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Sigmon Coal Company, Inc.: 379 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by James A Sigmon
MSHA operator ID: P16825

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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Sigmon Coal Company, Inc. mine.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
44
Mines on record
4
Years on record
1989–2010
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
379
citations
189
significant & substantial
$63,689
proposed penalties
$54,833
paid to date
86% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $8,856 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
196
inspections on record
3,656
inspection hours
10.4
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.
379 citations across 3,656 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.
$64K
proposed penalties
$55K
current assessed
$55K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
377 assessments are final orders; 9 contested dockets.
Of $27K in penalties contested before the Commission, $16K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2010-09-20.
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.
50.1%
significant & substantial
0.5%
high negligence or reckless
50.4%
reasonably likely or greater
18.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 21.5% low, 78.0% moderate, 0.5% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2010
ⓘ 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 3.20 cases per 100 workers.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2010 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2009 3.77 3.77 0.000
2008 0.00 0.00 0.000
2007 3.96 2.64 0.000
2006 2.97 2.23 0.000
2005 3.63 3.63 0.000
2004 0.00 0.00 0.000
2003 1.83 1.83 0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
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: 2010-09-16, 15 years ago
94%
within 1.5 mg/m3
279
samples
4.20
dust max (mg/m3)
160 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 119 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR73
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER26
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE24

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2010-04-14, 16 years ago
7.7
silica avg (%)
15
samples
15.9
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR4
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE2
  • BACKHOE OPERATOR1
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: 2010-09-16, 15 years ago
5%
over PEL
63
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER14
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE12
  • UTILITY MAN9
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.
65 citations taken to the federal commission · 17% of citations on record
  • Settled 53 · 82%
  • Stood as issued 12 · 18%
100%
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 55 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
35%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$25K proposed, $16K 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 2010-07-12. 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
VA 2009-284 Settlement Lesnick 2010 $9K → $5K
VA 2010-469 Settlement Lesnick 2011 $8K → $4K
VA 2010-138 Settlement 2010 $4K → $1K
VA 2007-59 Settlement Hodgdon 2007 $4K → $4K
VA 2010-209 Settlement 2011 $1K → $800
VA 2008-165 Dismissal Barbour 2009 $947 → $947
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2010
1
2009
2
2007
3
2006
6
2005
2
2003
1
2002
1
2001
3
2000
2
1999
1
1998
1
1997
2
1996
2
1995
2
1994
2
1993
1
1992
5
1991
3
1990
3
1989
1

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Sigmon Coal Company, Inc. 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.

The federal record itself stays free on this site. What costs money, and why.

See a sample report
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