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Douglas M Epling: 2,786 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: C15194

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
240
Mines on record
14
Years on record
1995–2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
2,786
citations
1,093
significant & substantial
$2,485,694
proposed penalties
$2,016,582
paid to date
81% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $469,112 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
421
inspections on record
21,971
inspection hours
12.7
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.
2,786 citations across 21,971 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.
2
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2011-01-17.
On record since 2010.
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.
$2.5M
proposed penalties
$2.0M
current assessed
$2.0M
paid to date
$0
outstanding
2,700 assessments are final orders; 89 contested dockets.
Of $1.5M in penalties contested before the Commission, $1.1M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2013-12-18.
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.
40.4%
significant & substantial
3.6%
high negligence or reckless
40.6%
reasonably likely or greater
24.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 8.8% low, 87.5% moderate, 3.4% high, 0.1% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2013
ⓘ 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.
3.96
total case rate
3.96
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
About average. The US coal mining average was 3.94 and the all-US-mining average was 2.99 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2013 3.96 3.96 0.000
2012 6.08 5.32 0.000
2011 17.00 16.19 0.000
2010 12.55 6.27 0.000
2009 19.90 15.92 0.000
2008 12.17 7.61 0.000
2007 5.54 4.84 0.000
2006 12.73 11.52 0.000
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.

Respirable coal dust
ⓘ Respirable coal dust and silica figures cover coal facilities. Dust compliance is measured against the current 1.5 mg/m3 standard; samples predating the 2014 standard are included, so compliance rates are a coarse historical signal.

Last sampled: 2013-12-03, 12 years ago
96%
within 1.5 mg/m3
579
samples
4.83
dust max (mg/m3)
413 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 166 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR134
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER76
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR74

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2008-04-16, 18 years ago
11.0
silica avg (%)
22
samples
36.7
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR16
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR3
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR1
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

Noise
ⓘ The share counts noise samples whose measured dose exceeded the 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. It describes the sampled workplace, not what reached the miner's ear: hearing conservation programs and the hearing protection worn during the shift are recorded separately and are not reflected here.

Last sampled: 2013-12-03, 12 years ago
8%
over PEL
147
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER39
  • AUGER OPERATOR15
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR15
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, 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.
729 citations taken to the federal commission · 26% of citations on record
  • Settled 709 · 97%
  • Stood as issued 20 · 3%
88%
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 484 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
31%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1.5M proposed, $1.1M 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 2013-08-14. 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
WEVA 2011-757 Settlement Tureck 2012 $103K → $50K
WEVA 2011-597 Settlement Miller 2011 $79K → $42K
WEVA 2011-758 Settlement Tureck 2012 $71K → $50K
WEVA 2009-856 Settlement Barbour 2011 $70K → $25K
WEVA 2009-654 Settlement Barbour 2011 $60K → $50K
WEVA 2012-1567 Settlement Bulluck 2013 $59K → $40K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2015
1
2013
3
2012
8
2011
32
2010
34
2009
50
2008
29
2007
16
2006
25
2005
8
2004
14
2003
9
2002
4
2001
2
2000
1
1999
1
1998
1
1995
2

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Douglas M Epling 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.

See a sample report
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