88% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $262,766 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
1,218
inspections on record
60,662
inspection hours
4.4
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.
2,688 citations across 60,662 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.
6
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2018-08-07.
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.
$2.2M
proposed penalties
$2.0M
current assessed
$1.9M
paid to date
$77K
outstanding
2,653 assessments are final orders; 83 contested dockets.
Of $1.1M in penalties contested before the Commission, $875K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2020-02-24.
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, 2019
ⓘ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.
1.76
total case rate
0.59
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.39 and the all-US-mining average was 2.32 cases per 100 workers.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2019
1.76
0.59
0.000
2018
2.30
1.30
0.000
2017
1.98
1.18
0.062
2016
1.95
1.17
0.000
2015
1.56
0.71
0.000
2014
1.54
0.98
0.000
2013
1.35
0.68
0.000
2012
1.18
0.47
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.
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: 2019-06-18, 7 years ago
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
5,877
samples
7.13
dust max (mg/m3)
15
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.
2,110 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 3,767 by the operator.
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.
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.
270citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
Settled
250 · 93%
Stood as issued
20 · 7%
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 164 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
17%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$1.1M proposed, $875K 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 2018-12-19. 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.
On May 6, 2017 at approximately 16:55 a haul truck operator backed up to a berm to dump, the berm breeched and the haul truck and berm slid down the highwall approximately 150 ft. There were no witness to the incident.
August 21, 1992VA · Coalroof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs)Fatality · FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
59339M WAS IN PROCESS OF TRANSFERRING ROOF BOLTS FROM SCOOP ONTO THE ROOF DRILL WHEN A PIECE OF MINE ROOF, UNEXPECTEDLY AND WITHOUT WARNING FELL AND STRUCK THE VICTIM.
December 4, 1991KY · Coallaborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitmanFatality · POWERED HAULAGE
SUPERVISOR & TWO EMPLS WERE PREPARING TO MOUNT PIN ON BUCKET TO BOOM ALREADY LOWERED OF DIGGER DERRICK TRUCK. AS SUPERVISOR ATTEMPTED TO POSITION 1 TON FLATBED TRUCK CARRYING PIN ON BUCKET INJ EMPL WAS CAUGHT BETWEEN TIP OF BOOM & FLATBED TRUCK WHEN HE SUSTAINED SEVERE INTERNAL ABDOMINAL INJ. INJ EMPL SUCCUMED IN OPERATING ROOM OF HOSPITAL.
July 9, 1991VA · Coalwelder (shop)Fatality · MACHINERY
THE EMPLOYEE WAS PREPARING TO REPAIR HOLES IN THE WALL OF THE ROTARY BREAKER.HE ENTERED THE ROTARY BREAKER BELIEVING THE ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT TO BE DE-ENERGIZED.WHEN IT WAS STARTED BY ANOTHER EM PLOYEE WHO BELIEVED THAT HE HAD BEEN ASKED TO START IT,A FATAL INJURY RESULTED.
November 29, 1986VA · Coalbeltman, conveyor man, conveyor belt worker, mobile bridge carrierman, feeder operator, conveyor riderFatality · POWERED HAULAGE
A COLLISION OCC6RRED IN THE VICTINITY OF 3 RIGHT SWITCH BETWEEN LEAD LOCOMOTIVE AND RAILRUNNER. VICTIM, WHO WAS OPERATING THE RAILRUNNER, WAS APPARENTLY THROWN FROM THE RAILRUNNER INTO THE PA OF THE LOCOMOT3VE.
October 5, 1983VA · Coalelectrician, linemanFatality · ELECTRICAL
AN INSULATOR BROKE DURING SWITCH THROW OPERATION ALLOWING THE SWITCHING ARM TO CONTACT THE SWITCH STRUCTURE AND BASE CAUSING AN ELECTRICAL FAULT IN THE 34.5 KV SYSTEM. THE INJURED, ALTHOUG H WEARING PRESCRAIBED APROTECTIVE GLOVES, APPARENTLY CONTACTED THE SWITCH THROW HANDLE DURING THE FAULT CONDITION IN THE AREA OF HIS CHEST, A FINDING INDICATED BY THE MEDICAL EXAMINERS REPORT.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Westmoreland Coal 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.