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Underground and Surface 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
Fatalities
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries
Mining operations, 2008
Contracting companies, 2008
Mining Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees), 2008
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries (per 100 FTE employees), 2008
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2011–162

Mining Operations
Data obtained from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) indicated a total of 925 underground (6.2%) and 13,982 surface (93.8%) mining operations. [1]
Employees
A total of 59,922 employees, [2] or 62,565 full-time equivalent (FTE) [3] employees, were reported to MSHA as working at underground mining locations in 2008. This is in contrast to 332,797 employees (or 278,054 FTE employees) who were reported as working at surface locations. [4]
Surface work location employee hours accounted for 81.6% of all hours reported to MSHA, while 18.4% of employee hours were reported for underground work locations.
The majority of surface employee hours were for mine operator employees (78.3%) as opposed to independent contractor employees (21.7%).
Coal operators were the mining sector [5] reporting the most underground worker employee hours to MSHA (n=91,732,062; 73.3%).
Click on the image to enlarge.
Data for the previous chart showing the number of employee hours (in millions) by underground and surface work locations and year
Commodity and Type
of Employer
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008Surface
535.8
529.8
520.7
490.6
479.7
501.8
529.0
550.4
559.1
556.1Underground
102.4
95.1
100.3
92.1
89.6
96.4
106.1
112.1
114.4
125.1

Fatalities
Of the 52 occupational mining fatalities reported to MSHA in 2008, 20 occurred at underground work locations, while 32 occurred at surface locations.
The fatality rate of 32.0 [95% confidence interval (CI): 19.5, 49.4] per 100,000 FTE employees was higher at underground work locations, compared to the rate of 12.9 [CI: 8.8, 18.3] for surface work locations.
Click on the image to enlarge.

Data for the previous pie chart showing the number and percent of fatalities by worker location
Fatalities
PercentUnderground
39Surface
61
Data for the previous underground worker location pie chart showing the number and percent of fatalities by commodity
Fatalities
PercentCoal Operator
60Metal Operator
15Nonmetal Operator
5Stone Operator
0Sand and Gravel Operator
0Coal Contractor
15Noncoal Contractor
0
Data for the previous surface worker location pie chart showing the number and percent of fatalities by commodity
Fatalities
PercentCoal Operator
19Metal Operator
6Nonmetal Operator
3Stone Operator
19Sand and Gravel Operator
9Coal Contractor
28Noncoal Contractor
16

Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries
Within underground work locations, 2,600 nonfatal lost-time injuries were reported, resulting in 152,273 days lost from work. [6]  This compares to 4,748 nonfatal lost-time injuries attributed to surface workers resulting in 229,937 days lost from work.
The overall underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate was greater than the surface injury rate (4.2 [CI: 4.0, 4.3] vs. 1.9 [CI: 1.9, 2.0] per 100 FTE workers).
The most frequent classification of nonfatal lost-time injuries involved handling materials for both underground (n=734; 28.2%) and surface (n=1,566; 33.0%) work locations.
The back was the most frequently reported body part injured at both underground (n=384; 14.8%) and surface (n=856; 18.0%) work locations.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Data for the previous chart showing the distribution of nonfatal lost-time injuries by underground and surface work locations and their rates by year
Year
Underground
Surface
Underground Rate
Surface Rate1999
4,103
6,881
8.0
2.92000
3,854
6,985
8.1
3.02001
3,570
6,379
7.1
2.82002
3,306
6,052
7.2
2.82003
2,818
5,504
6.3
2.62004
2,753
5,386
5.7
2.42005
2,772
5,538
5.2
2.42006
2,739
5,249
4.9
2.12007
2,645
5,097
4.6
2.02008
2,600
4,748
4.2
1.9

Mining operations, 2008
Commodity and Type of Employer
Underground Mining Operations [1]
Surface Mining Operations [1]
Total Mining Operations [1]Coal
665
1,464
2,129Metal
105
188
293Nonmetal
44
676
720Stone
111
4,522
4,633Sand & Gravel
Not applicable
7,132
7,132Total
925
13,982
14,907



Contracting companies, 2008
Commodity and Type of Employer
Number of CompaniesCoal
3,467Noncoal
6,128Total
9,595


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
100,178Metal Operator
5,844
33,282
39,126
5,842
34,840
40,682Nonmetal Operator
2,579
20,454
23,033
2,725
20,534
23,260Stone Operator
1,875
77,100
78,975
2,029
74,720
76,749Sand & Gravel Operator
Not applicable
42,307
42,307
Not applicable
33,343
33,343Operator Total
50,668
222,828
273,496
56,462
217,750
274,212Coal Contractor
6,262
37,510
43,772
4,105
22,216
26,321Noncoal Contractor
2,992
72,459
75,451
1,998
38,088
40,086Contractor Total
9,254
109,969
119,223
6,103
60,304
66,407Total
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 RateCoal Operator
12
26.2
6
11.9
18
18.7Metal Operator
3
Not calculated
2
Not calculated
5
13.8Nonmetal Operator
1
Not calculated
1
Not calculated
2
Not calculatedStone Operator
1
Not calculated
6
9.4
7
10.6Sand & Gravel Operator
Not applicable
Not applicable
3
Not calculated
3
Not calculatedOperator Total
17
30.1
18
9.4
35
14.2Coal Contractor
3
Not calculated
9
43.4
12
48.3Noncoal Contractor
0
Not calculated
5
13.9
5
13.2Contractor Total
3
Not calculated
14
24.7
17
27.1Total
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 RateCoal Operator
2,103
4.6
768
1.5
2,871
3.0Metal Operator
163
2.8
649
2.1
812
2.2Nonmetal Operator
95
3.5
412
2.4
507
2.5Stone Operator
33
1.6
1,593
2.5
1,626
2.5Sand & Gravel Operator
Not applicable
Not applicable
550
1.9
550
1.9Operator Total
2,394
4.2
3,972
2.1
6,366
2.6Coal Contractor
168
4.1
313
1.5
481
1.9Noncoal Contractor
38
1.9
463
1.3
501
1.3Contractor Total
206
3.4
776
1.4
982
1.6Total
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.
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).
Surface work locations include surface operations at underground mines, surface operations (strip or open pit), auger, culm banks, dredge, other surface operations, independent shops and yards, and mills or preparation plants.
Mining sectors include coal operators, metal operators, nonmetal operators, stone operators, sand and gravel operators, coal contractors, and noncoal contractors.
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 and Metal/Nonmetal Mining Facts - 2008 (HTML)
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
Mining Fact Sheets
Rib Falls: A Major Ground Control Issue
Page last reviewed: April 7, 2022
Page last updated: April 7, 2022
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program
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