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Jessica R Lester: 1,264 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: C09518

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
9
Mines on record
2
Years on record
1986–2007
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2003
1,264
citations
360
significant & substantial
$435,357
proposed penalties
$10,757
paid to date
2% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $424,600 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2003
155
inspections on record
9,909
inspection hours
12.8
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.
1,264 citations across 9,909 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.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2016-03-01.
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.
$435K
proposed penalties
$435K
current assessed
$11K
paid to date
$425K
outstanding
1,239 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $45K in penalties contested before the Commission, $45K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2018-02-14.
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.
29.0%
significant & substantial
7.6%
high negligence or reckless
29.0%
reasonably likely or greater
6.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 8.1% low, 84.2% moderate, 7.5% high, 0.1% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2015
ⓘ 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
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.76 and the all-US-mining average was 2.72 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
2015 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2014 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2013 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2012 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2011 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2010 0.00 0.00 0.000
2009 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2008 * 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.

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: 2015-11-06, 10 years ago
95%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,363
samples
11.76
dust max (mg/m3)
2
over MSHA ECV
ⓘ The excessive concentration value (ECV) is MSHA's own per-sample enforcement threshold, which builds in measurement uncertainty; a sample over its ECV can trigger a citation. The count covers only samples MSHA assigned an ECV.
673 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 690 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR564
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)169
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR98

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2015-09-03, 10 years ago
6.5
silica avg (%)
98
samples
20.7
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR50
  • CUTTING MACHINE OPERATOR3
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: 2015-06-09, 11 years ago
5%
over PEL
131
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)34
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR24
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR19
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.
12 citations taken to the federal commission · 1% of citations on record
  • Stood as issued 12 · 100%
100%
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 8 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$45K proposed, $45K 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 2008-11-05. 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
KENT 2009-192 Default Moran 2013 $42K → $42K
KENT 2009-191 Default Moran 2013 $3K → $3K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2007
1
2006
2
2004
2
2003
3
1986
1

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Jessica R Lester 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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