67% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $4,730,786 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Labor enforcement (WHD)
US Labor Department wage findings since 2005
1
labor cases
$809,993
back wages owed
545
employees affected
Violation types
Wage & hour (FLSA) (1)
Source: US DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement records, matched by employer name and state.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2001
1,203
inspections on record
52,194
inspection hours
14.8
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.
7,713 citations across 52,194 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.
$14.5M
proposed penalties
$9.8M
current assessed
$9.8M
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
7,583 assessments are final orders; 155 contested dockets.
Of $11.7M in penalties contested before the Commission, $6.6M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2023-03-21.
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, 2019
ⓘ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
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.39 and the all-US-mining average was 2.32 cases per 100 workers.
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
2019 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2018 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2017 *
3.55
3.55
0.000
2016 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2015 *
8.28
0.00
0.000
2014 *
0.00
0.00
0.000
2013
8.47
5.08
0.000
2012
6.74
3.27
0.204
* 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.
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: 2020-01-07, 6 years ago
80%
within 1.5 mg/m3
5,465
samples
7.61
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.
2,693 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 2,772 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.
1,505citations taken to the federal commission · 20% of citations on record
Settled
1,446 · 96%
Stood as issued
57 · 4%
Vacated or withdrawn
2 · 0%
80%
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 1,054 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
42%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$11.3M proposed, $6.6M 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 2014-03-07. 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.
Big Ridge Inc · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
The EE was operating the C.M., he was making the first cut in the C.C. left from No. 4 to No. 5 entry. After making the initial cut,EE backed the C.M. into C.C. between No. 4 and 3 entries to set the machine to slab the right side of the cut. As he backed the machine into the C.C., he was pinned between the outby rib of the C.C. and the left side of the cutter head. (See attached)
July 9, 2010IL · Coalbull gang foreman, labor foreman, leadman, section foreman, shift bossFatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Big Ridge Inc · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
A Supervisor was found lying in an active roadway intersection with fatal injuries that would appear to have been caused by a coal hauler running over his body. There were no eyewitnesses. The investigation is ongoing.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Big Ridge 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.