Mining Incidents

R S & W Drift Coal

R S & W Coal Co Inc · Underground
Controlled by John Robert Rothermel
Pottsville, Schuylkill County, PA  ·  Active
MSHA Mine ID: 3601818

R S & W Drift has $22K in proposed MSHA penalties and $6K outstanding across 20 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
7
Years on record
1990–2023
Latest incident
Sep 2023
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
194
citations
34
significant & substantial
$22,368
proposed penalties
$13,432
paid to date
60% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $8,936 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
332
inspections on record
8,431
inspection hours
2.3
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.
194 citations across 8,431 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

R S & W Drift has $22K in proposed MSHA penalties and $6K outstanding across 20 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.
$22K
proposed penalties
$20K
current assessed
$13K
paid to date
$6K
outstanding
181 assessments are final orders; 20 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-05-05.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.

MSHA sampling at R S & W Drift shows respirable coal dust averaging 0.15 mg/m3 (99% compliant) across 1,509 samples.

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.
0.15
dust avg (mg/m3)
3.56
dust max (mg/m3)
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,509
samples
Most recent sample: 2026-06-25.
Silica (quartz)
6.6
silica avg (%)
22.0
silica max (%)
12
samples
Most recent sample: 2025-07-25.
Noise
0%
over PEL
123
samples
Most recent sample: 2026-05-05.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
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
2025 Q4 4,180 1 0 239.2
2025 Q3 4,051 2 0 493.7
2025 Q2 4,051 2 0 493.7
2025 Q1 4,051 2 0 493.7
2024 Q4 4,364 2 0 458.3
2024 Q3 4,735 2 0 422.4
2024 Q2 4,542 2 0 440.3
2024 Q1 3,519 1 0 284.2
Show 92 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2023 Q4 2,933 1 0 340.9
2023 Q3 3,451 1 0 289.8
2023 Q2 3,250 1 0 307.7
2023 Q1 2,720 1 0 367.6
2022 Q4 2,795 1 0 357.8
2022 Q3 1,742 2 0 1148.1
2022 Q2 2,185 1 0 457.7
2022 Q1 2,860 2 0 699.3
2021 Q4 1,729 2 0 1156.7
2021 Q3 1,445 2 0 1384.1
2021 Q2 2,914 1 0 343.2
2021 Q1 1,957 2 0 1022.0
2020 Q4 1,879 1 0 532.2
2020 Q3 3,064 2 0 652.7
2020 Q2 3,801 1 0 263.1
2020 Q1 3,397 1 0 294.4
2019 Q4 3,377 2 1 592.2
2019 Q3 3,350 1 0 298.5
2019 Q2 2,848 2 0 702.2
2019 Q1 2,665 1 0 375.2
2018 Q4 1,782 1 0 561.2
2018 Q3 1,597 1 0 626.2
2018 Q2 969 2 0 2064.0
2018 Q1 2,604 2 0 768.0
2017 Q4 2,622 2 0 762.8
2017 Q3 2,935 2 0 681.4
2017 Q2 2,824 2 0 708.2
2017 Q1 2,185 2 0 915.3
2016 Q4 1,725 2 0 1159.4
2016 Q3 1,065 2 0 1877.9
2016 Q2 1,571 3 0 1909.6
2016 Q1 1,451 1 1 689.2
2015 Q4 1,906 1 1 524.7
2015 Q3 635 3 2 4724.4
2015 Q2 3,185 2 0 627.9
2015 Q1 2,730 1 1 366.3
2014 Q4 2,760 1 1 362.3
2014 Q3 2,760 2 0 724.6
2014 Q2 2,290 2 0 873.4
2014 Q1 2,301 1 0 434.6
2013 Q4 1,466 2 0 1364.3
2013 Q3 390 1 0 2564.1
2013 Q2 3,393 1 0 294.7
2013 Q1 2,600 2 0 769.2
2012 Q4 2,730 1 0 366.3
2012 Q3 2,730 1 0 366.3
2012 Q2 2,730 1 0 366.3
2012 Q1 3,185 2 0 627.9
2011 Q4 2,261 2 0 884.6
2011 Q3 2,275 2 0 879.1
2011 Q2 2,112 2 1 947.0
2011 Q1 140 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 3,185 2 0 627.9
2009 Q4 2,275 3 2 1318.7
2009 Q3 2,730 2 0 732.6
2009 Q2 2,730 4 0 1465.2
2009 Q1 2,912 2 0 686.8
2008 Q4 2,730 2 0 732.6
2008 Q3 2,184 1 0 457.9
2008 Q2 2,184 1 0 457.9
2008 Q1 2,340 2 0 854.7
2007 Q4 2,600 1 0 384.6
2007 Q3 2,080 7 0 3365.4
2007 Q2 2,496 1 0 400.6
2007 Q1 2,496 1 0 400.6
2006 Q4 2,100 3 0 1428.6
2006 Q3 2,100 3 3 1428.6
2006 Q2 2,100 3 3 1428.6
2005 Q4 2,100 2 0 952.4
2005 Q3 2,100 8 1 3809.5
2005 Q2 420 4 0 9523.8
2005 Q1 2,100 10 3 4761.9
2004 Q4 2,100 7 6 3333.3
2004 Q3 2,100 1 0 476.2
2004 Q2 2,100 0 0 0.0
2004 Q1 2,100 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 3,220 2 0 621.1
2003 Q3 1,800 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 3,220 4 2 1242.2
2003 Q1 3,640 5 4 1373.6
2002 Q4 2,916 2 0 685.9
2002 Q3 2,161 1 0 462.7
2002 Q2 2,112 1 0 473.5
2002 Q1 3,444 2 0 580.7
2001 Q4 3,090 1 0 323.6
2001 Q3 4,152 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 4,320 1 0 231.5
2001 Q1 4,818 1 0 207.6
2000 Q4 3,762 1 0 265.8
2000 Q3 2,760 1 0 362.3
2000 Q2 3,294 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 3,014 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

7 on file

2023 · 1 incident

September 1, 2023 PA · Coal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
R S & W Coal Co Inc · Over-exertion in lifting objects

Miner, lifting mine props and strained their back.

2015 · 1 incident

February 5, 2015 PA · Coal laborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scaler HANDLING OF MATERIALS
R S & W Coal Co Inc · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Re-timbering second escape way, prop got away while passing timber, striking man behind left knee.

2011 · 1 incident

May 19, 2011 PA · Coal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman POWERED HAULAGE
R S & W Coal Co Inc · Struck against a moving object

Raining and Floor of Buggy was slippery. Employee fell and struck head injuring his head and neck

2001 · 1 incident

1996 · 1 incident

December 30, 1996 PA · Coal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
R S & W Coal Co Inc · Fall to the walkway or working surface

CARRYING A PROP IN THE MONKEY HEADING. MAN SLIPPED AND SAT DOWN ON HIS FOOT FRACTURING A BONE INFOOT.

1993 · 1 incident

January 5, 1993 PA · Coal outside foreman, leadman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
R S & W Coal Co Inc · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

PINCHED FINGER UNDER ROCK ON BULL SHAKER BROKEN RT INDEX FINGER

1990 · 1 incident

June 6, 1990 PA · Coal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
R S & W Coal Co Inc · Struck by rolling or sliding object

WHILE PICKING ROCK FROM STOCK PILE, ROCK SLIPPED DOWN PILE AND STRUCK MINER ON SHOULDER BRUISING SHOULDER.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

The full compliance file on R S & W Drift

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.