EE WAS WORKING ON THE ROD OF THE RIDE CYNDER OF THE CATERPILLAR 769C HAUL TRUCK USING AN ACETYLENE TORCH TO HEAT THE BROKEN NITROGEN VALVE. AN EXPLOSION OCCURRED CAUSING THE 113 LB ROD TO BE E XPELLED FROM THE CYLINDER STRIKING THE EE IN THESTOMACH CAUSING FATAL INTERNAL INJURIES.
United States Gypsum Company: 2 recorded fatalities operator
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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any United States Gypsum Company mine.
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This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.ⓘ
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.ⓘ
Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.ⓘ
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.| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.39 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2025 | 1.80 | 0.60 | 0.000 |
| 2024 | 1.83 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2023 | 2.78 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2022 | 1.78 | 0.00 | 0.000 |
| 2021 | 3.58 | 0.72 | 0.000 |
| 2020 | 3.54 | 0.39 | 0.000 |
| 2019 | 2.99 | 0.33 | 0.000 |
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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.Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
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Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.
Last sampled: 2026-07-01
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Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.- Total Carbon,TC3916 over
- Total Carbon,calculated from elemental carbon.3914 over
- Nuisance dust, total, <1% Qtz11212 over
- Diesel particulate (total carbon)10411 over
Area samples (mill and shop air)
Last sampled: 2025-08-21ⓘ
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.- Settled 21 · 78%
- Stood as issued 6 · 22%
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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.ⓘ
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.| Docket | Decision | Judge | Year | Proposed / upheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAKE 2023-0048 | Settlement | Sullivan | 2023 | $14K → $3K |
| CENT 2011-253M | Settlement | Lesnick | 2011 | $11K → $6K |
| CENT 2025-0320 | Settlement | Paez | 2026 | $8K → $151 |
| LAKE 2025-0238 | Settlement | Paez | 2025 | $4K → $3K |
| CENT 2010-101M | Settlement | Weisberger | 2011 | $2K → $1K |
| CENT 2011-574M | Dismissal | Gill | 2011 | $1K → $1K |
Top causes
- FALL OF ROOF OR BACK 1 fatality · 28 non-fatal
- IGNITION OR EXPLOSION OF GAS OR DUST 1 fatality
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 166 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 101 non-fatal
- MACHINERY 94 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 85 non-fatal
Incident timeline
Mines on record
- PLASTER CITY QUARRY CA
- Southard Mine And Plant OK
- Shoals Mine IN
- ALABASTER PLANT MI
- Sperry Mine IA
- Sweetwater Quarry TX
- FORT DODGE QUARRY IA
- JUMBO-JENSEN MINE UT
- KT Mica NC
- Empire Mine NV
- United States Gypsum Company LA
- LOCUST COVE MINE VA
- OAKFIELD MINE NY
- US GYPSUM CO NM
- Graymont Dolime (OH) Inc. OH
- No 6 Mine VA
Fatalities under this operator
2 recordedEMP. WAS SCALING WITHOUT WARNING THE ROOF COLLAPSED. EMP DIED FORM INTERNAL INJURIES IN HIS CHEST.
Where United States Gypsum 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.
The federal record itself stays free on this site. What costs money, and why.