Mining Incidents

Sample: 7 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Sample & Son Inc · Surface
Controlled by Brian Mark Sample
Grovetown, Columbia County, GA  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 0901209

Sample has $839 in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
0
Years on record
Latest incident
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2010
7
citations
1
significant & substantial
$839
proposed penalties
$808
paid to date
96% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $31 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2010
22
inspections on record
137
inspection hours
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: 137 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Sample has $839 in proposed MSHA penalties and $0 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.
$839
proposed penalties
$808
current assessed
$808
paid to date
$0
outstanding
7 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $231 in penalties contested before the Commission, $200 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2021-01-27.
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.
14.3%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
14.3%
reasonably likely or greater
42.9%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 28.6% low, 71.4% moderate, 0.0% 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.
2 citations taken to the federal commission · 29% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 50%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 50%
0%
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%
13%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$231 proposed, $200 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 2011-03-08.
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 2011-384M Dismissal Lesnick 2011 $231 → $200
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Sample & Son Inc 2010 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 2
2025 2
2024 2
2023 2
2022 2
2021 2
2020 2
2019 2
2018 2
2017 2
2016 2
2015 2
2014 2
2013 2
2012 2
2011 2
2010 2
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Sample sits in Columbia County, Georgia, where the Census mining category is 0.2% 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.
Columbia County, Georgia · Population 159,638
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$96,122
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 654 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 642 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 528 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 598 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 658 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 575 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 410 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 532 0 0 0.0
Show 54 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 517 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 555 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 465 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 495 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 500 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 479 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 473 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 421 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 440 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 528 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 596 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 555 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 519 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 515 2 0 3883.5
2020 Q4 538 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 403 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 455 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 376 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 259 0 0 0.0
2019 Q3 406 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 314 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 427 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 310 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 417 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 357 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 286 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 285 3 1 10526.3
2017 Q3 399 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 303 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 218 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 322 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 193 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 247 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 237 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 350 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 236 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 325 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 262 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 41 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 92 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 208 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 150 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 87 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 158 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 151 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 118 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 103 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 106 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 54 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 209 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 88 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 107 0 0 0.0
2011 Q1 173 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 16 2 0 125000.0

No reportable incidents on file.

MSHA has no recorded reportable accidents for this mine in the current dataset. New reports appear here within a week of being filed.