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. Covol Fuels No. 3 LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Covol Fuels No. 3 LLC (FMSHRC KENT 2022-0040): Massive roof-fall penalty reduction rejected
MSHA cited Covol Fuels after a roof collapse in the primary escapeway measured about 20 feet wide, 35 feet long, and 9 feet thick. The citation treated the event as having occurred, with fatal gravity and an S&S designation, and proposed a $3,546 penalty. The parties sought to change likelihood to…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2021-0084): Machine, electrical, and mapping citations affirmed
MSHA cited Consol's underground Bailey Mine for a missing keeper pin on a longwall shield, cracked light globes on a continuous miner, and failure to plot a drill hole that penetrated the coalbed. Judge Michael Young found that the missing pin created a projectile hazard and the cracked globes…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2021-0084): Three citations affirmed in original ruling
MSHA cited Consol's underground Bailey Mine for a missing keeper pin on a longwall shield, cracked light globes on a continuous miner, and failure to plot a drill hole that penetrated the coalbed. Judge Michael Young found that the missing pin created a projectile hazard and the cracked globes…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2021-0153): Missed electrical grounding tests draw $530 penalty
Northshore Mining Company processes taconite into iron pellets at its Minnesota mine site. MSHA cited Northshore because it had not performed required annual continuity and resistance tests on the grounding systems for six conveyors, two surface water pumps, and two counterweight hoists. Judge…
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC PENN 2021-0074): Breaker label and flooded bleeder citations upheld
CONSOL Pennsylvania Coal Company operates the Enlow Fork underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. MSHA cited the mine because two adjacent high-voltage circuit breakers carried the same equipment label, creating a risk that a miner could deenergize the wrong continuous miner before working on…
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.