Onyx Energy, LLC · Fall to the walkway or working surface
Worker was throwing a switch at the loadout and slip and fell and broke a small bone in EE's foot.
Switchback Loadout Coal
Onyx Energy, LLC
· Facility
Controlled by
Mohegan Energy Trustees LLC
Elkhorn,
Mcdowell County,
WV
·
Active
MSHA Mine ID: 4609441
Switchback Loadout has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 0 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 2
- Years on record
- 2013–2026
- Latest incident
- Feb 2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2012
65
citations
14
significant & substantial
$8,922
proposed penalties
$6,908
paid to date
77% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $2,014 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2012
38
inspections on record
788
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: 788 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Switchback Loadout has $9K in proposed MSHA penalties and $2K outstanding across 0 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.$9K
proposed penalties
$9K
current assessed
$7K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
58 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-11-12.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
See also
the operator's enforcement record
MSHA sampling at Switchback Loadout shows respirable coal dust averaging 0.17 mg/m3 (100% compliant) across 71 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.0.17
dust avg (mg/m3)
0.60
dust max (mg/m3)
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
71
samples
Most recent sample: 2026-06-16.
Noise
0%
over PEL
47
samples
Most recent sample: 2025-11-17.
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 | 2,311 | 3 | 1 | 1298.1 |
| 2025 Q3 | 2,376 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2025 Q2 | 2,888 | 5 | 0 | 1731.3 |
| 2025 Q1 | 2,396 | 3 | 0 | 1252.1 |
| 2024 Q4 | 2,122 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2024 Q3 | 2,212 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2024 Q2 | 2,570 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2024 Q1 | 2,758 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
Show 42 earlier quarters Hide earlier quarters
| Quarter | Hours worked | Citations | S&S | Per 1M hrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 Q4 | 2,838 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2023 Q3 | 2,747 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2023 Q2 | 2,522 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2023 Q1 | 2,803 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2022 Q4 | 2,813 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2022 Q3 | 3,338 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2022 Q2 | 3,388 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2022 Q1 | 3,511 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2021 Q4 | 3,582 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2021 Q3 | 3,696 | 2 | 0 | 541.1 |
| 2021 Q2 | 3,446 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2021 Q1 | 3,619 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2020 Q4 | 3,459 | 3 | 0 | 867.3 |
| 2020 Q3 | 3,703 | 16 | 5 | 4320.8 |
| 2020 Q2 | 3,556 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2020 Q1 | 3,150 | 3 | 1 | 952.4 |
| 2019 Q4 | 3,409 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2019 Q3 | 3,641 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2019 Q2 | 4,840 | 4 | 0 | 826.4 |
| 2019 Q1 | 4,746 | 1 | 0 | 210.7 |
| 2018 Q4 | 2,483 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2018 Q3 | 3,353 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2018 Q2 | 3,750 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2018 Q1 | 2,985 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2017 Q4 | 2,399 | 10 | 4 | 4168.4 |
| 2017 Q3 | 2,558 | 2 | 0 | 781.9 |
| 2017 Q2 | 3,152 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2017 Q1 | 1,814 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2016 Q4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2016 Q3 | 28,075 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2016 Q2 | 18,036 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2016 Q1 | 12,518 | 1 | 0 | 79.9 |
| 2015 Q4 | 5,938 | 1 | 0 | 168.4 |
| 2015 Q3 | 2,751 | 1 | 0 | 363.5 |
| 2015 Q2 | 1,474 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2015 Q1 | 2,313 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2014 Q4 | 2,288 | 1 | 0 | 437.1 |
| 2014 Q3 | 2,419 | 1 | 0 | 413.4 |
| 2014 Q2 | 1,867 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2014 Q1 | 1,541 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2013 Q4 | 1,722 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 2013 Q3 | 1,091 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
2 on file2026 · 1 incident
2013 · 1 incident
May 2, 2013
WV · Coal
laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman
SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Onyx Energy, LLC · Fall to the walkway or working surface
Loose ground and employee fell injuring his left hand when trying to catch himself. Employee sought medical treatment on 5/2/13 and x-rays were negative and return to work 5/3/13. Employee on modified duty until 5/9/13 no lost time.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
The full compliance file on Switchback Loadout
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.