Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2008 (HTML)

Keywords: Fatality rates Injury rates Non-fatal days lost rates
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DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2011–168

Mining Operations

An independent contractor is defined by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) as "any person, partnership, corporation, subsidiary of a corporation, firm, association or other organization that contracts to perform services or construction at a mine.   Contractors that perform specific types of work are required to report the number of employees who work at coal mines and noncoal mines.

Companies

In 2008, a total of 3,467 independent contracting companies reported employment at coal mines, or 36.1% of all independent contracting companies.

Employees

A total of 43,772 employees, [1] corresponding to 26,321 full-time equivalent (FTE) [2] employees, were reported by coal contractors.

  • Within the mining sectors, [3] coal contractor employees comprised 7.7% of all employee hours reported to MSHA.
  • Coal contractor employee hours were reported for both underground (15.6%) and surface (84.4%) work locations. [4]

Graph of the number of employee hours by commodity, 1999-2008 (see data table below)

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 and 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

Twelve occupational fatalities occurred among coal contractor employee in 2008. These coal fatalities accounted for 70.6% of all contractor fatalities.

  • The coal contractor fatality rate was 48.3 [95% confidence interval (CI): 25.0, 84.4] fatalities per 100,000 FTE employees. The underground rate was not calculated because the number of fatalities was less than 5 (n=3). The surface work location rate was 43.4 [CI: 19.9, 82.5] (n=9).

Graph of the number of fatalities by mine worker location, 1999-2008 (see data table below)

Click on the image to enlarge.

Data for the previous chart showing the number of fatalities for underground and surface work locations by year
Fatalities 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Underground number 2 2 1 3 4 1 0 1 3 3
Surface number 4 8 5 4 4 4 5 4 3 9

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries

There were 481 nonfatal lost-time injuries among coal contractor employees (168 at underground and 313 at surface work locations) with an overall rate of 1.9 [CI: 1.8, 2.1] injuries per 100 FTE employees.  These injuries resulted in 24,099 days lost from work. [5]

  • The underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate was greater than the surface injury rate (4.1 [CI: 3.5, 4.7] vs. 1.5 [CI: 1.3, 1.7] per 100 FTE workers).
  • The most frequent classification of nonfatal lost-time injuries for coal contractor employees involved slip or fall of person (n=147; 30.6%), followed by handling materials (n=131; 27.2%).
  • Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported nature of injury (n=160; 33.3%).
  • The back was the most frequently reported body part injured (n=73; 15.2%) and accounted for 3,265 days lost from work.

Chart of the distribution of nonfatal lost-time injuries by accident class among coal contractor employees, 2008 (see data table below)

Click on the image to enlarge.

Data for the previous chart showing the distribution of nonfatal lost-time injuries by accident class among coal contractor employees in 2008
Accident Class Percent
Slip or fall of person 30.6
Handling materials 27.2
Powered haulage 12.7
Machinery 9.8
Hand tools 8.1
Fall of ground 5.0
All other 6.7

 

Mining operations, 2008

Commodity and Type of Employer Underground Mining Operations Surface Mining Operations Total Mining Operations
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 and Type of Employer Number of Companies
Coal 3,467
Noncoal 6,128
Total 9,595

 

 

Employment characteristics, 2008

Commodity and Type of Employer Underground Employees [1] Surface Employees [1] Total Employees [1] Underground FTE Employees [2] Surface FTE Employees [2] Total FTE Employees [2]
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 74,459 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 2,972 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.

  1. Average number of employees working at individual mines during calendar quarters of active operations (includes office workers).
  2. Full-time equivalent employees computed using reported employee hours (2,000 hours = 1 FTE).
  3. Mining sectors include coal operators, metal operators, nonmetal operators, stone operators, sand and gravel operators, coal contractors, and noncoal contractors.
  4. Surface work location 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.
  5. 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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See Also
Page last reviewed: April 6, 2022
Page last updated: April 6, 2022
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program