Mining Incidents

Noah L Vandyke: 801 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: C14756

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
13
Mines on record
4
Years on record
1993–2016
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2006
801
citations
172
significant & substantial
$267,809
proposed penalties
$260,842
paid to date
97% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $6,967 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2006
112
inspections on record
6,121
inspection hours
13.1
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.
801 citations across 6,121 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.
$268K
proposed penalties
$261K
current assessed
$261K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
795 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $24K in penalties contested before the Commission, $17K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-03-24.
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.
21.6%
significant & substantial
3.6%
high negligence or reckless
21.6%
reasonably likely or greater
14.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 6.8% low, 89.4% moderate, 3.6% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2008
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 4.41 and the all-US-mining average was 3.61 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
2008 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2007 * 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: 2009-05-07, 17 years ago
95%
within 1.5 mg/m3
365
samples
6.65
dust max (mg/m3)
147 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 218 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR204
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)28
  • TRACTOR OPERATOR/MOTORMAN25

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2009-01-27, 17 years ago
4.8
silica avg (%)
45
samples
8.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR16
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)13

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: 2009-04-08, 17 years ago
9%
over PEL
35
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR8
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)8
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (INTAKE SIDE)7
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.
8 citations taken to the federal commission · 1% of citations on record
  • Settled 8 · 100%
83%
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 6 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
29%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$24K proposed, $17K 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 2015-04-19. 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
VA 2010-449 Settlement Tureck 2012 $19K → $12K
VA 2015-0194 Settlement Feldman 2016 $5K → $5K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2016
1
2015
1
2012
1
2010
3
1995
3
1994
1
1993
3

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Noah L Vandyke 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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