Mining Incidents

Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company: 3 recorded fatalities operator

Controlled by CONSOL Energy Inc
MSHA operator ID: P13011

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Fatalities
3
Total incidents
2,192
Mines on record
2
Years on record
1983–2009
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
7,519
citations
2,870
significant & substantial
$4,454,297
proposed penalties
$3,175,439
paid to date
71% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,278,858 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
2,654
inspections on record
116,972
inspection hours
6.4
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.
7,519 citations across 116,972 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.
$4.5M
proposed penalties
$3.2M
current assessed
$3.2M
paid to date
$0
outstanding
7,372 assessments are final orders; 148 contested dockets.
Of $3.0M in penalties contested before the Commission, $1.7M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2009-11-17.
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.
38.8%
significant & substantial
1.6%
high negligence or reckless
39.7%
reasonably likely or greater
9.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.4% none, 14.6% low, 83.4% moderate, 1.5% high, 0.1% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2009
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.
2.65
total case rate
2.26
days-away rate
0.056
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 4.16 and the all-US-mining average was 3.36 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2009 2.65 2.26 0.056
2008 2.96 2.34 0.000
2007 5.12 4.14 0.000
2006 4.14 3.27 0.000
2005 5.51 4.78 0.000
2004 5.43 4.03 0.000
2003 5.36 4.29 0.000
2002 6.39 5.33 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: 2009-11-21, 16 years ago
89%
within 1.5 mg/m3
11,205
samples
72.08
dust max (mg/m3)
5,024 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 6,181 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR3,722
  • LONGWALL OPERATOR (TAILGATE SIDE)1,161
  • ROOF BOLTER (MOUNTED) (RETURN SIDE)525

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2009-12-03, 16 years ago
4.8
silica avg (%)
567
samples
41.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • LONGWALL OPERATOR (TAILGATE SIDE)171
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR154
  • LONGWALL(RETURN-SIDE FACE WORKER)40

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.

Last sampled: 2009-11-10, 16 years ago
37%
over PEL
629
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR85
  • LOADING MACHINE OPERATOR80
  • ROOF BOLTER (MOUNTED) (RETURN SIDE)77
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, 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.
961 citations taken to the federal commission · 13% of citations on record
  • Settled 958 · 100%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 0%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 2 · 0%
84%
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 776 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
44%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2.9M proposed, $1.6M 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 2010-01-14. 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.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
PENN 2009-59 Settlement Feldman 2010 $383K → $241K
PENN 2009-84 Settlement Bulluck 2012 $351K → $218K
PENN 2008-640 Settlement Melick 2009 $196K → $84K
PENN 2009-58 Settlement Feldman 2010 $165K → $89K
PENN 2009-96 Settlement Barbour 2013 $159K → $52K
PENN 2009-522 Settlement Harner 2011 $102K → $38K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2009
87 (1f)
2008
87
2007
133
2006
123
2005
130
2004
124
2003
137
2002
136
2001
121
2000
117 (1f)
1999
102
1998
111
1997
105 (1f)
1996
79
1995
92
1994
56
1993
68
1992
106
1991
73
1990
49
1989
32
1988
18
1987
19
1986
19
1985
20
1984
24
1983
24

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

3 recorded
June 23, 2009 PA · Coal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) Fatality · FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company · Struck by falling object

Employee was in the process of setting or had set a roof jack, on the left inby corner or #60 Crosscut between the No 2 and No. 1 entry in the 4 west miner section. A piece of stone fell out of the roof and struck the employee, pinning him to the ground.

October 29, 2000 PA · Coal mine manager, mine foreman, mine owner Fatality · MACHINERY
Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

AT THE BUNKER TAIL SHAFT AREA, MECHANICS WERE GETTING READY TO TAKE SLACK OUT OF "B" CHAIN TO PULL SLACK WHEN A WELD THAT HELD THE TENSION ARM IN PLACE BROKE. THE RELEASED TENSION ARM CAME UP THROUGH THE STEPS WHERE THE VICTIM WAS STANDING CAUSING SEVERE LACERATION TO FEMORAL ARTERY IN HIS GROIN AREA.

February 7, 1997 PA · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company · Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

17B LONGWALL WAS IDLE FOR MAINTENENCE & REPAIRS. A RAM JACK WAS BEING TRANSPORTED THROUGH THE STAGELOADER ON THE CHAIN CONVEYOR. THE EMPLOYEE STEPPED ONTO THE STAGELOADER CHAIN TO CHECK THE PO SITION OF THE JACK. THE STAGELOADER CHAIN STARTED & HE WAS PULLED INTO THE STAGELOADER CAUSING THE CRUSHING INJURIES.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company 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.

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