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Progress Coal: 3 recorded fatalities operator

Controlled by Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
MSHA operator ID: P24044

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Fatalities
3
Total incidents
221
Mines on record
3
Years on record
1998–2013
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
690
citations
297
significant & substantial
$730,147
proposed penalties
$545,876
paid to date
75% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $184,271 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
136
inspections on record
9,246
inspection hours
7.5
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.
690 citations across 9,246 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.
$730K
proposed penalties
$548K
current assessed
$546K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
669 assessments are final orders; 32 contested dockets.
Of $459K in penalties contested before the Commission, $279K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2014-02-04.
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.
44.2%
significant & substantial
4.8%
high negligence or reckless
50.4%
reasonably likely or greater
25.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.1% none, 7.7% low, 87.3% moderate, 4.8% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2014
ⓘ 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 3.96 and the all-US-mining average was 2.93 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2014 0.00 0.00 0.000
2013 1.28 0.32 0.000
2012 1.12 0.84 0.000
2011 2.38 0.79 0.000
2010 0.74 0.18 0.000
2009 1.16 0.58 0.000
2008 1.15 0.00 0.000
2007 1.78 1.34 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: 2013-08-05, 13 years ago
100%
within 1.5 mg/m3
248
samples
1.17
dust max (mg/m3)
161 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 87 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • STRIPPING SHOVEL OPERATOR81
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR55
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR50

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2013-03-29, 13 years ago
23.2
silica avg (%)
16
samples
52.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR7
  • STRIPPING SHOVEL OPERATOR5
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR4
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: 2013-03-22, 13 years ago
21%
over PEL
42
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE12
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR10
  • HIGHWALL DRILL OPERATOR8
See US mines ranked by noise samples over the legal limit.
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.
172 citations taken to the federal commission · 25% of citations on record
  • Settled 142 · 83%
  • Stood as issued 29 · 17%
  • Vacated or withdrawn 1 · 1%
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 150 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
39%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$454K proposed, $278K 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 2012-02-22. 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
WEVA 2007-835 Settlement Weisberger 2011 $143K → $62K
WEVA 2005-96 Settlement Weisberger 2006 $67K → $30K
WEVA 2010-22 Settlement Rae 2011 $45K → $37K
WEVA 2007-789 Settlement Melick 2008 $20K → $10K
WEVA 2010-980 Dismissal Lesnick 2012 $19K → $19K
WEVA 2009-1912 Settlement Lewis 2011 $19K → $15K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2013
5
2012
6
2011
11
2010
11
2009
12
2008
20
2007
21
2006
29
2005
14
2004
4
2003
16 (2f)
2002
25
2001
15 (1f)
2000
7
1999
14
1998
11

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

3 recorded
September 17, 2003 WV · Coal drill helper Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Progress Coal · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

PORTAL VAN PULLED IN FRONT OF A 190 EUCLID ROCK TRUCK. THE TRUCK PULLED INTO THE VAN, CRUSHING THE VAN. IT WAS DARK AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.

September 17, 2003 WV · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Progress Coal · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

PORTAL VAN PULLED IN FRONT OF A 190 EUCLID ROCK TRUCK. ROCK TRUCK PULLED INTO VAN, CRUSHING THE VAN. IT WAS DARK AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.

September 14, 2001 WV · Coal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech Fatality · MACHINERY
Progress Coal · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

EE ENTERED THE MANLIFT TO BE LOWERED TO THE GROUND, AS THE MANLIFT BEGAN TO DESCEND THE SUPPORT TUBE BROKE AND IT APPEARS TO HAVE STRUCK HE IN THIS HEAD. EMT'S ADMINISTERED FIRST AID AT THE JO B SITE UNTIL HEALTH NET WHERE HE PAST AWAY.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Progress Coal 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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