Metal Operator Mining Facts - 2007 (HTML)
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2009–160
Mining Operations
In 2007, a total of 278 metal mining operations reported employment to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). [1] Metal mines were the smallest mining commodity sector, comprising 1.9% of all mining operations.
- Gold mines comprised 44.6% (n=124) of all metal mining operations. Other common types of metal mines were iron ore (n=36; 12.9%) and copper ore (n=35; 12.6%).
- Nevada had the largest number of metal mines (n=45; 16.2%), followed by Alaska (n=28; 10.1%).
Employees
A total of 36,000 employees, [2] corresponding to 37,746 full-time equivalent (FTE) [3] employees, were reported by metal mine operators.
- Within the mining sectors, [4] metal operators accounted for 11.2% of all employee hours reported to MSHA.
- Metal operator employee hours were reported for both underground (14.4%) and surface (85.6%) work locations. [5]
Commodity and Type of Employer | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coal Operator | 185.4 | 170.3 | 157.3 | 168.4 | 163.8 | 157.1 | 166.5 | 181.3 | 189.0 | 186.5 |
Metal Operator | 93.0 | 83.4 | 77.4 | 68.8 | 58.5 | 55.5 | 59.5 | 63.4 | 67.9 | 75.5 |
Nonmetal Operator | 57.2 | 54.7 | 53.1 | 50.6 | 47.5 | 46.9 | 46.9 | 46.2 | 46.4 | 46.5 |
Stone Operator | 164.8 | 167.8 | 168.5 | 166.1 | 161.7 | 160.0 | 163.5 | 168.6 | 170.8 | 166.5 |
Sand and Gravel Operator | 75.0 | 78.9 | 78.1 | 77.0 | 75.3 | 74.8 | 76.6 | 78.4 | 79.6 | 76.7 |
Coal Contractor | 36.4 | 35.4 | 36.2 | 40.3 | 36.5 | 35.0 | 38.5 | 43.0 | 46.2 | 45.5 |
Noncoal Contractor | 43.3 | 47.8 | 54.2 | 49.8 | 39.2 | 39.9 | 46.8 | 54.1 | 62.6 | 76.3 |
Fatalities
Seven occupational fatalities occurred among metal mine operator employees in 2007, compared to three fatalities in 2006.
- The metal mine operator fatality rate was 21.1 fatalities per 100,000 FTE employees.
Fatalities | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Underground number | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Surface number | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Underground rate | 0.0 | 26.2 | 23.9 | 0.0 | 55.2 |
Surface rate | 4.8 | 4.5 | 17.0 | 11.9 | 14.4 |
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries
There were 798 nonfatal lost-time injuries (178 at underground and 620 at surface work locations) among metal operator employees occurring at an overall rate of 2.4 injuries per 100 FTE employees. A total of 40,696 days lost from work, [6] resulted from these injuries.
- The underground nonfatal lost-time injury rate was greater than the surface injury rate (3.3 vs. 2.2 per 100 FTE workers).
- The most frequent classification of nonfatal lost-time injuries for metal operator employees involved handling materials (n=249; 31.2%).
- Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported nature of injury (n=410; 51.4%).
- The back was the most frequently reported body part injured (n=122; 15.3%) and accounted for 5,070 days lost from work.
