Coal company opens state-of-the-art training facility to train employees for disasters

An academy that teaches coal miners how to avoid injury and death in any disaster, through controlled crises, is believed to be the first of its kind in the world, reports Vicki Smith of The Associated Press. The Running Right Leadership Academy, a $23 million 10-acre training complex, officially opened today in Julian, W.Va. (AP photo by Steve Helber: Keith Hainer operates a virtual welding simulator)

Alpha Natural Resources, which runs 55 mines and 18 preparation plants in West Virginia, and about 45 mines and seven load-out facilities in Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Wyoming, created the academy in response to the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in 2012 that claimed the lives of 29 miners. As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Alpha agreed to invest $80 million in safety training and state-of-the-art safety equipment. The mine was owned by Massey Energy, which Alpha bought.

Cheryl Stapleton, Alpha's director of learning and development, told Smith that the goal is to prepare every employee for a crisis “so they’re not experiencing it for the very first time when it happens. . . . You need to know how to operate safely, but productively and efficiently. In today’s economic challenges, we think that’s what’s going to be necessary to really drive this business forward.”

The center includes a 96,000-square foot simulation coal mine, where instructors can create various environments, such as fire, floods, roof fails and worker injuries. There are also virtual simulators "to learn welding and how to run the continuous mining machine or drive the over-sized dump trucks at surface mines," Smith reports. "From nearby computer monitors and keyboards, instructors throw out hazards the operators will eventually encounter." The facility is now only open to Alpha employees, but eventually other companies will be able to use it. (Read more)