75% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $32,596 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
75
inspections on record
2,194
inspection hours
12.4
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.
273 citations across 2,194 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.
$132K
proposed penalties
$112K
current assessed
$99K
paid to date
$13K
outstanding
266 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $30K in penalties contested before the Commission, $10K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2003-05-08.
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, 2003
ⓘ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.
5.32
total case rate
5.32
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 5.87 and the all-US-mining average was 4.43 cases per 100 workers.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2003
5.32
5.32
0.000
2002
4.29
3.82
0.000
2001
2.73
2.73
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: 2003-06-07, 23 years ago
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
129
samples
1.78
dust max (mg/m3)
108 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 21 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.
Star Fire Mining · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
LOADED COAL TRUCK WAS LEAVING PIT. FOR SOME REASON STEEP HAULWAY ROAD TRUCK ROLLED BACK. APPARENTLY DRIVER TRIED TO JUMP OUT. HE WAS CAUGHT BY TRUCK AND KILLED.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Star Fire Mining 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.