Thomas A Thorson: 828 MSHA citations controller
MSHA controller ID: M07534
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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine Thomas A Thorson controls.
- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 451
- Mines on record
- 10
- Years on record
- 1988–2020
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
828
citations
214
significant & substantial
$299,023
proposed penalties
$231,140
paid to date
77% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $67,883 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
573
inspections on record
8,804
inspection hours
9.4
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.828 citations across 8,804 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.$299K
proposed penalties
$231K
current assessed
$231K
paid to date
$26
outstanding
817 assessments are final orders; 8 contested dockets.
Of $113K in penalties contested before the Commission, $46K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2020-04-27.
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.26.1%
significant & substantial
8.2%
high negligence or reckless
26.6%
reasonably likely or greater
50.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 8.7% low, 83.2% moderate, 8.2% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2020
ⓘ
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.3.27
total case rate
1.63
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.77 and the all-US-mining average was 2.08 cases per 100 workers.
| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3.27 | 1.63 | 0.000 |
| 2019 | 7.81 | 0.78 | 0.000 |
| 2018 | 4.64 | 1.55 | 0.000 |
| 2017 | 5.28 | 3.77 | 0.000 |
| 2016 | 2.41 | 2.41 | 0.000 |
| 2015 | 5.89 | 5.05 | 0.000 |
| 2014 | 6.34 | 4.93 | 0.000 |
| 2013 | 10.13 | 9.35 | 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.Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
ⓘ
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.
Last sampled: 2019-10-16, 6 years ago
ⓘ
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.15%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
189
samples
117
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
- Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz12617 over
- Respirable dust, <.1mg29
- Cristobalite, respirable19
- Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz15
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), 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.
22
citations taken to the federal commission · 3% of citations on record
- Settled 22 · 100%
92%
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 13 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
59%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$113K 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 2017-12-06. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEST 2008-660M | Prevail | Manning | 2009 | $45K → $900 |
| WEST 2015-0601 | Settlement | Manning | 2015 | $36K → $25K |
| WEST 2018-0130 | Settlement | Manning | 2018 | $12K → $9K |
| WEST 2012-1414M | Settlement | Lesnick | 2013 | $6K → $5K |
| WEST 2017-0136 | Settlement | Simonton | 2017 | $6K → $450 |
| WEST 2015-0602 | Settlement | Manning | 2015 | $5K → $4K |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 187 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 109 non-fatal
- POWERED HAULAGE 50 non-fatal
- MACHINERY 41 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 29 non-fatal
- OTHER 9 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2020
2
2019
10
2018
6
2017
7
2016
3
2015
7
2014
10
2013
13
2012
6
2011
16
2010
13
2009
15
2008
16
2007
10
2006
13
2005
14
2004
9
2003
9
2002
11
2001
6
2000
13
1999
12
1998
17
1997
40
1996
9
1995
25
1994
31
1993
27
1992
24
1991
27
1990
19
1989
7
1988
4
Operators under this controller
Mines on record
- Thornton Plant WY
- TENSLEEP MINE WY
- WORLAND PLANT WY
- Mills Plant WY
- HT Plant WY
- GLENROCK MILL WY
- OSHOTO MINE WY
- Casper Plant WY
- Kaycee Mine WY
- GLENROCK MINE WY
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Thomas A Thorson 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.