56% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $30,892 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
66
inspections on record
893
inspection hours
n/a
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.
Rate withheld: 893 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
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.
$70K
proposed penalties
$40K
current assessed
$40K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
148 assessments are final orders; 13 contested dockets.
Of $58K in penalties contested before the Commission, $27K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2013-01-02.
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.
30citations taken to the federal commission · 20% of citations on record
Settled
22 · 73%
Stood as issued
8 · 27%
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 Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.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 12 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
54%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$58K proposed, $27K 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 A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record.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 2013-05-31. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.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.
DRIVER WAS DUMPING LIMESTONE FROM TRUCK WHICH WAS ON LEVEL GROUND IN YARD STOCKPILE. DRIVER WAS IN THE PROCESS OF DUMPING HIS LOAD OF STONE WHEN THE TRACTOR AND TRAILER TIPPED OVER ON THE PASS ENGER SIDE. DRIVER LANDED ON GROUND CLEAR OF TRUCK. DRIVER WAS KNOCKED UNCONSIOUS BY THE IMPACT OF THE FALL, BUT LATER REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS. NO BLEEDING WAS NOTICED. DRIVER WAS LIFEFLIGHTED
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where T L Darlington 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.