Mining Incidents

Ohio County Coal Company: 2,020 MSHA citations operator

MSHA operator ID: P23175

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
279
Mines on record
3
Years on record
1995–2006
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
2,020
citations
391
significant & substantial
$400,907
proposed penalties
$330,346
paid to date
82% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $70,561 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
255
inspections on record
18,374
inspection hours
11.0
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.
2,020 citations across 18,374 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.
$401K
proposed penalties
$330K
current assessed
$330K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
1,984 assessments are final orders; 42 contested dockets.
Of $200K in penalties contested before the Commission, $119K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2007-01-16.
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.
19.6%
significant & substantial
6.5%
high negligence or reckless
20.2%
reasonably likely or greater
7.7%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 4.5% low, 89.0% moderate, 6.5% high, 0.0% reckless.
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.
5.39
total case rate
3.97
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above 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 5.39 3.97 0.000
2005 4.72 3.25 0.000
2004 3.86 3.54 0.000
2003 7.74 7.04 0.000
2002 16.80 14.77 0.000
2001 16.78 15.98 0.000
2000 8.62 8.62 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: 2007-01-10, 19 years ago
76%
within 1.5 mg/m3
1,818
samples
6.89
dust max (mg/m3)
932 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 886 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR774
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)257
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)216

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2006-12-19, 19 years ago
1.5
silica avg (%)
184
samples
6.3
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR122

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: 2006-10-31, 19 years ago
16%
over PEL
294
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)70
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR60
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (INTAKE SIDE)43
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.
180 citations taken to the federal commission · 9% of citations on record
  • Settled 174 · 97%
  • Stood as issued 5 · 3%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 1%
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 143 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
39%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$176K proposed, $107K 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 2008-02-29. 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
KENT 2007-46 Settlement Barbour 2009 $42K → $24K
KENT 2007-82 Settlement Weisberger 2009 $24K → $16K
KENT 2007-167 Settlement Zielinski 2008 $17K → $10K
KENT 2007-273 Prevail Zielinski 2010 $14K → $2K
KENT 2006-469 Settlement Zielinski 2008 $13K → $10K
KENT 2007-137 Settlement Zielinski 2008 $11K → $7K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2006
32
2005
35
2004
33
2003
30
2002
37
2001
23
2000
10
1999
5
1998
15
1997
34
1996
21
1995
4

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Ohio County 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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