Coal Operator Mining Facts - 2007 (HTML)

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Mining Operations
Employees
Fatalities
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries
Mining operations, 2007
Contracting companies, 2007
Employment characteristics, 2007
Mining Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees), 2007
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries (per 100 FTE employees), 2007

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2009–159

Mining Operations

In 2007, a total of 2,030 coal mining operations reported employment data to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). [1] Coal mines comprised 13.7% of all mining operations.

Bituminous mines comprised 92.4% (n=1,875) and anthracite mines 7.6% (n=155) of coal mining operations.
Approximately 72% of all coal mines were located in three states: Kentucky (28.4%), West Virginia (22.6%), and Pennsylvania (20.5%).

Employees

A total of 84,071 employees, [2] corresponding to 93,265 full-time equivalent (FTE) [3] employees, were reported by coal mine operators to MSHA.

Within the mining sectors, [4] coal operators comprised 27.7% of all employee hours reported.
Underground work locations accounted for 45.3% of employee hours, while surface work locations accounted for 54.7%. [5]

Click on the image to enlarge.

Data for the previous chart showing the number of employee hours (in millions) by commodity and year
Commodity and Type of Employer	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Coal Operator	185.4	170.3	157.3	168.4	163.8	157.1	166.5	181.3	189.0	186.5
Metal Operator	93.0	83.4	77.4	68.8	58.5	55.5	59.5	63.4	67.9	75.5
Nonmetal Operator	57.2	54.7	53.1	50.6	47.5	46.9	46.9	46.2	46.4	46.5
Stone Operator	164.8	167.8	168.5	166.1	161.7	160.0	163.5	168.6	170.8	166.5
Sand and Gravel Operator	75.0	78.9	78.1	77.0	75.3	74.8	76.6	78.4	79.6	76.7
Coal Contractor	36.4	35.4	36.2	40.3	36.5	35.0	38.5	43.0	46.2	45.5
Noncoal Contractor	43.3	47.8	54.2	49.8	39.2	39.9	46.8	54.1	62.6	76.3

Fatalities

Twenty-eight (28) occupational fatalities occurred among coal operator employees in 2007, compared to 42 in 2006.

Fatalities among coal operator employees accounted for 41.8% of all mining fatalities.
The coal operator fatality rate was 31.2 fatalities per 100,000 FTE employees. The underground fatality rate was 42.6 (n=18) compared to a rate of 21.1 (n=10) for surface work locations.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Data for the previous chart showing the number and rate of fatalities
Fatalities	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Underground number	11	13	14	36	18
Surface number	11	10	3	6	10
Underground rate	32.0	35.4	34.6	84.5	42.6
Surface rate	26.8	23.1	6.4	12.4	21.1

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries

There were 2,942 nonfatal lost-time injuries (2,120 at underground and 822 at surface work locations) among coal operator employees occurring at an overall rate of 3.3 injuries per 100 FTE employees. These injuries resulted in 192,129 days lost from work, [6] comprising 45.1% of days lost across all mining sectors.

The underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate was greater than the surface injury rate (5.0 vs. 1.7 per 100 FTE workers).
The most frequent classification of nonfatal lost-time injuries for coal operator employees involved handling materials (n=805; 27.4%).
Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported nature of injury (n=1,237; 42.0%).
The back was the most frequently reported body part injured (n=524; 17.8%) and accounted for 34,799 days lost from work.

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Data for the previous chart showing the distribution of nonfatal lost-time injuries by accident class
Accident Class	Number	Percent
Handling materials	805	27.4
Slip or fall of person	661	22.5
Fall of ground	399	13.6
Powered haulage	351	11.9
Machinery	306	10.4
Hand tools	195	6.6
All other	225	7.6
Total	2,942	100.0

Mining operations, 2007

Commodity and Type of Employer	Underground Mining Operations [1]	Surface Mining Operations [1]	Total Mining Operations [1]
Coal Operator	631	1,399	2,030
Metal Operator	97	181	278
Nonmetal Operator	48	677	725
Stone Operator	113	4,526	4,639
Sand & Gravel Operator	Not applicable	7,199	7,199
Operator Total	889	13,982	14,871

