Mining Incidents

Patriot Coal Corporation; Rhino Resource Partners LP: 576 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: 0102349

Watch this controller

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine Patriot Coal Corporation; Rhino Resource Partners LP controls.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
29
Mines on record
3
Years on record
2011–2014
Public-issuer link

Rhino Resource Partners LP discloses mines under this controller in its SEC Dodd-Frank Section 1503 (EX-95) mine-safety filings.

Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2011
576
citations
111
significant & substantial
$682,754
proposed penalties
$526,801
paid to date
77% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $155,953 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Labor enforcement (WHD)
US Labor Department wage findings since 2010
1
labor cases
Violation types
Wage & hour (FLSA) (1)
Source: US DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement records, matched by employer name and state.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2011
95
inspections on record
5,233
inspection hours
11.0
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.
576 citations across 5,233 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.
$683K
proposed penalties
$527K
current assessed
$527K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
566 assessments are final orders; 34 contested dockets.
Of $545K in penalties contested before the Commission, $389K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2014-11-18.
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.
19.6%
significant & substantial
22.1%
high negligence or reckless
20.0%
reasonably likely or greater
48.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 14.5% low, 63.4% moderate, 21.7% high, 0.4% 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.
3.43
total case rate
1.14
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below 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 3.43 1.14 0.000
2013 3.79 0.00 0.000
2012 9.26 5.90 0.000
2011 * 14.36 5.74 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: 2014-12-09, 11 years ago
89%
within 1.5 mg/m3
342
samples
5.05
dust max (mg/m3)
0
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.
145 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 197 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR186
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)31
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)25

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2014-10-28, 11 years ago
3.5
silica avg (%)
9
samples
6.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR7

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: 2014-11-10, 11 years ago
17%
over PEL
42
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR8
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)8
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)8
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.
238 citations taken to the federal commission · 41% of citations on record
  • Settled 228 · 96%
  • Stood as issued 10 · 4%
87%
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 84 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
29%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$545K proposed, $389K 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 2015-03-30. 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 2015-0242 Settlement Lewis 2016 $217K → $152K
WEVA 2015-0441 Settlement Lewis 2015 $52K → $38K
WEVA 2015-0385 Settlement Lewis 2015 $42K → $30K
WEVA 2014-0613 Settlement McCarthy 2015 $25K → $19K
WEVA 2013-393 Settlement Paez 2013 $25K → $15K
WEVA 2014-306 Settlement McCarthy 2015 $22K → $15K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2014
10
2013
3
2012
11
2011
5

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Patriot Coal Corporation; Rhino Resource Partners LP 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
Need a different cut of the data? Ask us