Cheatham County: 28 MSHA citations
Metal/Non-Metal
Vaughn Contracting Inc
· Surface
MSHA Mine ID: 4003241
Cheatham County has $3K in proposed MSHA penalties and $298 outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 1
- Years on record
- 2004
- Latest incident
- Jul 2004
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2004
11
significant & substantial
$2,609
proposed penalties
76% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $627 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2004
n/a
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: 47 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Cheatham County has $3K in proposed MSHA penalties and $298 outstanding across 3 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.
28 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $2K in penalties contested before the Commission, $2K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2005-01-05.
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.
39.3%
significant & substantial
3.6%
high negligence or reckless
39.3%
reasonably likely or greater
85.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 25.0% low, 71.4% moderate, 3.6% high, 0.0% reckless.
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.
24
citations taken to the federal commission · 86% of citations on record
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 8 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
16%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2K proposed, $2K 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 2004-11-01.
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.
| Docket |
Decision |
Judge |
Year |
Proposed / upheld |
| SE 2005-14M |
Settlement |
Zielinski |
2005 |
$2K → $1K |
| SE 2005-17M |
Settlement |
Zielinski |
2005 |
$345 → $251 |
| SE 2005-24M |
Settlement |
Zielinski |
2005 |
$167 → $167 |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
-
Vaughn Contracting Inc
2004 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
| Year |
Employees |
| 2005 |
0 |
| 2004 |
3 |
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Cheatham County sits in Cheatham County, Tennessee, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Cheatham County, Tennessee · Population 41,500
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$82,015
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 |
| 2005 Q2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2005 Q1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
| 2004 Q4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2004 Q3 |
1,000 |
25 |
9 |
25000.0 |
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
1 on file
2004 · 1 incident
Unknown operator · Struck by flying object
BLASTER IN CHARGE LOADED SHOT; MOVED TO A JUDGED SAFE DISTANCE TO DETONATE AND TOOK SHELTER INSIDE PARKED VEHICLE. HE DETONATED THE SHOT; A SINGLE FLYING ROCK TRAVELED IN EXCESS OF 750' STRIKING EMPLOYEE IN LEFT SIDE OF THE FACE AFTER BREAKING THROUGH THE WINDOW OF THE VEHICLE.