85% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $447,788 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Labor enforcement (WHD)
US Labor Department wage findings since 2003
1
labor cases
$12,847
back wages owed
6
employees affected
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 2007
11,787
inspections on record
225,176
inspection hours
4.0
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.
8,947 citations across 225,176 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.
23
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2025-12-04.
On record since 2010.
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.
$2.9M
proposed penalties
$2.5M
current assessed
$2.5M
paid to date
$23K
outstanding
8,736 assessments are final orders; 470 contested dockets.
Of $1.2M in penalties contested before the Commission, $754K 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.
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.
1.14
total case rate
0.61
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below 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
1.37
0.85
0.000
2025
1.14
0.61
0.000
2024
1.21
0.57
0.000
2023
1.26
0.62
0.031
2022
1.11
0.36
0.000
2021
1.12
0.39
0.000
2020
0.99
0.50
0.017
2019
1.14
0.40
0.016
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: 2026-08-14
4%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
5,274
samples
1,725
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz1,05427 over
Diesel particulate (total carbon)30726 over
Nuisance dust, total, <1% Qtz13710 over
Respirable dust, <.1mg2,919
Area samples (mill and shop air)
Last sampled: 2026-04-08
75
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.
829citations taken to the federal commission · 9% of citations on record
Settled
704 · 85%
Stood as issued
117 · 14%
Vacated or withdrawn
3 · 0%
Still open
5 · 1%
62%
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 386 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
36%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1.2M proposed, $754K 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 2026-08-04. 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.
Machine operator was operating a CAT D9T dozer clearing overburden material from a bench. Operator reversed the machine backwards an estimated 200-300 ft. at a high speed without looking back and without responding to honking from another machine, per witness testimony. Machine fell off an edge. Operator was pronounced dead at the scene. Machine is total loss.
March 15, 2023FL · Metal/Non-Metalbulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineerFatality · MACHINERY
An employee was operating a CAT 390F excavator in the South Quarry Pit. The machine went into the water and sank to a depth of approximately 25 feet. Consistent with 103K order modifications approved by MSHA, the operator was recovered the following day.
January 4, 2023TN · Metal/Non-Metalcrusher attendant/operator, pan feeder operator/workerFatality · MACHINERY
A contract miner died when the compactor EE was operating overturned, pinning EE beneath the cab. As the compactor was traveling in reverse, the compactor's left tire went off a four-foot embankment causing the compactor to overturn.
October 14, 2020SC · Metal/Non-Metaloutside foreman, leadmanFatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Employee was operating a pick-up truck on the -330 bench. A haul truck turned onto the -330 bench. The haul truck operator indicated they did not see the pick-up truck resulting in fatal injuries.
July 15, 2019TN · Metal/Non-Metalprep plant foreman, supervisor, mill plant supervisor, kiln supervisorFatality · SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Plant Manager aggravated a pre-existing injury to the right heel tearing a blood blister while walking over a level drill bench. On July 20th, EE died after complications following surgery after an x-ray revealed a broken right heel bone and torn achilles tendon.
June 10, 2019TN · Metal/Non-Metalelectrician helperFatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Pending Investigation - Victim was leveling material in a trench made for laying electrical conduit, manager was operating front-end loader above. The front-end loader was being used to back fill the trench when the bank collapsed causing the front-end loader to slide into the trench. The victim was fatally injured when victim was pinned between loader and jersey block.
The injured employee was working in the North East corner of the pit loading shot rock. While waiting for the haul truck to return to the muck pile, the excavator was struck by several large rocks. No one witnessed the accident. The haul truck driver discovered the accident scene and rescue/recovery efforts begun. The excavator operator was fatally injured.
Employee was operating a haul truck transporting material from the wash bins to a stockpile located Northwest of two settling ponds. On the return trip to the wash bins, the haul truck traveled through a berm on the left side of the haul road, went over an embankment and overturned on its left side in the settling pond.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Vulcan Materials Company 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.