Mining Incidents

Giant Cement Company: 1 recorded fatality operator

Controlled by Heidelberg Materials AG
MSHA operator ID: L17329

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Fatalities
1
Total incidents
251
Mines on record
2
Years on record
1999–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
1,917
citations
377
significant & substantial
$3,358,766
proposed penalties
$2,073,095
paid to date
62% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,285,671 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
314
inspections on record
12,695
inspection hours
15.1
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.
1,917 citations across 12,695 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.
$3.4M
proposed penalties
$2.3M
current assessed
$2.1M
paid to date
$235K
outstanding
1,882 assessments are final orders; 99 contested dockets.
Of $2.9M in penalties contested before the Commission, $1.7M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-04-14.
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.
19.9%
significant & substantial
13.9%
high negligence or reckless
20.1%
reasonably likely or greater
47.3%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 12.2% low, 73.7% moderate, 13.6% high, 0.3% 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.
3.24
total case rate
0.81
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2026 5.86 2.93 0.000
2025 3.24 0.81 0.000
2024 2.01 0.40 0.000
2023 2.10 0.42 0.000
2022 3.46 1.30 0.432
2021 4.77 1.30 0.000
2020 2.23 2.23 0.000
2019 2.85 0.95 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.

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2026-07-30
2%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
254
samples
229
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Nuisance dust, total, <1% Qtz133 over
  • Calcium oxide81 over
  • 1,2-Dichloroetha42
  • Acetone42

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2026-07-30
16
samples
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), 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.
823 citations taken to the federal commission · 43% of citations on record
  • Settled 810 · 98%
  • Stood as issued 12 · 1%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 0%
75%
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 319 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
39%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$2.7M proposed, $1.7M 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 2025-06-29. 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
SE 2023-0224 Settlement Bulluck 2024 $257K → $200K
SE 2013-586M Settlement Bulluck 2015 $182K → $118K
SE 2025-0139 Settlement Young 2026 $135K → $91K
SE 2010-373M Settlement Melick 2012 $127K → $54K
SE 2025-0033 Settlement Lewis 2025 $103K → $68K
SE 2010-105M Settlement Lesnick 2013 $96K → $45K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2026
7
2025
8
2024
6
2023
6
2022
10 (1f)
2021
13
2020
6
2019
7
2018
10
2017
4
2016
14
2015
12
2014
8
2013
1
2012
9
2011
5
2010
1
2009
16
2008
8
2007
13
2006
11
2005
9
2004
27
2003
13
2002
6
2001
11
2000
9
1999
1

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

1 recorded
July 21, 2022 SC · Metal/Non-Metal utility man, shift tech, service/dump truck operator Fatality · MACHINERY
Giant Cement Company · Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

The employee was near a screw conveyor on the 3rd floor of the finish mill 2 building. At some point their hand and arm became entangled in the screw conveyor. Emergency response was called immediately and the employee was transported to a hospital. The hospital later reported that the employee passed away.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Giant Cement 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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