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Joe Valis; Rufus W West: 1,132 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: 0098893

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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine Joe Valis; Rufus W West controls.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
116
Mines on record
5
Years on record
2011–2016
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2011
1,132
citations
328
significant & substantial
$478,518
proposed penalties
$316,309
paid to date
66% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $162,209 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2011
250
inspections on record
9,718
inspection hours
11.6
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.
1,132 citations across 9,718 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.
3
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2013-10-09.
On record since 2011.
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.
$479K
proposed penalties
$380K
current assessed
$316K
paid to date
$63K
outstanding
1,110 assessments are final orders; 87 contested dockets.
Of $383K in penalties contested before the Commission, $284K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-11-02.
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.
29.5%
significant & substantial
3.9%
high negligence or reckless
29.6%
reasonably likely or greater
27.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 15.8% low, 80.3% moderate, 3.7% high, 0.2% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2014
ⓘ 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.
20.04
total case rate
9.11
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.96 and the all-US-mining average was 2.93 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2014 20.04 9.11 0.000
2013 26.85 22.90 0.000
2012 22.67 18.47 0.000
2011 17.08 12.81 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: 2014-05-20, 12 years ago
94%
within 1.5 mg/m3
634
samples
9.62
dust max (mg/m3)
323 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 311 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR298
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)73
  • SCOOP CAR OPERATOR38

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2014-05-28, 12 years ago
8.3
silica avg (%)
39
samples
32.0
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR29
  • OUTSIDE FOREMAN1
  • UTILITY MAN1
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: 2014-02-10, 12 years ago
1%
over PEL
81
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)14
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR9
  • UTILITY MAN8
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.
495 citations taken to the federal commission · 44% of citations on record
  • Settled 472 · 95%
  • Stood as issued 23 · 5%
75%
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 322 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
26%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$383K proposed, $284K 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 2015-01-13. 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 2014-1955 Settlement Lesnick 2015 $52K → $41K
WEVA 2014-1065 Settlement Simonton 2015 $39K → $26K
WEVA 2012-1395 Settlement Miller 2013 $20K → $13K
WEVA 2012-1466 Settlement Miller 2013 $15K → $11K
WEVA 2012-1781 Settlement Harner 2016 $12K → $12K
WEVA 2013-1041 Settlement Harner 2014 $11K → $7K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2016
1
2014
18
2013
41
2012
29
2011
27

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Joe Valis; Rufus W West 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.

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