DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

August 2009

COAL CONTRACTOR

MINING FACTS – 2007

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 2007, a total of 2,999 contracting companies

reported employment at coal mines to MSHA, or 

35.7% of all independent contracting companies.

Employees

A total of 38,865 employees,

1

corresponding to 

22,741 full-time equivalent (FTE)2employees, were 

reported by coal contractors to MSHA.

Within the mining sectors,

3

coal contractor 

employees comprised 6.8% of all employee 

hours reported to MSHA.

Coal contractor employee hours were reported 

for both underground (13.5%) and surface 

(86.5%) work locations.4

0

50

100

150

200

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Number of Employee Hours (millions) Coal Operator Metal Operator Nonmetal Operator Stone Operator Sand & Gravel Oper Coal Contractor Noncoal Contractor

Fatalities

Six occupational fatalities occurred among coal contractor employees in 2007. These coal fatalities 

accounted for 33.3% of all contractor fatalities.

The coal contractor fatality rate was 28.0 fatalities per 100,000 FTE employees. The underground rate was 97.7 (n=3) compared to a rate of 

16.3 (n=3) for surface work locations.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Number of Fatalities

0

45

90

135

180

225

270 Fatality Rate (per 100,000 Full-time Equivalent Employees)

Underground

Surface UG Rate

Surf Rate

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries

There were 460 nonfatal lost-time injuries among 

coal contractor employees (177 at underground and 

283 at surface work locations) with an overall rate of 

2.1 injuries per 100 FTE employees. These injuries 

resulted in 28,071 days lost from work.

5

The underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate 

was greater than the surface injury rate (5.8 vs. 

1.5 per 100 FTE workers).

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

involved handling materials (n=143; 31.1%), followed by slip or fall of person (n=101; 22.0%).

Sprains and strains were the most frequently 

reported nature of injury (n=169; 36.7%).

The back was the most frequently reported body 

part injured (n=64; 13.9%) and accounted for 

4,914 days lost from work.

Distribution of Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries by Accident Class, 2007 (N=460)

31.1%

9.3%

14.8% 22.0%

5.7%

5.7%

11.5% Handling materials

Slip or fall of person

Powered haulage Machinery

Fall of ground Hand tools

All other

Note: "Fall of ground" includes MSHA's Accident/Injury/Illness class for fall of face, rib, pillar, side, or highwall; fall of roof, 

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

Sum of percentages may not equal 

100% due to independent rounding. 
To receive NIOSH documents or more information about

occupational safety and health topics, contact NIOSH at

1–800–CDC–INFO (1–800–232–4636)

TTY: 1–888–232–6348 

e-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov

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

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2009–164

Commodity and 

Type of Employer Surface Total Surface Total Surface Total 

Coal Operator 631 1,399 2,030 37,829 46,242 84,071 42,238 51,027 93,265

Metal Operator 97 181 278 5,333 30,667 36,000 5,437 32,309 37,746

Nonmetal Operator 48 677 725 2,411 20,453 22,864 2,478 20,788 23,265

Stone Operator 113 4,526 4,639 1,845 80,873 82,718 2,063 81,191 83,254

Sand and Gravel Operator NA 7,199 7,199 NA 45,761 45,761 NA 38,340 38,340

Operator Total 889 13,982 14,871 47,418 223,996 271,414 52,216 223,655 275,871

Coal Contractor NA NA 2,999 5,160 33,705 38,865 3,071 19,670 22,741

Noncoal Contractor NA NA 5,400 3,039 64,805 67,844 1,935 36,216 38,151

Contractor Total NA NA 8,399 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

Number of Companies

Mine and Employment Characteristics, 2007

Underground Underground Underground

Number of Mining Operations1 Number of Employees2 Number of FTE Employees3

Commodity and 

Type of Employer

Coal Operator 18 42.6 10 21.1 28 31.2 2,120 5.0 822 1.7 2,942 3.3

Metal Operator 3 55.2 4 14.4 7 21.1 178 3.3 620 2.2 798 2.4

Nonmetal Operator 1 40.4 0 0.0 1 5.0 91 3.7 417 2.4 508 2.5

Stone Operator 0 0.0 8 11.4 8 11.1 36 1.7 1,844 2.6 1,880 2.6

Sand and Gravel Operator NA NA 5 15.0 5 15.0 NA NA 657 2.0 657 2.0

Operator Total 22 42.1 27 13.8 49 19.7 2,425 4.6 4,360 2.2 6,785 2.7

Coal Contractor 3 97.7 3 16.3 6 28.0 177 5.8 283 1.5 460 2.1

Noncoal Contractor 2 103.4 10 29.3 12 33.3 43 2.2 454 1.3 497 1.4

Contractor Total 5 99.9 13 24.8 18 31.3 220 4.4 737 1.4 957 1.7

TOTAL 27 47.2 40 16.1 67 21.9 2,645 4.6 5,097 2.0 7,742 2.5

NA Not applicable.

Mining Occupational Fatalities and Injuries, 2007

Total Underground Surface Total

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries (per 100 FTE employees)

Rate Rate No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate 

Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees)

Underground Surface

 No. No. Rate No.

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

1Average 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).

3Mining sectors include 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 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.