Contracting companies, 2007

Commodity and Type of Employer	Number of Companies
Coal Contractor	2,999
Noncoal Contractor	5,400
Contractor Total	8,399

Employment characteristics, 2007

Commodity and Type of Employer	Underground Employees [2]	Surface Employees [2]	Total Employees [2]	Underground FTE Employees [3]	Surface FTE Employees [3]	Total FTE Employees [3]
Coal Operator	37,829	46,242	84,071	42,238	51,027	93,265
Metal Operator	5,333	30,667	36,000	5,437	32,309	37,746
Nonmetal Operator	2,411	20,453	22,864	2,478	20,788	23,265
Stone Operator	1,845	80,873	82,718	2,063	81,191	83,254
Sand & Gravel Operator	Not applicable	45,761	45,761	Not applicable	38,340	38,340
Operator Total	47,418	223,996	271,414	52,216	223,655	275,871
Coal Contractor	5,160	33,705	38,865	3,071	19,670	22,741
Noncoal Contractor	3,039	64,805	67,844	1,935	36,216	38,151
Contractor Total	8,199	98,510	106,709	5,006	55,886	60,892
Total	55,617	322,506	378,123	57,222	279,541	336,763

Mining Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees), 2007

Commodity and Type of Employer	Underground Fatalities	Underground Fatality Rate	Surface Fatalities	Surface Fatality Rate	Fatalities	Fatality Rate
Coal Operator	18	42.6	10	21.1	28	31.2
Metal Operator	3	55.2	4	14.4	7	21.1
Nonmetal Operator	1	40.4	0	0.0	1	5.0
Stone Operator	0	0.0	8	11.4	8	11.1
Sand & Gravel Operator	Not applicable	Not applicable	5	15.0	5	15.0
Operator Total	22	42.1	27	13.8	49	19.7
Coal Contractor	3	97.7	3	16.3	6	28.0
Noncoal Contractor	2	103.4	10	29.3	12	33.3
Contractor Total	5	99.9	13	24.8	18	31.3
Total	27	47.2	40	16.1	67	21.9

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries (per 100 FTE employees), 2007

Commodity and Type of Employer	Underground Injuries	Underground Injury Rate	Surface Injuries	Surface Injury Rate	Injuries	Injury Rate
Coal Operator	2,120	5.0	822	1.7	2,942	3.3
Metal Operator	178	3.3	620	2.2	798	2.4
Nonmetal Operator	91	3.7	417	2.4	508	2.5
Stone Operator	36	1.7	1,844	2.6	1,880	2.6
Sand & Gravel Operator	Not applicable	Not applicable	657	2.0	657	2.0
Operator Total	2,425	4.6	4,360	2.2	6,785	2.7
Coal Contractor	177	5.8	283	1.5	460	2.1
Noncoal Contractor	43	2.2	454	1.3	497	1.4
Contractor Total	220	4.4	737	1.4	957	1.7
Total	2,645	4.6	5,097	2.0	7,742	2.5

Data source: Publicly released data files of employment and accident/injury/illness collected by MSHA under 30 CFR 50.

Notes: All analyses of accident data exclude office employees. Occupational fatalities exclude all cases under 17 years of age. Further statistical methodology is available on the NIOSH Internet. Data in the above tables may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. Caution should be used when interpreting rates based on a small number of events.

Mines at which only independent contractors were working did not show any employment and were not counted.
Average number of employees working at individual mines during calendar quarters of active operations (includes office workers).
Full-time equivalent employees computed using reported employee hours (2,000 hours = 1 FTE).
Mining sectors include coal operators, metal operators, nonmetal operators, stone operators, sand and gravel operators, coal contractors, and noncoal contractors.
Surface work locations include surface operations at underground mines, surface operations (strip or open pit), auger, culm banks, dredge, independent shops and yards, and mills or preparation plants.
Includes actual days away from work and/or days of restricted work activity. For permanently disabling injuries only, statutory days charged by MSHA were used if they exceeded the total lost workdays.

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