Accident Class | Number | Percent |
---|---|---|
Handling materials | 249 | 31.2 |
Slip or fall of person | 219 | 27.4 |
Machinery | 92 | 11.5 |
Powered haulage | 85 | 10.7 |
Hand tools | 63 | 7.9 |
All other | 90 | 11.3 |
Total | 798 | 100.0 |
Mining operations, 2007
Commodity and Type of Employer | Underground Mining Operations [1] | Surface Mining Operations [1] | Total Mining Operations [1] |
---|---|---|---|
Coal Operator | 631 | 1,399 | 2,030 |
Metal Operator | 97 | 181 | 278 |
Nonmetal Operator | 48 | 677 | 725 |
Stone Operator | 113 | 4,526 | 4,639 |
Sand & Gravel Operator | Not applicable | 7,199 | 7,199 |
Operator Total | 889 | 13,982 | 14,871 |
Contracting companies, 2007
Commodity and Type of Employer | Number of Companies |
---|---|
Coal Contractor | 2,999 |
Noncoal Contractor | 5,400 |
Contractor Total | 8,399 |
Employment characteristics, 2007
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 | 37,829 | 46,242 | 84,071 | 42,238 | 51,027 | 93,265 |
Metal Operator | 5,333 | 30,667 | 36,000 | 5,437 | 32,309 | 37,746 |
Nonmetal Operator | 2,411 | 20,453 | 22,864 | 2,478 | 20,788 | 23,265 |
Stone Operator | 1,845 | 80,873 | 82,718 | 2,063 | 81,191 | 83,254 |
Sand & Gravel Operator | Not applicable | 45,761 | 45,761 | Not applicable | 38,340 | 38,340 |
Operator Total | 47,418 | 223,996 | 271,414 | 52,216 | 223,655 | 275,871 |
Coal Contractor | 5,160 | 33,705 | 38,865 | 3,071 | 19,670 | 22,741 |
Noncoal Contractor | 3,039 | 64,805 | 67,844 | 1,935 | 36,216 | 38,151 |
Contractor Total | 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 |
Mining Occupational Fatalities (per 100,000 FTE employees), 2007
Commodity and Type of Employer | Underground Fatalities | Underground Fatality Rate | Surface Fatalities | Surface Fatality Rate | Fatalities | Fatality Rate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coal Operator | 18 | 42.6 | 10 | 21.1 | 28 | 31.2 |
Metal Operator | 3 | 55.2 | 4 | 14.4 | 7 | 21.1 |
Nonmetal Operator | 1 | 40.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 5.0 |
Stone Operator | 0 | 0.0 | 8 | 11.4 | 8 | 11.1 |
Sand & Gravel Operator | Not applicable | Not applicable | 5 | 15.0 | 5 | 15.0 |
Operator Total | 22 | 42.1 | 27 | 13.8 | 49 | 19.7 |
Coal Contractor | 3 | 97.7 | 3 | 16.3 | 6 | 28.0 |
Noncoal Contractor | 2 | 103.4 | 10 | 29.3 | 12 | 33.3 |
Contractor Total | 5 | 99.9 | 13 | 24.8 | 18 | 31.3 |
Total | 27 | 47.2 | 40 | 16.1 | 67 | 21.9 |
Nonfatal Lost-time Injuries (per 100 FTE employees), 2007
Commodity and Type of Employer | Underground Injuries | Underground Injury Rate | Surface Injuries | Surface Injury Rate | Injuries | Injury Rate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coal Operator | 2,120 | 5.0 | 822 | 1.7 | 2,942 | 3.3 |
Metal Operator | 178 | 3.3 | 620 | 2.2 | 798 | 2.4 |
Nonmetal Operator | 91 | 3.7 | 417 | 2.4 | 508 | 2.5 |
Stone Operator | 36 | 1.7 | 1,844 | 2.6 | 1,880 | 2.6 |
Sand & Gravel Operator | Not applicable | Not applicable | 657 | 2.0 | 657 | 2.0 |
Operator Total | 2,425 | 4.6 | 4,360 | 2.2 | 6,785 | 2.7 |
Coal Contractor | 177 | 5.8 | 283 | 1.5 | 460 | 2.1 |
Noncoal Contractor | 43 | 2.2 | 454 | 1.3 | 497 | 1.4 |
Contractor Total | 220 | 4.4 | 737 | 1.4 | 957 | 1.7 |
Total | 2,645 | 4.6 | 5,097 | 2.0 | 7,742 | 2.5 |
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. 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.
- 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).
- Mining sectors include coal operators, metal operators, nonmetal operators, stone operators, sand and gravel operators, coal contractors, and noncoal contractors.
- Surface work locations include surface operations at underground mines, surface operations (strip or open pit), dredge, other surface operations, independent shops and yards, and mills or preparation plants.
- 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.
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See Also
- Coal Operator Mining Facts - 2005
- Metal Operator Mining Facts - 2002
- Metal Operator Mining Facts - 2004
- Metal Operator Mining Facts - 2005
- Noncoal Contractor Mining Facts - 2003
- Nonmetal Operator Mining Facts - 2002
- Nonmetal Operator Mining Facts - 2008
- Sand and Gravel Operator Mining Facts - 2006
- Stone Operator Mining Facts - 2003
- Stone Operator Mining Facts - 2005
- Page last reviewed: 2/19/2015
- Page last updated: 3/18/2014
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program