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. Geneva Rock Products, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Geneva Rock Products, Inc. (FMSHRC WEST 2022-0097): Indefinite criminal-investigation stay was vacated
This penalty case followed a fatal ground-collapse accident involving a haul truck at Geneva Rock's Hansen Pit, with MSHA proposing $381,500 for one citation and three orders. The ALJ stayed the civil case indefinitely while the Department of Justice considered a parallel criminal investigation…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company and Matthew Zimmer, Roger Peterson employed by Northshore Mining Company
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company, et al. (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-0224): Flagrant walkway penalty increased on remand
An earlier judge found that Northshore failed to maintain elevated walkways, acted with reckless disregard and unwarrantable failure, and assessed a $60,000 penalty after rejecting MSHA's flagrant designation. The Commission affirmed, but the Eighth Circuit held that the violation was flagrant and…
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company, Roger Peterson, employed by Northshore Mining Company, and Matthew Zimmer, employed by Northshore Mining Company
Secretary of Labor v. Northshore Mining Company (FMSHRC LAKE 2017-0248): Walkway violations affirmed, individual penalties vacated
Northshore received an engineering report stating that deteriorated outer conveyor walkways were unsafe for personnel until repaired, but the company relied on fall protection and did not repair or barricade the walkways. During a cleanup job, a structural member failed and part of an elevated…
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-0509, WEVA 2015-0632): Unwarrantable-failure settlement approved
The Commission had granted review of findings involving combustible belt-line accumulations and a related preshift-examination violation at Monongalia County Coal's underground mine. The parties settled by reinstating unwarrantable-failure designations on both orders while the Secretary abandoned…
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Co., successor to Consolidation Coal Co.
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-0074): Accumulation cases settled for $40,500
The Secretary cited Monongalia County Coal for three combustible-material accumulation violations and two inadequate belt-examination violations across three dockets. The accumulation citations had also been identified as possible predicates for a repeated flagrant theory in related litigation. The…
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company, successor to Consolidation Coal Company
Secretary of Labor v. The Monongalia County Coal Company (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-0074): Long stay lifted in accumulation cases
Three penalty cases involving alleged combustible-material accumulations had remained stayed while related litigation addressed the meaning of a repeated flagrant violation. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the pending Commission appeal in the related Monongalia case did not require further delay…
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.