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L. Keller Smith: 272 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: 0131301

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
18
Mines on record
1
Years on record
2017–2018
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2017
272
citations
80
significant & substantial
$355,433
proposed penalties
$0
paid to date
0% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $355,433 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2017
101
inspections on record
3,284
inspection hours
8.3
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.
272 citations across 3,284 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.
$355K
proposed penalties
$355K
current assessed
$0
paid to date
$355K
outstanding
272 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2018-06-06.
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.
29.4%
significant & substantial
17.3%
high negligence or reckless
29.8%
reasonably likely or greater
16.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.4% none, 25.0% low, 57.4% moderate, 17.3% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2018
ⓘ 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.
11.59
total case rate
3.86
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 3.34 and the all-US-mining average was 2.33 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2018 11.59 3.86 0.000
2017 14.53 7.26 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: 2018-06-20, 8 years ago
94%
within 1.5 mg/m3
162
samples
3.40
dust max (mg/m3)
12
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.
37 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 125 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR76
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)10
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)4

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2018-05-16, 8 years ago
2.0
silica avg (%)
13
samples
2.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR4
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)3
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)3
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: 2018-05-30, 8 years ago
24%
over PEL
21
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)5
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (INTAKE SIDE)4
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)4
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.
154 citations taken to the federal commission · 57% of citations on record
  • Settled 20 · 13%
  • Stood as issued 134 · 87%
98%
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 59 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$331K proposed, $331K 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 2018-08-14. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2018
7
2017
11

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where L. Keller Smith 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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