Kilauea Crushers Inc · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
LOST CONTROL OF 910 CAT LOADER WHILE HAULING WELDER UP A STEEP GRADE. JUMPED FROM VEHICLE AND WAS RUN OVER BY IT.
C William Nichols: 1 recorded fatality controller
MSHA controller ID: M04809
Watch this controller
Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine C William Nichols controls.
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
829
citations
183
significant & substantial
$454,066
proposed penalties
$305,093
paid to date
67% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $148,973 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Labor enforcement (WHD)
US Labor Department wage findings since 2018
1
labor cases
$52,578
back wages owed
123
employees affected
Violation types
Wage & hour (FLSA) (1)
Source: US DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement records, matched by employer name and state.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
221
inspections on record
3,387
inspection hours
24.5
citations per 100 inspection hours
ⓘ
This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.829 citations across 3,387 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
ⓘ
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.4
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2023-11-14.
On record since 2016.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.
Penalty disposition
ⓘ
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.$454K
proposed penalties
$319K
current assessed
$305K
paid to date
$14K
outstanding
801 assessments are final orders; 131 contested dockets.
Of $426K in penalties contested before the Commission, $290K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-03-20.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
Violation severity profile
ⓘ
Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.22.2%
significant & substantial
2.4%
high negligence or reckless
23.4%
reasonably likely or greater
56.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 11.7% low, 85.9% moderate, 2.4% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
ⓘ
This rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.1.57
total case rate
1.57
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
About average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 * | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2025 | 1.57 | 1.57 | 0.000 |
| 2024 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2022 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2021 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2020 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2019 | 1.82 | 1.82 | 0.000 |
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Health sampling
ⓘ
A sample is a point in time compliance measurement, not an individual exposure history. These figures describe MSHA sampling records and do not establish causation or personal dose.Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
ⓘ
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.
Last sampled: 2023-06-28, 3 years ago
ⓘ
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.2%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
83
samples
42
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
- Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz491 over
- Respirable dust, <.1mg31
- Arsenic fumes1
- Beryllium fumes1
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
When citations were contested
ⓘ
Contesting a citation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is a lawful right. These figures state the public outcomes of that process, from MSHA's Contested Violations file.
596
citations taken to the federal commission · 72% of citations on record
- Settled 575 · 96%
- Stood as issued 15 · 3%
- Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 0%
- Still open 5 · 1%
68%
S&S designation survived the contest
ⓘ
Counts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.of 201 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
32%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$363K proposed, $248K after decisions · industry: 39%
Source: MSHA Contested Violations file (public record), updated weekly. A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record. Latest contest filed 2026-06-04. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.
Contested penalties
ⓘ
A reduction or dismissal at the Commission is a lawful outcome of contesting a proposed penalty. Figures are the proposed amount and the amount upheld in the docket's decision.Largest penalties this controller contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
| Docket | Decision | Judge | Year | Proposed / upheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEST 2024-0193 | Settlement | Simonton | 2024 | $43K → $26K |
| WEST 2026-0030 | Settlement | Simonton | 2026 | $27K → $14K |
| WEST 2012-796M | Settlement | Manning | 2013 | $19K → $14K |
| WEST 2019-0511 | Settlement | Miller | 2020 | $18K → $18K |
| WEST 2008-1238M | Settlement | Paez | 2011 | $15K → $10K |
| WEST 2016-0674 | Settlement | Miller | 2017 | $15K → $7K |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- POWERED HAULAGE 1 fatality · 3 non-fatal
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 15 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 10 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 3 non-fatal
- MACHINERY 2 non-fatal
- IGNITION OR EXPLOSION OF GAS OR DUST 1 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2025
1
2019
1
2012
1
2009
1
2008
1
2007
5
2005
4
2004
4
2003
3
2002
2
2001
5
1999
2
1998
5
1997
1 (1f)
1996
2
Operators under this controller
Mines on record
- The Ridge AZ
- HILLSIDE PLANT AZ
- Picacho Plant AZ
- Jomax Plant 2 AZ
- Estrella AZ
Fatalities under this controller
1 recordedFor insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where C William Nichols stands on silica, penalties, and injury rate
MSHA's standard limits respirable silica to 50 micrograms per cubic metre, but MSHA publishes dust and quartz as separate files and never the silica figure itself. We derive it per sample, score it against the limit, and set the operator's injury rate against a benchmark built from the full MSHA operator record. With the 26-year penalty trail, contest posture, and fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.
The federal record itself stays free on this site. What costs money, and why.