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Sims Mine: 19 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Controlled by Imerys S A
Milburn, KY, Carlisle County, KY  ·  Intermittent
MSHA Mine ID: 1504512

Sims Mine has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
13
Years on record
1988–2010
Latest incident
May 2010
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2001
19
citations
5
significant & substantial
$2,019
proposed penalties
$952
paid to date
47% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,067 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
See Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company's full MSHA compliance history →
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
50
inspections on record
522
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: 522 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Sims Mine has $2K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K 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.
$2K
proposed penalties
$2K
current assessed
$952
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
19 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $100 in penalties contested before the Commission, $100 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-08-05.
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.
26.3%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
26.3%
reasonably likely or greater
68.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 5.3% low, 94.7% 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.
1 citations taken to the federal commission · 5% of citations on record
  • Settled 1 · 100%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$100 proposed, $100 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 2010-12-13.
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
KENT 2011-346M Settlement Tureck 2011 $100 → $100
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
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: 2025-08-05
5
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg5
Show the individual readings (5)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2025-08-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Rotary Bucket Ex. Operator
2025-08-05 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Bulldozer Operator
2011-11-17 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Mechanic
2011-11-17 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Backhoe Operator
2009-09-29 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.

Sims Mine recorded 0.00 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2004.

Injury rate, 2004
ⓘ 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.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
No reportable injury cases in any year shown. Employee-hours were reported in each of those years, so these are true zeros rather than missing data. Citations, listed in the compliance record above, are inspector-found violations and are counted separately from worker injuries.
Below average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 3.73 and the all-US-mining average was 4.33 cases per 100 workers.
In Kentucky, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 3.35 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
2004 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2003 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2002 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2001 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2000 * 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.
Ownership history
  1. Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company 1950 to 1983
  2. Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company 1983 to 1988
  3. Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company 1988 to 2001
  4. Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company 2001 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 7
2025 7
2024 7
2023 6
2022 5
2021 5
2020 5
2019 3
2018 3
2017 2
2016 1
2015 1
2014 1
2013 2
2012 5
2011 6
2010 6
2009 5
2008 4
2007 8
2006 10
2005 11
2004 11
2003 15
2002 18
2001 16
2000 16
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Sims Mine sits in Carlisle County, Kentucky, where the Census mining category is 0.0% 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.
Carlisle County, Kentucky · Population 4,763
0.0%
Mining share of county employment
$62,019
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 99 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 593 0 0 0.0
2025 Q4 341 0 0 0.0
2025 Q3 65 1 0 15384.6
2025 Q2 48 0 0 0.0
2025 Q1 185 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 39 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 119 0 0 0.0
Show 97 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q2 11 0 0 0.0
2024 Q1 7 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 27 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 143 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 23 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 111 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 176 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 108 0 0 0.0
2022 Q2 137 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 142 1 0 7042.3
2021 Q4 132 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 106 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 92 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 146 0 0 0.0
2020 Q4 91 0 0 0.0
2020 Q3 68 0 0 0.0
2020 Q2 88 0 0 0.0
2020 Q1 229 0 0 0.0
2019 Q4 112 0 0 0.0
2019 Q2 12 0 0 0.0
2019 Q1 279 0 0 0.0
2018 Q4 8 0 0 0.0
2018 Q3 26 0 0 0.0
2018 Q2 18 0 0 0.0
2018 Q1 35 0 0 0.0
2017 Q4 11 0 0 0.0
2017 Q3 42 0 0 0.0
2017 Q2 23 0 0 0.0
2017 Q1 10 0 0 0.0
2016 Q4 6 0 0 0.0
2016 Q3 13 0 0 0.0
2016 Q2 6 0 0 0.0
2016 Q1 6 0 0 0.0
2015 Q4 6 0 0 0.0
2015 Q3 2 0 0 0.0
2015 Q2 6 0 0 0.0
2015 Q1 6 0 0 0.0
2014 Q4 6 0 0 0.0
2014 Q3 6 0 0 0.0
2014 Q2 6 0 0 0.0
2014 Q1 6 0 0 0.0
2013 Q4 6 0 0 0.0
2013 Q3 6 0 0 0.0
2013 Q2 6 0 0 0.0
2013 Q1 930 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 1,525 1 0 655.7
2012 Q3 1,711 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 1,866 0 0 0.0
2012 Q1 1,907 0 0 0.0
2011 Q4 1,758 0 0 0.0
2011 Q3 2,126 0 0 0.0
2011 Q2 2,157 1 1 463.6
2011 Q1 2,115 0 0 0.0
2010 Q4 1,694 1 0 590.3
2010 Q3 2,774 1 0 360.5
2010 Q2 2,654 0 0 0.0
2010 Q1 2,828 0 0 0.0
2009 Q4 2,009 0 0 0.0
2009 Q3 1,865 0 0 0.0
2009 Q2 1,971 0 0 0.0
2009 Q1 1,972 0 0 0.0
2008 Q4 1,896 0 0 0.0
2008 Q3 2,017 0 0 0.0
2008 Q2 1,548 0 0 0.0
2008 Q1 2,181 0 0 0.0
2007 Q4 3,195 0 0 0.0
2007 Q3 3,752 0 0 0.0
2007 Q2 3,926 0 0 0.0
2007 Q1 5,283 0 0 0.0
2006 Q4 5,834 0 0 0.0
2006 Q3 4,775 0 0 0.0
2006 Q2 4,188 1 0 238.8
2006 Q1 4,598 0 0 0.0
2005 Q4 3,412 0 0 0.0
2005 Q3 3,431 0 0 0.0
2005 Q2 5,735 0 0 0.0
2005 Q1 4,191 0 0 0.0
2004 Q4 4,955 0 0 0.0
2004 Q3 5,953 0 0 0.0
2004 Q2 5,112 1 0 195.6
2004 Q1 5,988 0 0 0.0
2003 Q4 7,229 0 0 0.0
2003 Q3 9,715 0 0 0.0
2003 Q2 8,762 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 6,600 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 10,026 0 0 0.0
2002 Q3 10,716 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 10,052 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 8,452 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 8,187 0 0 0.0
2001 Q3 8,494 0 0 0.0
2001 Q2 8,682 2 0 230.4
2001 Q1 8,588 0 0 0.0
2000 Q4 8,138 0 0 0.0
2000 Q3 10,915 0 0 0.0
2000 Q2 9,942 0 0 0.0
2000 Q1 9,543 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

