In 2011,Consol was the first domestic coal producer to develop a corporate responsibility report. Its latest report again addresses what the company has done to meet key performance indicators across the areas of safety, the environment and community.

"In 2012, we continued to demonstrate that responsible business practices can co-exist with energy production to deliver the fuel that drives economic growth and supports our quality of life, and that is reflected in this year's report," said chairman and CEO J. Brett Harvey.

Consol reported that 2012 was its “best safety year on record”, with the company’s coal division dropping safety exceptions 11% to 1.67.

The company said miners at its Enlow Fork mine worked over one million consecutive hours without incurring a single lost-time incident.

"Looking forward, our short-term strategic priorities are to continue to build on the ‘Absolute ZERO' program and to fully integrate the ZERO Accident culture into CONSOL Energy and its contractors,” said senior vice-president of environmental strategy and regulatory affairs Katharine Fredriksen.

“We also expect to further improve compliance through setting ambitious targets and metrics suitable for our business and in line with our core values."

Consol also said 2012 was one of the best environmental compliance years on record, with a company-wide improvement of 30%.

Additionally, the company highlighted its $6 million in community investment as evidence of its support of the community.

Despite these achievements, the report is published amidst some current safety concerns for the company.

On February 12, a coal miner died at Consol’s underground Loveridge #22 mine in West Virginia and earlier this month, the company’s Blacksville No.2 mine caught fire and billowed smoke for days.

The fire now appears to be extinguished and advance teams re-entered the mine last week to assess the damage.