Cooper Stone Co., Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Billy Cooper Stone Co. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0216): Original guarding and berm decision later amended
MSHA cited Billy Cooper Stone for an unguarded stone splitter and a missing berm along a narrow road with an eight-foot drop-off. The judge affirmed both citations but reduced negligence to low for each and changed the berm citation to unlikely injury and non-S&S. He assessed $350 for the guarding…
Secretary of Labor v. Coal-Mac, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Coal-Mac, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2023-0154): Untrained manager and vague errors barred reopening
Coal-Mac sought relief from default orders in five penalty cases after failing to answer the Secretary's petitions and later show-cause orders. It said only that its safety manager was unfamiliar with the contest process and made errors. The Commission found that explanation too general because it…
Secretary of Labor obo Jimmy Lee Hoover v. MoSeneca Manufacturer, LLC d/b/a American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor obo Jimmy Lee Hoover v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2024-0024): Electrical work refusal supported temporary reinstatement
Jimmy Lee Hoover refused to reach into an energized breaker box to reset mill equipment because he feared electrocution from the 220-volt current. American Tripoli terminated him the next morning, while maintaining that the decision resulted from his late return from lunch, disrespectful response…
Secretary of Labor v. Allyndale Corporation
Secretary of Labor v. Allyndale Corporation (FMSHRC YORK 2022-0075): Unopposed assessment reopening granted
Allyndale Corporation asked the Commission to reopen a final penalty assessment. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission granted reopening and remanded the matter to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for further proceedings. It stated that granting this motion was not precedential…
Secretary of Labor v. United Taconite, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. United Taconite, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2023-0205): Untrained handoff and counsel delay barred reopening
Staffing changes left a new United Taconite safety specialist with a proposed assessment but no instructions for handling it. The company did not train the specialist on the assessment process for more than two months. After an April delinquency notice, United Taconite contacted outside counsel…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Gateway North Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Gateway North Mining, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2022-0220): Family medical crisis excused missed filings
Peabody Gateway's part-time safety manager received a penalty petition while traveling for an audit and misread it as an attorney's entry of appearance. He later mistook the show-cause email for an informational COVID-19 message. The manager explained that his elderly father's injury and…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0218): Unsent contest and repeated process failures barred reopening
Morton Salt's environmental, health, and safety manager marked four citations for contest but did not mail or email the completed assessment form. MSHA had already told the company that the citations were no longer eligible for a conference and that it needed to return the assessment form to…
Secretary of Labor v. Panther Creek Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Panther Creek Mining, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2023-0297): Undetailed routing error barred reopening
Panther Creek missed the contest deadline for 49 citations carrying $75,601 in proposed penalties. It said only that an administrative error delayed routing the assessment to its corporate safety director, without identifying dates or describing the failure. The Commission majority also noted an…
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Morton Salt, Inc. (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0120): Review granted on authority over pattern notice
An ALJ certified an interlocutory question arising from Morton Salt's challenge to a pattern-of-violations notice. The Commission accepted review to decide whether it had authority to examine the Secretary's decision to issue that notice. It suspended the scheduled January hearing while the…
RJCL Corporation, d/b/a RNV Construction
Mixed ruling on scaffold and electrical citations
OSHA inspected RNV Construction at a residence and a commercial building in Saipan and issued scaffold and electrical citations carrying $44,754 in proposed penalties. The judge found that RNV Construction employed the residence workers and rejected its challenges to both inspections. Most items…
Secretary of Labor obo Samuel Coleman v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Samuel Coleman v. Warrior Met Coal Mining (FMSHRC SE 2024-0060): Economic temporary reinstatement approved
The judge had ordered Warrior Met Coal Mining to temporarily reinstate Samuel Coleman on December 12, 2023. Nine days later, the parties jointly asked to replace actual reinstatement with an economic temporary-reinstatement agreement retroactive to the original order date. The judge found that the…
Secretary of Labor v. American Tripoli
Secretary of Labor v. American Tripoli (FMSHRC CENT 2023-0196): Expedited silica-citation hearing granted
American Tripoli asked for expedited review of three silica-related citations and two withdrawal orders that stopped production at its mill. The citations alleged excessive respirable silica exposure, an inadequate respiratory-protection program, and a failure to conduct necessary dust surveys. The…
Donghee Alabama, LLC
Machine-safety violations affirmed, one instance reclassified
Donghee manufactured automotive fuel tanks at an Auburn, Alabama facility using blow-molding and testing machines. A production manager entered an operating blow-mold machine and suffered a broken foot, while light curtains and laser scanners on four other machines were not functioning. The judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Geneva Rock Products, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Geneva Rock Products, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2022-0097): Review granted on indefinite criminal-investigation stay
Potential individual and criminal Mine Act violations in the Geneva Rock case had been referred to the Department of Justice. The ALJ stayed the civil proceeding indefinitely while the criminal investigation and any later proceedings remained pending. The Commission granted the Secretary's request…
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.