98% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $18,780 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
820
inspections on record
30,193
inspection hours
11.3
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.
3,418 citations across 30,193 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.
$853K
proposed penalties
$835K
current assessed
$835K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
3,379 assessments are final orders; 24 contested dockets.
Of $98K in penalties contested before the Commission, $57K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2009-07-29.
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, 2006
ⓘ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.
3.43
total case rate
3.43
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 4.87 and the all-US-mining average was 3.91 cases per 100 workers.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2006
3.43
3.43
0.000
2005
2.92
2.08
0.000
2004
9.33
7.84
0.000
2003
6.50
5.35
0.000
2002
7.87
6.00
0.375
2001
7.18
6.20
0.000
2000
4.95
4.12
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: 2006-03-31, 20 years ago
77%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,366
samples
15.66
dust max (mg/m3)
608 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 758 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.
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.
January 28, 2002VA · Coalwarehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operatorFatality · EXPLODING VESSELS UNDER PRESSURE
Island Creek Coal Company · Struck by flying object
IT IS THE BELIEF OF THE INVESTIGATION TEAMS THATTHE VICTIM WAS STANDING APPROX. 8' FROM A PUMP AT ITS ON/OFF SWITCH. UPON DEENERGIZING THE PUMPA CONDITION WITHIN THE PUMP CAUSED IT TO EXPLODE PROPELLING THE IMPELLER COVER PLATE STRIKING THEVICTIM ON THE TORSO AND PELVIS.
September 19, 1999VA · Coalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techFatality · HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Island Creek Coal Company · Struck by falling object
EMPLOYEE WAS HELPING UNLOAD POWER ASSEMBLIES. WHEN HE REACHED FOR CRANE CABLE HE LOST HIS BALANCE AND FELL. AS HE FELL FROM THE FLAT BED TRUCK HE GRABBED HOLD OF TWO POWER ASSEMBLIES PULLING T HEM DOWN ON TOP OF HIM RESULTING IN HIS DEATH.
Island Creek Coal Company · Struck by falling object
MINING HAD JUST BEEN COMPLETED IN THE 2 LEFT CROSSCUT ON THE 4 WEST SECTION. AS EE WAS MAKING PREPARATIONS TO TRAM THE CONTINUOUS MINER OUT OF THE WORKING PLACE, A RIB ROLLED OUT OF A PROJETED FACE AREA.
Island Creek Coal Company · Caught in, under or between (Not Elsewhere Classified)
WHILE HELPING REPAIR THE BELT DRIVE CHAIN, HE POSITIONED HIMSELF BETWEEN THE BELT AND FRAME, THE BELT UNEXPECTEDLY STARTED, PULLING HIM INTO BELT DRIVE.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Island Creek 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.