91% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $27,722 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
239
inspections on record
6,941
inspection hours
11.5
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.
795 citations across 6,941 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.
5
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2015-10-26.
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.
$319K
proposed penalties
$291K
current assessed
$291K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
776 assessments are final orders; 7 contested dockets.
Of $73K in penalties contested before the Commission, $46K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2019-01-24.
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.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, 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.
13citations taken to the federal commission · 2% of citations on record
Settled
12 · 92%
Stood as issued
1 · 8%
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 Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.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 12 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
38%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$73K proposed, $46K 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 2012-10-16. 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.
EE WAS OPERATIN1 A BOBCAT LOADER. THERE WAS A ROCK UNDER THE PEDALS. THE BUCKET WAS ON THE GROUND ON ITS NOSE & THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING. EE WENT TO THE FRONT OF THE MACHINE TO REMOVE THE ROCK EE REMOVED THE3ROCK & MACHINE TRIED TO LOWER THE BUCKET WHICH WAS ALREADY ON THE GROUND. THIS CAUSED THE FRONT OF T HE MACHINE TO LIFT UP. EE WAS CRUSHED BETWEEN THE MACHINE BODY & A CROSS B
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Pat A Yager 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.