COAL CONTRACTOR 

MINING FACTS – 2004 

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. 

In 2004, a total of 2,550 contracting companies 

reported employment at coal mines to MSHA, or 

38.1% of all independent contractor companies. 

A total of 30,228 employees,

1

 corresponding to 

17,964 full-time equivalent (FTE)2 employees, were 

reported by coal contractors to MSHA. 

•	 Within the mining sectors,3 coal contractor 

employees comprised 6.6% of all employee 

hours reported to MSHA. 

•	 Coal contractor employee hours were reported 

for both underground (13.0%) and surface 

(87.0%) work locations.4 

0 

50 

100 

150 

200 

250 

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Number of Employee Hours

(millions) 

Coal Operator 

Metal Operator 

Nonmetal Operator 

Stone Operator 

Sand & Gravel Operator 

Coal Contractor 

Noncoal Contractor 

Five occupational fatalities occurred among coal 

contractor employees in 2004. These coal fatalities 

accounted for 38.5% of all fatalities attributed to independent contractors. 

•	 The coal contractor fatality rate was 27.8 

fatalities per 100,000 FTE employees. The 

underground fatality rate was 42.8 (n=1) 

compared to a rate of 25.6 (n=4) for surface 

work locations. 

0 

3 

6 

9 

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Number of Fatalities 

0 

90 

180 

270 

Fatality Rate

(per 100,000 Full-time Equivalent Employees) 

Underground Surface 

UG Rate Surf Rate 

There were 469 nonfatal lost-time injuries among 

coal contractor employees (182 at underground and 

287 at surface work locations) occurring at a rate of 

2.6 injuries per 100 FTE employees. These injuries 

resulted in 33,061 days lost5 from work, comprising 

7.1% of days lost across all mining sectors. 

•	 The underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate 

was greater than the surface injury rate (7.8 vs. 

1.8 per 100 FTE workers). 

•	 The most frequent classification of nonfatal losttime injuries for coal contractor employees 

involved handling materials (n=150; 32.0%), 

followed by slip or fall of person (n=104; 

22.2%). 

•	 Sprains and strains were the most frequently 

reported nature of injury (n=183; 39.0%). 

•	 The back was the most frequently reported part 

of the body injured (n=97; 20.7%) and accounted 

for 8,294 days lost from work. 

Distribution of Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries 

by Accident Class, 2000-2004 

10% 8% 7% 6% 

35% 23% 

12% 

Handling materials 

Slip or fall of person 

Powered haulage 

Machinery 

Hand tools 

Fall of ground 

All other 

Note: "Fall of ground" includes MSHA's Accident/Injury/Illness classification for fall of face, rib, 

pillar, side, or highwall (from in place); fall of roof, back, or brow (from in place); and underground 

machinery cases when the source of injury was caving rock, coal, ore, or waste. 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

September 2007 
SAFER • HEALTHIER • PEOPLETM 

In 2004, five cases of occupational illnesses were 

reported to MSHA by independent coal contractors.6 

This compares to 13 occupational illness cases 

reported in 2003. 

• There were two cases of hearing loss or impairment, two cases of black lung (coal workers’ 

pneumoconiosis), and one case of unclassified 

occupational diseases. 

Mining Characteristics, 2004 

Commodity and 

Type of Employer 

No. of 

Mines 

No. of 

Companies 

No. of 

Employees 

No. of FTE 

Employees 

Fatality 

Rate 

Nonfatal 

Lost-time 

Injury Rate 

Coal Operator 2,011 -- 73,024 80,069 28.7 3.9 

Metal Operator 251 -- 25,205 26,091 7.7 2.1 

Nonmetal Operator 741 -- 19,432 20,183 5.0 2.7 

Stone Operator 4,401 -- 68,417 71,153 11.2 3.2 

Sand and Gravel Operator 7,074 -- 37,000 33,364 24.0 2.3 

Operator Total 14,478 -- 223,078 230,860 18.2 3.2 

Coal Contractor -- 2,550 30,228 17,964 27.8 2.6 

Noncoal Contractor -- 4,143 42,511 22,198 36.0 1.7 

Contractor Total -- 6,693 72,739 40,162 32.4 2.1 

TOTAL 295,817 271,022 20.3 3.0 

Data may not add to totals due to independent rounding. Number of employees was rounded at the subunit level of each mine to be consistent with 

MSHA reporting. Fatality rates were computed per 100,000 FTE employees. Nonfatal lost-time injury rates were computed per 100 FTE employees. 

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

Notes: All analyses exclude office employees. Further statistical methodology is available on the NIOSH Internet 

[http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/method.htm]. 1

Number of employees is the average number of persons working at individual establishments during calendar quarters of active 

operations. Employment numbers were rounded at the subunit level of each mine to be consistent with MSHA reporting. 2

Full-time equivalent employees were computed using reported employee hours (2,000 hours = 1 FTE). 3

Mining sectors: coal operators, metal operators, nonmetal operators, stone operators, sand and gravel operators, coal contractors, and

 noncoal contractors. 4

Surface work locations include surface operations at underground mines (surface shops and yards, tipple physically located at the mine 

site), surface operations (strip or open pit mines including associated shops and yards), auger mining operations, culm banks 

(reworking of mine dumps or refuse pile), dredge (mining operations conducted from a platform floating on water), independent shops 

and yards not associated with a specific mine, and mill or preparation plant. 

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. 6

Because of the complexity of attributing disease causation to the workplace, occupational illnesses may be underreported. 

To receive NIOSH documents or for more information about 

occupational safety and health topics, contact NIOSH at 

1–800–CDC–INFO (1–800–232–4636) 

1–888–232–6348 (TTY) 

e-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov 

or visit the NIOSH Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh 

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2007–172