Overall Mining Facts 2008 (HTML)

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Mining Operations
Employees
Fatalities
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries
Mining operations, 2008
Contracting companies, 2008
Employment characteristics, 2008
Mining Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees), 2008
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries (per 100 FTE employees), 2008

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2011–161

Mining Operations

In 2008, a total of 14,907 mining operations reported employment data to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). [1] Almost half (47.8%) were sand and gravel mines, followed by stone mines (31.1%), coal mines (14.3%), nonmetal mines (4.8%), and metal mines (2.0%).

Employees

There were 273,496 mine operator employees, [2] or 274,212 full-time equivalent (FTE) [3] workers. For mine operators, 20.6% of the employee hours were for underground work locations, while 79.4% of the employee hours were for surface work locations. [4]

Of the 199,223 independent contractor employees (or 66,407 FTE workers), 36.7% were coal contractor employees and 63.6% were noncoal contractor employees.

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	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Coal Operator	170.3	157.3	168.4	163.8	157.1	166.5	181.3	189.0	186.5	200.4
Metal Operator	83.4	77.4	68.8	58.5	55.5	59.5	63.4	67.9	75.5	81.4
Nonmetal Operator	54.7	53.1	50.6	47.5	46.9	46.9	46.2	46.4	46.5	46.5
Stone Operator	167.8	168.5	166.1	161.7	160.0	163.5	168.6	170.8	166.5	153.5
Sand & Gravel Operator	78.9	78.1	77.0	75.3	74.8	76.6	78.4	79.6	76.7	66.7
Coal Contractor	35.4	36.2	40.3	36.5	35.0	38.5	43.0	46.2	45.5	52.6
Noncoal Contractor	47.8	54.2	49.8	39.2	39.9	46.8	54.1	62.6	76.3	80.2

Fatalities

In 2008, there were 52 occupational mining fatalities with a rate of 16.8 [95% confidence interval (CI): 12.5, 22.0] per 100,000 FTE workers.

The fatality rate for mine operator employees was 14.2 [CI: 9.9, 19.7] (n=35; 67.3%), while the rate for contractor employees was 27.1 [CI: 15.8, 43.4] (n=17; 32.7%.)
Coal contractors had the highest fatality rate 48.3 [CI: 25.0, 84.4] (n=12; 23.1%), followed by coal operators 18.7 [CI: 11.1%, 29.5] (n=18; 34.6%), metal operators 13.8 [CI: 4.5, 32.2] (n=5; 9.6%), and noncoal contractors 13.2 [CI: 4.5, 32.5] (n=5; 9.6%).
The fatality rate at underground work locations was 32.0 [CI: 19.5, 49.4] per 100,000 FTE workers (n=20; 38.5%) compared to 12.9 [CI: 8.8, 18.3] (n=32; 61.5%) at surface work locations.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Data for the previous chart showing the number of fatalities and their rates for underground and surface work locations by year
Fatalities	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Underground number	30	26	40	18	16	16	20	37	27	20
Surface number	60	59	32	48	40	39	37	36	40	32
Underground rate	58.6	54.7	79.8	39.1	35.7	33.2	37.7	66.0	47.2	32.0
Surface rate	25.3	25.2	13.9	22.1	18.9	17.5	15.7	14.6	16.1	12.9

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries

There were 7,348 nonfatal lost-time injuries in 2008 (2,600 at underground and 4,748 at surface work locations). These injuries occurred at an overall rate of 2.4 [CI: 2.3, 2.4] per 100 FTE workers and resulted in a total of 382,210 days lost from work. [5]

The underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate was greater than the surface injury rate (4.2 [CI: 4.0, 4.3] vs. 1.9 [CI: 1.9, 2.0] per 100 FTE workers).
The back was the most frequently reported body part injured, accounting for 1,240 nonfatal lost-time injuries, 58,561 days lost from work, and 15.3% of all days lost.
Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported nature of injury (n=3,167; 43.1%).

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Distribution of nonfatal lost-time injuries by accident class for 2008
Accident Class	Percent
Handling materials	31.3
Slip or fall of person	24.9
Machinery	11.1
Powered haulage	10.3
Hand tools	8.4
Fall of ground	5.6
All other	8.4

Mining operations, 2008

Commodity and Type of Employer	Underground Mining Operations [1]	Surface Mining Operations [1]	Total Mining Operations [1]
Coal	665	1,464	2,129
Metal	105	188	293
Nonmetal	44	676	720
Stone	111	4,522	4,633
Sand & Gravel	Not applicable	7,132	7,132
Total	925	13,982	14,907

Contracting companies, 2008

Commodity	Number of Companies
Coal	3,467
Noncoal	6,128
Total	9,595

Employment characteristics, 2008

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	40,370	49,685	90,055	45,866	54,312	100,178
Metal Operator	5,844	33,282	39,126	5,842	34,840	40,682
Nonmetal Operator	2,579	20,454	23,033	2,725	20,534	23,260
Stone Operator	1,875	77,100	78,975	2,029	74,720	76,749
Sand & Gravel Operator	Not applicable	42,307	42,307	Not applicable	33,343	33,343
Operator Total	50,668	222,828	273,496	56,462	217,750	274,212
Coal Contractor	6,262	37,510	43,772	4,105	22,216	26,321
Noncoal Contractor	2,992	72,459	75,451	1,998	38,088	40,086
Contractor Total	9,254	109,969	119,223	6,103	60,304	66,407
Total	59,922	332,797	392,719	62,565	278,054	340,620

Mining Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees), 2008

Commodity and Type of Employer	Underground Fatalities	Underground Fatality Rate	Surface Fatalities	Surface Fatality Rate	Fatalities	Fatality Rate
Coal Operator	12	26.2	6	11.9	18	18.7
Metal Operator	3	Not calculated	2	Not calculated	5	13.8
Nonmetal Operator	1	Not calculated	1	Not calculated	2	Not calculated
Stone Operator	1	Not calculated	6	9.4	7	10.6
Sand & Gravel Operator	Not applicable	Not applicable	3	Not calculated	3	Not calculated
Operator Total	17	30.1	18	9.4	35	14.2
Coal Contractor	3	Not calculated	9	43.4	12	48.3
Noncoal Contractor	0	Not calculated	5	13.9	5	13.2
Contractor Total	3	Not calculated	14	24.7	17	27.1
Total	20	32.0	32	12.9	52	16.8

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries (per 100 FTE employees), 2008

Commodity and Type of Employer	Underground Injuries	Underground Injury Rate	Surface Injuries	Surface Injury Rate	Injuries	Injury Rate
Coal Operator	2,103	4.6	768	1.5	2,871	3.0
Metal Operator	163	2.8	649	2.1	812	2.2
Nonmetal Operator	95	3.5	412	2.4	507	2.5
Stone Operator	33	1.6	1,593	2.5	1,626	2.5
Sand & Gravel Operator	Not applicable	Not applicable	550	1.9	550	1.9
Operator Total	2,394	4.2	3,972	2.1	6,366	2.6
Coal Contractor	168	4.1	313	1.5	481	1.9
Noncoal Contractor	38	1.9	463	1.3	501	1.3
Contractor Total	206	3.4	776	1.4	982	1.6
Total	2,600	4.2	4,748	1.9	7,348	2.4

Not calculated when N is less than 5. 95% CI for rates reported above. Totals may not sum due to independent rounding.

Data source: Publicly released employment and accident/injury/illness data 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. 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 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).
Surface work locations include surface operations at underground mines, surface operations (strip or open pit), auger, culm banks, dredge, other surface operations, 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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