Mining Incidents

Fisher Mining Company: 250 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by John A Blaschak
MSHA operator ID: P03211

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
25
Mines on record
1
Years on record
1984–2024
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
250
citations
101
significant & substantial
$93,242
proposed penalties
$66,280
paid to date
71% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $26,962 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
121
inspections on record
5,770
inspection hours
4.3
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.
250 citations across 5,770 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.
$93K
proposed penalties
$66K
current assessed
$66K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
247 assessments are final orders; 9 contested dockets.
Of $49K in penalties contested before the Commission, $22K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-04-30.
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.
40.4%
significant & substantial
3.2%
high negligence or reckless
40.4%
reasonably likely or greater
24.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.4% none, 30.4% low, 66.0% moderate, 3.2% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
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 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 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
2025 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 * 4.75 4.75 0.000
2023 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2022 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2021 * 3.11 0.00 0.000
2020 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 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.
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: 2026-07-28
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
553
samples
3.16
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.
384 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 169 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR97
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR96
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER92

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2018-07-12, 8 years ago
17.1
silica avg (%)
5
samples
25.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR2
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR1
  • MECHANIC1

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: 2026-04-30
3%
over PEL
212
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER45
  • OILER/GREASER32
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR30
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.
29 citations taken to the federal commission · 12% of citations on record
  • Settled 25 · 86%
  • Stood as issued 4 · 14%
65%
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 20 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
55%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$49K proposed, $22K 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 2017-03-09. 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 2008-43 Settlement Bulluck 2008 $28K → $16K
PENN 2017-0131 Settlement Lesnick 2017 $10K → $642
PENN 2017-0038 Settlement Andrews 2018 $5K → $3K
PENN 2013-39 Settlement Bulluck 2013 $3K → $138
PENN 2012-67 Settlement Steele 2013 $2K → $1K
PENN 2017-0022 Settlement Andrews 2018 $2K → $456
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2024
1
2021
1
2017
1
2015
1
2013
1
2011
2
2010
1
2007
1
2006
2
2005
1
2004
1
1996
1
1994
1
1992
2
1991
1
1990
4
1988
1
1987
1
1984
1

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Fisher Mining 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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