94% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $23,405 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
194
inspections on record
8,402
inspection hours
6.1
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.
512 citations across 8,402 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Penalty disposition
ⓘDifferences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$368K
proposed penalties
$344K
current assessed
$344K
paid to date
$20
outstanding
505 assessments are final orders; 21 contested dockets.
Of $175K in penalties contested before the Commission, $115K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2016-07-13.
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.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2016
ⓘ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.
3.03
total case rate
1.89
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.79 and the all-US-mining average was 2.59 cases per 100 workers.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2016
3.03
1.89
0.000
2015
1.94
1.62
0.000
2014
0.99
0.66
0.000
2013
0.99
0.16
0.000
2012
0.43
0.14
0.000
2011
0.98
0.28
0.000
2010
1.31
0.58
0.000
2009
0.59
0.15
0.000
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.
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.
Last sampled: 2016-07-07, 10 years ago
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
590
samples
7.51
dust max (mg/m3)
0
over MSHA ECV
ⓘThe excessive concentration value (ECV) is MSHA's own per-sample enforcement threshold, which builds in measurement uncertainty; a sample over its ECV can trigger a citation. The count covers only samples MSHA assigned an ECV.
432 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 158 by the operator.
Noise
ⓘThe share counts noise samples whose measured dose exceeded the 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. It describes the sampled workplace, not what reached the miner's ear: hearing conservation programs and the hearing protection worn during the shift are recorded separately and are not reflected here.
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.
37citations taken to the federal commission · 7% of citations on record
Settled
32 · 86%
Stood as issued
4 · 11%
Vacated or withdrawn
1 · 3%
70%
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 23 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
17%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$138K proposed, $115K 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 2016-12-21. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.
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 operator contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
September 9, 2003WY · Coallaborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitmanFatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Alpha Coal West, Inc. · Struck by flying object
VICTIM'S 3/4 TON PICK-UP TRUCK WAS PULLING SHOVEL TRAILING CABLE AND HAD BECOME STUCK OR THERE WAS LOSS OF TRACTION; THERE WAS A 2ND PICK-UP HOOKED UP TO THE 1ST TRUCK WITH A 1"NYLON ROPE. TH E ROPE WAS PLACED ON A HOOK WHILE TOWING; THE HOOK ON THE TOWING TRUCK FAILED CAUSING THE HOOK TO SLINGSHOT THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF THE TOWED TRUCK, STRIKING THE VICTIM.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Alpha Coal West, Inc. stands on silica, penalties, and injury rate
MSHA's standard limits respirable silica to 50 micrograms per cubic metre, but MSHA publishes
dust and quartz as separate files and never the silica figure itself. We derive it per sample,
score it against the limit, and set the operator's injury rate against a benchmark built from
the full MSHA operator record. With the 26-year penalty trail, contest posture, and fatality
history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.