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Coal and Metal/Nonmetal Mining Facts - 2008 (HTML)
Keywords: Fatality rates Injury rates Non-fatal days lost rates
This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated.
On This Page
Mining Operations
Companies
Employees
Fatalities
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries
Mining operations, 2008
Employment characteristics, 2008
Mining Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees), 2008
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2011-170

Mining Operations
Data obtained from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicated 2,129 active coal (14.3%) and 12,778 metal/nonmetal (85.7%) mining operations. [1]
There were 26 states reporting coal mining operations. Approximately 73% of these mines were located in three states: Kentucky (n=656; 38.0%), West Virginia (n=479; 22.5%), and Pennsylvania (n=425; 20.0%).
Metal/nonmetal mines were distributed across all states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.  Texas reported the most metal/nonmetal mines (n=725, 5.7%).
Companies
In 2008, independent contracting companies reported employment at 3,467 coal mines and 6,128 metal/nonmetal mines.

Employees
A total of 133,827 mine operator and independent contractor employees, [2] or 126,500 full-time equivalent (FTE) [3] employees, were reported to MSHA as working at coal mines.  This is on contrast to 258,892 employees (or 214,120 FTE employees) who were reported as working at metal/nonmetal mines.

Click on the image to enlarge.
Data for the previous chart showing the number of employee hours (in millions) by coal and metal/nonmetal work locations and year
Commodity and Type
of Employer
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008Coal Operator
205.7
193.5
208.8
200.4
192.1
205.0
224.3
235.1
232.0
253.0Metal/Nonmetal Operator
432.4
431.4
412.2
382.3
377.1
393.2
410.7
427.4
441.5
428.2

Fatalities
Of the 52 occupational mining fatalities reported to MSHA in 2008, 30 occurred at coal mining operations, while 22 occurred at metal/nonmetal mines.
The fatality rate of 24.8 [95% confidence interval (CI): 16.7, 35.3] per 100,000 FTE employees was higher at coal mining operations, compared to the rate of 11.6 [CI: 7.3, 17.6] for metal/nonmetal mines.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Data for the previous chart showing the number of occupational fatalities and rate (per 100,000 FTE employees) by coal and metal/nonmetal work locations and year
Commodity and Type
of Employer
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008Coal Operator
35
38
42
27
30
28
22
47
34
30Metal/Nonmetal Operator
55
47
30
39
26
27
35
26
33
22Coal Rate
35.8
41.4
42.3
28.3
32.8
28.6
20.5
41.6
30.6
24.8Metal/Nonmetal Rate
28.8
24.7
16.5
23.3
15.7
15.6
19.3
13.8
16.9
11.6

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries
There were 3,352 nonfatal lost-time injuries reported at coal mining operations, resulting in 195,120 days lost from work. [4]  This compares to 3,996 nonfatal lost-time injuries attributed to metal/nonmetal mine workers with 187,090 days lost from work.
The coal mine nonfatal lost-time injury rate was greater than the metal/nonmetal mine rate (2.8 [CI: 2.7, 2.9] vs. 2.1 [CI: 2.1, 2.2] per 100 FTE workers).
The most frequent accident classification of nonfatal lost-time injuries involved handling materials for both coal (n=947; 28.3%) and metal/nonmetal mines (n=1,353; 33.9%).
Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported nature of injury for both coal (n=1,390; 41.5%) and metal/nonmetal (n=1,777; 44.5%) mining operations.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Data for the previous chart showing the number of nonfatal lost-time injuries and rate (per 100 FTE employees) by coal and metal/nonmetal work locations and year
Commodity and Type
of Employer
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008Coal Operator
4,983
4,781
4,572
4,518
3,763
3,601
3,597
3,578
3,402
3,352Metal/Nonmetal Operator
6,001
6,058
5,377
4,840
4,559
4,538
4,713
4,410
4,340
3,996Coal Rate
5.1
5.2
4.6
4.7
4.1
3.7
3.4
3.2
3.1
2.8Metal/Nonmetal Rate
3.1
3.2
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.6
2.6
2.3
2.2
2.1

Mining operations, 2008
Commodity and Type of Employer
Underground Mining Operations [1]
Surface Mining Operations [1]
Total Mining Operations [1]Coal Operator
665
1,464
2,129Coal Contractor
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicableCoal Total
665
1,464
2,129Metal/Nonmetal Operator
260
12,518
12,778Metal/Nonmetal Contractor
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicableMetal/Nonmetal Total
260
12,518
12,778Total
925
13,982
14,907



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
100,178Coal Contractor
6,262
37,510
43,772
4,105
22,216
26,321Coal Total
46,632
87,195
133,827
49,971
76,528
126,500Metal/Nonmetal Operator
10,298
173,143
183,441
10,596
163,438
174,034Metal/Nonmetal Contractor
2,992
72,459
75,451
1,998
38,088
40,086Metal/Nonmetal Total
13,290
245,602
258,892
12,594
201,526
214,120Total
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 Injuries
Underground Injury Rate
Surface Injuries
Surface Injury Rate
Total Injuries
Total Injury RateCoal Operator
2,103
4.6
768
1.5
2,871
3.0Coal Contractor
168
4.1
313
1.5
481
1.9Coal Total
2,271
4.5
1,081
1.5
3,352
2.8Metal/Nonmetal Operator
291
2.7
3,204
2.3
3,495
2.3Metal/Nonmetal Contractor
38
1.9
463
1.3
501
1.3Metal/Nonmetal Total
329
2.6
3,667
2.1
3,996
2.1Total
2,600
4.2
4,748
1.9
7,348
2.4Not 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 and were not counted.  The metal/nonmetal mining classification includes metal, nonmetal, stone, and sand and gravel mining sectors.
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).
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.
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, or visit NIOSH's Ask an Occupational Safety and Health Question page.

See Also
Coal and metal/nonmetal mining facts - 2008
Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2001
Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2002
Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2003
Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2004
Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2005
Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2006
Coal Contractor Mining Facts - 2007
Mining Fact Sheets
Rib Falls: A Major Ground Control Issue
Page last reviewed: April 6, 2022
Page last updated: April 6, 2022
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program
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