13 on file

2010 · 1 incident

May 10, 2010 KY · Metal/Non-Metal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

While in the process of hanging a mirror in the mop/wash room of the mine shop the glass broke sticking a piece of it in his right arm.

1994 · 5 incidents

September 20, 1994 KY · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Caught in, under or between collapsing material or buildings

INJURED WAS STACKING BAGS, 2 BAGS WERE BACK TOBACK. HE REACHE DAN DGRABBED THE FIRST BAG AND THREW IT ON THE STACK, TWISTED AND GRABBED THE SECOND BAG AND THREW IT ON THE STACK. HE FELT A SHA RP PAIN IN HIS LOWER BACK WHEN HE GRABBED THE FIRST BAG.

August 22, 1994 KY · Metal/Non-Metal front-end loader, scraper-loader operator, pan operator, payloader, scraper rig operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Fall to the walkway or working surface

THE OPERATOR WAS PUSHING A LUMP OF CLAY OUT OF THE HOPPER WHEN HE TURNED TO GET BACK ON THE LOADER HE SLIPPED & FELL THE FLOOR WAS SLICK IT HAD MUD & WATER I THE AREA

August 22, 1994 KY · Metal/Non-Metal clerk, timekeeper, office worker, director of sales HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Over-exertion in pulling or pushing objects

EE STOOPED DOWN TO PULL OUT A BOX OF COMPUTER PAPER OUT FROM UNDERNEATH HER DESK WHEN SHE FELT ACATCH IN HER BACK SHE NEVER PULLED THE BOX OUT

July 8, 1994 KY · Metal/Non-Metal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

WAS HELPING TWO OTHER EMPLOYEES LOAD A TRUCK TIRE & RIM FROM FLOOR TO LOADER BUCKET WHICH WAS ON GROUND EE THOUGHT HE HAD PULLED A MUSCLE HE FELT A PULL IN HIS LOWER BACK WHEN HE PUSHED A TIRE TO STRAIGHTEN IT UP

June 24, 1994 KY · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver OTHER
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Over-exertion (Not Elsewhere Classified)

INJURED IS RECEIVING MORE TIME OFF DUE TO A PINCHED NERVE WHICH IS CAUSING PAIN IN THE RIGHT ARM AND NECK.

1993 · 3 incidents

November 3, 1993 KY · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED)
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Over-exertion in pulling or pushing objects

EMPLOYEE THOUGHT HE WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK ON 11/4/93; WENT TO DOCTOR DIAGNOSIS-PINCHED NERVE. ON 11/3/93 HE WAW PUNCHING LUMP CLAY IN TRUCK BED. AT THIS TIME HE DID NOT SAY THIS WAS WORK R ELATED. HE HAS BEEN RECEIVING SICK PAY FROM K-T CLAY UNTIL 12/13/93. HE NOW STATES IT IS WORK RELATED.

October 28, 1993 KY · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Fall to lower level, (Not Elsewhere Classified)

EMPLOYEE WAS HELPING SURVEY. HE WAS WALKING DOWNA SLOPE, SLIPPED AND FELL. HE CAUGHT HIMSELF WITH ARM. HE PULLED A MUSCLE IN NECK.

April 21, 1993 KY · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Fall from machine

EMPLOYEE WAS GETTING OFF GRADER, STEPPED ON CLODOF DIRT AND TWISTED HIS KNEE. DID NOT SEE THE DR. UNTIL SAT. APRIL 24. LACK OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EMPLOYEE AND SUPERVISOR. THE CLAIM WAS MAILED TO OUR MEDICAL INSURANCE CARRIER FOR PAY AFTER CHECKING ON ACCIDENT IT WAS DISCOVERED IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN W/C.

1991 · 1 incident

January 18, 1991 KY · Metal/Non-Metal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer POWERED HAULAGE
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Struck against a moving object

EE WAS BACKING HIS TRUCK UP TO BACKHOE TO BLOADED. HIS TRUCK WENT THRU A SOFT SPOT CAUSING THE TRUCK TO ROCK AND BOUNCE THE TRUCK STRUCK THE BACKHOE CAUSING EE TO HIT HIS HEAD ON LEFT SIDE WIN DOW FRAME OF TRUCK.

1989 · 1 incident

November 29, 1989 KY · Metal/Non-Metal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Struck against stationary object

CLEANING MUD OUT OF BELLY PAN DOZER AND HIT HIS ELBOW.

1988 · 2 incidents

July 7, 1988 KY · Metal/Non-Metal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Kentucky-Tennessee Clay Company · Over-exertion in pulling or pushing objects

EMPLOYEE WAS PULLING ON PUMP HOSE AND HURT SHOULDER.