Big Canyon Rock Quarry has $16K in proposed MSHA penalties and $302 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
Watch this mine
Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Big Canyon Rock Quarry.
Fatalities
0
Total incidents
8
Years on record
1983–2025
Latest incident
Aug 2025
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2022
13
citations
5
significant & substantial
$15,961
proposed penalties
$13,799
paid to date
86% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $2,162 gap.
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: 127 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Big Canyon Rock Quarry has $16K in proposed MSHA penalties and $302 outstanding across 1 contested dockets.
Penalty disposition
ⓘDifferences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$16K
proposed penalties
$14K
current assessed
$14K
paid to date
$302
outstanding
11 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $12K in penalties contested before the Commission, $11K 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.
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.
1citations taken to the federal commission · 8% of citations on record
Settled
1 · 100%
100%
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 Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.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 1 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
15%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$12K proposed, $11K 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 2022-10-18.
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 mine contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
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: 2025-02-26
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
8
samples
1
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Respirable dust, <.1mg7
Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz1
Show the individual readings (8)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Occupation
2025-02-26
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Utility Man
2025-02-26
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Front-end Loader Operator
2025-02-26
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Front-end Loader Operator
2025-02-26
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Truck Driver
2023-08-01
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Truck Driver
2023-08-01
Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.13
10
0.01
Truck Driver
2023-08-01
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Front-end Loader Operator
2023-08-01
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Front-end Loader Operator
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.
Big Canyon Rock Quarry recorded 8.39 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.
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.
8.39
total case rate
4.19
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.
In Oklahoma, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 1.92 cases per 100 workers that year.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2025 *
8.39
4.19
0.000
2024 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
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.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2026
28
2025
18
2024
13
2023
6
2022
3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Big Canyon Rock Quarry sits in Murray County, Oklahoma, where the Census mining category is 3.9% of county employment.
Local economic context
ⓘCounty figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 5-year pooled estimates, so the 2023 vintage covers 2019 through 2023. The Census category is 'mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction', which is broader than MSHA jurisdiction and includes oil and gas workers no mine employs. These figures describe the surrounding county, not this mine, and are not a factor in any specific incident.
Murray County, Oklahoma · Population 13,807
3.9%
Mining share of county employment
$61,904
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Quarterly safety rates
ⓘCitations per million reported employee-hours. Rates begin in 2000, when MSHA's quarterly employment data starts; earlier incidents are counted but cannot be rate-adjusted. Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.
Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2026 Q2
19,782
0
0
0.0
2026 Q1
15,333
0
0
0.0
2025 Q4
15,453
0
0
0.0
2025 Q3
14,893
0
0
0.0
2025 Q2
9,027
0
0
0.0
2025 Q1
8,304
0
0
0.0
2024 Q4
7,992
0
0
0.0
2024 Q3
9,192
2
0
217.6
Show 8 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2
9,066
0
0
0.0
2024 Q1
6,699
1
0
149.3
2023 Q4
5,028
0
0
0.0
2023 Q3
3,459
3
1
867.3
2023 Q2
2,648
0
0
0.0
2023 Q1
2,553
0
0
0.0
2022 Q4
1,113
0
0
0.0
2022 Q3
347
1
1
2881.8
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
8 on file
2025 · 2 incidents
August 22, 2025OK · Metal/Non-Metallaborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitmanDISORDERS (PHYSICAL AGENTS)
Employee smashed EE's finger between equipment and conveyor.
1985 · 1 incident
March 25, 1985OK · Metal/Non-Metalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techSLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
EMPLOYEE WAS WEARING MSHA NOISE DETECTION DEVICES WHILE DRIVING A TRUCK WHEN A RASH APPEARED ON HIS WAIST LEGS AND SHOULDERS RASH GREW WORSE OVER NIGHT
January 27, 1983OK · Metal/Non-Metalbelt foreman, maintenance foreman, maintenance supervisorHANDLING OF MATERIALS
EMPLOYEE HAD 20FT SECTION OF 8IN CHANNEL CONVEYOR BALANCED ON EDGE AND WAS STGANDSING WITH HIS BACK TO FRAME WAITING ON ANOTHER EMPLOYEE TO CLEAN A CUTTING TIP HE LOST HIS BALANCE AND FELL BACKWARD AS FRAMEWORK FELL FORWARD AGAINST HIS LEGS