Mining Publication: Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2005

Keywords:

• Fatality rates
• Injury rates
• Non-fatal days lost rates

NOTE: This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) defines an independent contractor 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 2005, a total of 2,503 contracting companies reported employment at coal mines to MSHA, or 36.8% of all independent contractor companies. Employees: A total of 32,639 employees, corresponding to 20,136 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, were reported by coal contractors to MSHA. Within the mining sectors, coal contractor employees comprised 7.0% of all employee hours reported to MSHA. Coal contractor employee hours were reported for both underground (14.0%) and surface (86.0%) work locations.

Fatalities: Five occupational fatalities occurred among coal contractor employees in 2005. These coal fatalities accounted for 71.4% of all fatalities attributed to in-dependent contractors. All five fatalities were at the surface work location. The coal contractor fatality rate was 24.8 per 100,000 FTE employees.

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries: There were 535 nonfatal lost-time injuries among coal contractor employees (213 at underground and 322 at surface work locations) occurring at a rate of 2.7 injuries per 100 FTE employees. These injuries resulted in 39,506 days lost from work, comprising 8.6% of days lost across all mining sectors. The underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate was greater than the surface injury rate (7.5 vs. 1.9 per 100 FTE workers). The most frequent classification of nonfatal lost-time injuries for coal contractor employees involved handling materials (n=150; 28.0%), followed by slip or fall of person (n=126; 23.6%). Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported nature of injury (n=203; 37.9%). The back was the most frequently reported body part injured (n=87; 16.3%) and accounted for 10,703 days lost from work.