The employee bent forward and subsequently experienced pain and numbness in the lower back and legs.
Dry Branch Surface Mine Coal
Dry Branch Surface Mine has $284K in proposed MSHA penalties and $5 outstanding across 11 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 18
- Years on record
- 2013–2026
- Latest incident
- Apr 2026
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This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.Dry Branch Surface Mine has $284K in proposed MSHA penalties and $5 outstanding across 11 contested dockets.
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Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.MSHA sampling at Dry Branch Surface Mine shows respirable coal dust averaging 0.12 mg/m3 (100% compliant) across 498 samples.
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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 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.ⓘ
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.| Quarter | Hours worked | Citations | S&S | Per 1M hrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 | 44,902 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2025 Q3 | 46,680 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2025 Q2 | 47,171 | 10 | 1 | 212.0 |
| 2025 Q1 | 48,626 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2024 Q4 | 40,698 | 5 | 0 | 122.9 |
| 2024 Q3 | 50,410 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2024 Q2 | 54,989 | 6 | 1 | 109.1 |
| 2024 Q1 | 63,792 | 5 | 3 | 78.4 |
Show 46 earlier quarters Hide earlier quarters
| Quarter | Hours worked | Citations | S&S | Per 1M hrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Q4 | 63,003 | 12 | 0 | 190.5 |
| 2023 Q3 | 72,613 | 2 | 0 | 27.5 |
| 2023 Q2 | 82,224 | 12 | 2 | 145.9 |
| 2023 Q1 | 84,398 | 24 | 1 | 284.4 |
| 2022 Q4 | 77,369 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2022 Q3 | 82,841 | 16 | 2 | 193.1 |
| 2022 Q2 | 85,778 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2022 Q1 | 86,581 | 10 | 0 | 115.5 |
| 2021 Q4 | 78,614 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2021 Q3 | 71,845 | 8 | 2 | 111.4 |
| 2021 Q2 | 72,172 | 10 | 1 | 138.6 |
| 2021 Q1 | 70,708 | 8 | 1 | 113.1 |
| 2020 Q4 | 64,715 | 8 | 0 | 123.6 |
| 2020 Q3 | 71,770 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2020 Q2 | 74,595 | 14 | 0 | 187.7 |
| 2020 Q1 | 86,241 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2019 Q4 | 67,096 | 6 | 0 | 89.4 |
| 2019 Q3 | 71,379 | 7 | 1 | 98.1 |
| 2019 Q2 | 73,495 | 4 | 1 | 54.4 |
| 2019 Q1 | 58,982 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2018 Q4 | 55,087 | 10 | 1 | 181.5 |
| 2018 Q3 | 55,030 | 2 | 0 | 36.3 |
| 2018 Q2 | 54,672 | 6 | 1 | 109.7 |
| 2018 Q1 | 55,096 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2017 Q4 | 23,631 | 2 | 1 | 84.6 |
| 2017 Q3 | 64,098 | 6 | 1 | 93.6 |
| 2017 Q2 | 57,512 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2017 Q1 | 43,996 | 5 | 0 | 113.6 |
| 2016 Q4 | 37,516 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2016 Q3 | 34,435 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2016 Q2 | 33,301 | 3 | 0 | 90.1 |
| 2016 Q1 | 28,639 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2015 Q4 | 32,153 | 2 | 0 | 62.2 |
| 2015 Q3 | 28,401 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2015 Q2 | 26,995 | 1 | 0 | 37.0 |
| 2015 Q1 | 20,054 | 1 | 0 | 49.9 |
| 2014 Q4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 Q3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 Q2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 Q1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2013 Q4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2013 Q3 | 3,252 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2013 Q2 | 37,159 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2013 Q1 | 48,156 | 2 | 1 | 41.5 |
| 2012 Q4 | 55,572 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2012 Q3 | 51,488 | 5 | 2 | 97.1 |
Reportable incidents
18 on file2026 · 3 incidents
Employee was using a pry bar to adjust hoist cylinder, when the bar slipped and struck EE's mouth and broke a tooth.
Employee was using a sledgehammer to remove a tooth from a spare bucket. EE was struck by a small piece of metal, and it took stitches to close the wound.
2024 · 4 incidents
Employee was dismounting a rock truck when EE lost EE's grip and fell to the ground.
Employee was fueling and servicing a rock truck when EE was struck by a fuel hose and knocked to the ground.
An employee was operating the 2012 Cat 993K loader #551 loading overburden in the 11B pit. At approximately 3:42 AM flames were noticed coming from the rear of the engine compartment near the radiator. The on-board fire suppression activated as the operator exited the cab but could not contain the fire within 30 minutes of discovery.
Employee was assigned to conduct cleaning activities on the Poca 9 from the Horsepen level, at this time highwall materials loosed up at the 12 C level and fell away from the highwall. The material travelled across two safety benches that are approximately 30 feet wide each. The material struck the Excavator, including the operators compartment.
2023 · 1 incident
An idle Dozer was found to be on fire at 5:45 PM, crews tried to extinguish the fire but were unsuccessful. Since it was not being operated at the time and no one was near the machine and the fire damage was extensive, an indication as to what started the fire can not be determined at this time.
2022 · 1 incident
The Tech was performing a removal of a Y-PIN on a 993k Wheel Loader. They were pulling the Y-PIN with the PIN tool specified in the CAT SIS system. When pressure was applied the puller rod pulled the threads out of the end of the Y-PIN. When they moved the apparatus the bell slid off of the puller rod causing the weight of the rod to flip back and strike the tech in the face.
2021 · 2 incidents
EE was struck in the face with a fragment of steel that flew off a mounting pin. The pin was struck by a sledgehammer to drive into place on a Pan hard Bar for a Caterpillar rock truck. EE received a laceration that required 3 stitches to close the wound.
Employee was stemming holes when EE experienced low back strain/pain.
2020 · 1 incident
EE, at the beginning of the shift was climbing the mounting ladder on the 789C Rock truck and as EE went to grab the grab rail on the front of the cab, missed the rail with hand and as a result fell backwards and landed on back & right hip.
2018 · 2 incidents
Employee was using a 1/2" drive impact to remove the 18 MM bolts. The socket used was a swivel version and the swivel joint has a small pin that backed out of the retainer. This pin caught the employee's index finger through the leather glove and EE suffered a laceration that required 7 stitches.
Stepping down out of the truck, slipped & fell to the ground, hurt back & elbow
2015 · 2 incidents
cutting flooring with a worm hole skill saw, the saw kicked back & cut left middle finger.
Employee was in the process of falling a tree when a part of the tree kicked back and hit the employee on the leg.
2013 · 2 incidents
EE was logging traffic in & out of property. A vehicle stopped at bldg. a dog jumped out of car's window and attacked the employee.
Employee was getting off dozer when he slipped causing him to twist his left knee.
The full compliance file on Dry Branch Surface Mine
A dated report covering the 26-year penalty trail, line-item violation pattern, contest and docket posture, rate-normalized peer benchmark, and full fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.