Mining Incidents

Thomas G Fisher: 1,854 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: M00061

Watch this controller

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine Thomas G Fisher controls.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
482
Mines on record
45
Years on record
1983–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
1,854
citations
427
significant & substantial
$447,902
proposed penalties
$428,681
paid to date
96% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $19,221 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
1,427
inspections on record
19,377
inspection hours
9.6
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.
1,854 citations across 19,377 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: 2024-10-17.
On record since 2016.
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.
$448K
proposed penalties
$433K
current assessed
$429K
paid to date
$5K
outstanding
1,822 assessments are final orders; 79 contested dockets.
Of $95K in penalties contested before the Commission, $81K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-07-08.
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.
23.2%
significant & substantial
8.4%
high negligence or reckless
23.2%
reasonably likely or greater
49.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 8.1% low, 83.4% moderate, 8.4% high, 0.1% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
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.
1.94
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2026 1.89 0.94 0.000
2025 1.94 0.00 0.000
2024 2.80 0.56 0.000
2023 3.11 2.49 0.000
2022 1.91 0.64 0.000
2021 0.79 0.79 0.000
2020 5.14 1.47 0.000
2019 4.81 1.60 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: 2026-07-20
18%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
401
samples
203
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz24037 over
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg139
  • Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz20
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz1

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2021-05-20, 5 years ago
16
samples
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.
147 citations taken to the federal commission · 8% of citations on record
  • Settled 133 · 90%
  • Stood as issued 12 · 8%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 1%
  • Still open 1 · 1%
69%
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 70 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
15%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$94K proposed, $80K 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 2025-12-04. 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
CENT 2012-150M Settlement Simonton 2013 $17K → $17K
CENT 2016-0385 Settlement Paez 2016 $12K → $11K
WEST 2012-461M Settlement Lesnick 2012 $8K → $6K
CENT 2010-608M Settlement Paez 2011 $6K → $6K
WEST 2007-254M Settlement Zielinski 2008 $6K → $5K
CENT 2014-135M Settlement Moran 2014 $6K → $5K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2026
2
2025
3
2024
5
2023
5
2022
3
2021
1
2020
7
2019
6
2018
5
2017
4
2016
9
2015
6
2014
7
2013
6
2012
10
2011
12
2010
9
2009
15
2008
9
2007
7
2006
17
2005
6
2004
3
2003
5
2002
8
2001
10
2000
9
1999
7
1998
11
1997
9
1996
9
1995
23
1994
25
1993
31
1992
29
1991
27
1990
25
1989
16
1988
26
1987
20
1986
14
1985
5
1984
11
1983
5

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Thomas G Fisher 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