K+S Aktiengesellschaft: 2,464 MSHA citations controller
MSHA controller ID: 0089039
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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine K+S Aktiengesellschaft controls.
- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 324
- Mines on record
- 3
- Years on record
- 2009–2021
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2009
2,464
citations
500
significant & substantial
$1,570,376
proposed penalties
$1,324,573
paid to date
84% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $245,803 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2009
521
inspections on record
21,692
inspection hours
11.4
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.2,464 citations across 21,692 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: 2015-02-21.
On record since 2015.
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.$1.6M
proposed penalties
$1.3M
current assessed
$1.3M
paid to date
$0
outstanding
2,437 assessments are final orders; 52 contested dockets.
Of $629K in penalties contested before the Commission, $400K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-04-27.
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.20.5%
significant & substantial
5.7%
high negligence or reckless
20.5%
reasonably likely or greater
33.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 20.1% low, 74.1% moderate, 5.7% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2021
ⓘ
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.3.84
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.87 and the all-US-mining average was 2.19 cases per 100 workers.
| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3.84 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2020 | 2.61 | 1.30 | 0.000 |
| 2019 | 2.71 | 1.09 | 0.000 |
| 2018 | 2.36 | 0.91 | 0.000 |
| 2017 | 1.27 | 0.36 | 0.000 |
| 2016 | 1.25 | 0.53 | 0.000 |
| 2015 | 0.81 | 0.49 | 0.000 |
| 2014 | 1.19 | 0.51 | 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.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: 2020-09-29, 5 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.3%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
85
samples
75
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
- Diesel particulate (total carbon)732 over
- Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz8
- Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz2
- Respirable dust, <.1mg2
Area samples (mill and shop air)
Last sampled: 2015-09-03, 10 years ago3
samples
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.
206
citations taken to the federal commission · 8% of citations on record
- Settled 200 · 97%
- Stood as issued 6 · 3%
82%
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 114 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
36%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$629K proposed, $400K 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 2021-03-17. 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 2017-0053 | Settlement | Lewis | 2018 | $88K → $51K |
| CENT 2018-0176 | Settlement | Miller | 2018 | $79K → $73K |
| CENT 2017-0256 | Settlement | Simonton | 2017 | $55K → $13K |
| CENT 2016-0036 | Settlement | Paez | 2016 | $50K → $32K |
| LAKE 2017-0162 | Settlement | Andrews | 2018 | $35K → $16K |
| CENT 2020-0052 | Settlement | Miller | 2020 | $28K → $11K |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- HOISTING 166 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 43 non-fatal
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 39 non-fatal
- MACHINERY 17 non-fatal
- POWERED HAULAGE 13 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 11 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2021
6
2020
18
2019
16
2018
30
2017
25
2016
29
2015
29
2014
34
2013
22
2012
35
2011
37
2010
36
2009
7
Operators under this controller
Mines on record
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where K+S Aktiengesellschaft 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.