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. Bluestone Oil Corporation
Secretary of Labor v. Bluestone Oil Corporation (FMSHRC WEVA 2022-0176): Unsupported S&S removals rejected
Bluestone Oil’s proposed settlement covered twenty-four citations and would have reduced total penalties from $51,023 to $30,500. It also would have removed the significant-and-substantial designations from two citations without providing a factual justification. The Administrative Law Judge denied…
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2022-0403): Unsupported S&S removal rejected
Greenbrier and the Secretary proposed settling six citations, including removal of the significant-and-substantial designation from a citation alleging an inoperable emergency stop switch on a feeder breaker. That change would also have reduced the proposed penalty from $1,593 to $302. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Knight Hawk Coal, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Knight Hawk Coal, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2021-0160): Unsupported S&S removal rejected
Knight Hawk and the Secretary proposed settling three citations by removing the significant-and-substantial designation from two and reducing total penalties from $7,960 to $4,590. The ALJ accepted the explanation for one removal but found inadequate support for removing S&S from a roof-control…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (FMSHRC PENN 2022-0070): Damaged cutting-bit citation affirmed
A face ignition occurred while a continuous miner operated at Consol's Enlow Fork Mine, which was liberating more than 11 million cubic feet of methane per day. Investigators found two damaged cutting bits about two feet apart on the side of the cutting head where witnesses saw the ignition. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2023-0036): Dozer-window settlement approved
MSHA issued two same-day citations after finding scratched and internally dirty windows on two Caterpillar D10R dozers working in the same coal-stockpile area. One citation, covering four deficient windows, remained at its $626 assessment; the other, covering five deficient windows, was reduced…
Secretary of Labor v. Iron Cumberland, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Iron Cumberland, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2022-0084): Combustible-accumulation settlement approved
The settlement covered two specially assessed section 104(d)(2) orders for extensive combustible-material accumulations along the Cumberland Mine’s 6 Mains West No. 1 belt. The first order identified ten locations, including material contacting moving rollers and one smoking accumulation; the…
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2022-0428): Blasting, training, and equipment settlement approved
This settlement resolved sixteen citations that had been moved from the related WEVA 2022-0301 docket. One equipment citation remained at $4,624 after ten defects were found on a haul truck and eight remained uncorrected thirteen days later, prompting a section 104(b) order. Three other citations…
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Appalachian Resource West Virginia, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2022-0301): Equipment and ground-control settlement approved
The settlement resolved seventeen citations at Appalachian Resource West Virginia’s Grapevine South Surface Mine after sixteen other citations were moved to a separate docket. Seven equipment citations had led to section 104(b) failure-to-abate orders involving defects such as oil leaks, damaged…
Secretary of Labor v. Solvay Chemicals, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Solvay Chemicals, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2020-0278 M): Delayed injury report affirmed, negligence reduced
Solvay Chemicals operates an underground trona mine in Wyoming. A miner was struck by a roof fall while repairing a bore miner, suffered visible head injuries, and was later diagnosed with a shattered orbital socket. MSHA cited Solvay under 30 C.F.R. § 50.10(b) because management did not notify the…
Secretary of Labor obo Barbara E. Cassidy v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor obo Barbara E. Cassidy v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company (FMSHRC PENN 2020-0101): Safety-report retaliation proven
Barbara Cassidy, a section supervisor at Consol's Enlow Fork Mine, raised concerns about shortages of personnel rides, emergency transportation, and roof-bolting practices. Management counseled her after two safety emails and later imposed an unpaid suspension following a loud disagreement with her…
Secretary of Labor v. Solar Sources Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Solar Sources Mining, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-0099): Berm penalty reduced to $40,000
Solar Sources Mining violated the berm standard at a surface coal mine after a haul truck went over a dumpsite edge and the driver was injured while escaping. The citation's S&S, unwarrantable-failure, high-negligence, and serious-gravity findings were no longer disputed; the appeal concerned the…
Secretary of Labor v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2020-0213): Twenty-one-citation settlement approved
Warrior Met Coal Mining and the Secretary proposed resolving two penalty cases by reducing total penalties from $61,707 to $33,035. Nine citations remained unchanged, while twelve were modified on injury likelihood, number of persons affected, injury severity, or negligence. Judge Thomas P…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2019-0094): Lifeline obstruction citation affirmed
At Consol's Harvey Mine, nine hydraulic hoses extended beneath a lifeline in an alternate escapeway. Judge John Kent Lewis found that the placement could force miners to identify and maneuver around a trip hazard during a smoke-filled emergency, so the lifeline was not located for effective escape…
Secretary of Labor v. Hopedale Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Hopedale Mining, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2019-0149): Four-citation ventilation settlement approved
MSHA cited four significant-and-substantial failures to follow Hopedale Mining's ventilation plan, including inadequate airflow, a misplaced curtain, plugged water sprays, and insufficient roof-bolter vacuum. The parties proposed reducing the total penalties from $18,093 to $3,339 after lowering…
Secretary of Labor v. American Aggregates of Michigan, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. American Aggregates of Michigan, Inc. (FMSHRC LAKE 2018-0340): New-miner training settlement approved
MSHA issued a withdrawal order after a driller's helper had not completed every topic required during the first four hours of new-miner training. The parties agreed to keep the violation but remove the significant-and-substantial designation, reduce negligence and gravity, and lower the proposed…
Secretary of Labor v. Solar Sources Mining, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Solar Sources Mining, LLC (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-0099): Berm penalty vacated and remanded
Solar Sources Mining was cited after a haul truck went through a deficient berm at a surface mine and overturned 47 feet below, while the driver escaped with serious foot and ankle injuries. The judge affirmed the berm violation as S&S, high negligence, and an unwarrantable failure, then assessed…
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.