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Old Ben Coal Company: 1,216 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Horizon Natural Resources Incorporated
MSHA operator ID: P24188

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
268
Mines on record
2
Years on record
1998–2004
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
1,216
citations
361
significant & substantial
$289,299
proposed penalties
$235,409
paid to date
81% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $53,890 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
277
inspections on record
14,155
inspection hours
8.6
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.
1,216 citations across 14,155 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.
$289K
proposed penalties
$235K
current assessed
$235K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
1,207 assessments are final orders; 6 contested dockets.
Of $61K in penalties contested before the Commission, $8K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2004-09-23.
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.
29.8%
significant & substantial
1.7%
high negligence or reckless
29.8%
reasonably likely or greater
27.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 12.7% low, 85.5% moderate, 1.7% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2004
ⓘ 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.
9.86
total case rate
9.37
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US coal mining average was 5.57 and the all-US-mining average was 4.33 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2004 9.86 9.37 0.000
2003 8.68 5.90 0.000
2002 6.81 5.67 0.000
2001 14.85 10.35 0.000
2000 18.32 14.56 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: 2004-09-20, 21 years ago
81%
within 1.5 mg/m3
2,234
samples
9.26
dust max (mg/m3)
1,038 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 1,196 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1,053
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)390
  • UTILITY MAN73

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2004-09-21, 21 years ago
3.5
silica avg (%)
294
samples
38.6
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR150
  • LABORER/BLACKSMITH2
See US coal mines ranked by silica in their dust samples.

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: 2004-07-13, 22 years ago
14%
over PEL
117
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR23
  • SHUTTLE CAR OPERATOR (STANDARD SIDE)22
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)10
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly.
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
LAKE 2003-142 Settlement Bulluck 2003 $39K → $5K
LAKE 2003-168 Settlement Bulluck 2004 $17K → $2K
LAKE20030016 Settlement Bulluck 2004 $4K → $490
LAKE 2003-141 Settlement Bulluck 2004 $1K → $150
LAKE20030034 Dismissal Bulluck 2003 $275 → $0
LAKE20000172 Withdrawal 2000 $150 → $0
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2004
23
2003
31
2002
29
2001
52
2000
53
1999
52
1998
28

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Old Ben 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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