Mining Incidents

Charles Heuerman: 234 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: M02629

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
24
Mines on record
4
Years on record
1989–2018
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
234
citations
40
significant & substantial
$37,358
proposed penalties
$31,477
paid to date
84% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $5,881 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
149
inspections on record
1,960
inspection hours
11.9
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.
234 citations across 1,960 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, 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.
$37K
proposed penalties
$31K
current assessed
$31K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
230 assessments are final orders; 13 contested dockets.
Of $11K in penalties contested before the Commission, $5K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2024-12-17.
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.
17.1%
significant & substantial
3.4%
high negligence or reckless
17.1%
reasonably likely or greater
35.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 29.9% low, 66.7% moderate, 3.4% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2022
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.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.78 and the all-US-mining average was 2.12 cases per 100 workers.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2022 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2021 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2020 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2017 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2016 * 3.32 3.32 0.000
2015 * 0.00 0.00 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: 2025-09-23
4%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
37
samples
24
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Nuisance dust, total, <1% Qtz101 over
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz11
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg10
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz4
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.
22 citations taken to the federal commission · 9% of citations on record
  • Settled 13 · 59%
  • Stood as issued 9 · 41%
46%
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 13 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
54%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$11K proposed, $5K 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 2021-09-19. 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
LAKE 2020-0076 Settlement Manning 2021 $3K → $2K
LAKE 2021-0117 Settlement Lewis 2021 $2K → $395
LAKE 2016-0130 Settlement Rae 2017 $2K → $317
LAKE 2021-0209 Settlement Young 2022 $1K → $286
LAKE 2014-0709 Default Lesnick 2015 $1K → $1K
LAKE 2015-0615 Settlement Rae 2016 $392 → $100
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2018
1
2016
1
2014
1
2012
2
2011
1
2010
1
2009
1
2006
2
2005
1
2004
1
2003
3
2002
2
2001
1
1999
1
1998
3
1995
1
1989
1

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Charles Heuerman 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.

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