Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster: A Case Study in Business Failure

This case study analyzes the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster involving Massey Energy, exploring the preventable nature of the event and the role of the company's corporate culture. The disaster, which resulted in 29 miner deaths, stemmed from violations of safety laws, inadequate ventilation, and a prioritization of productivity over worker safety. The analysis highlights internal failures in providing safe working conditions and external failures in regulatory oversight by both MSHA and the company. The case study concludes that Massey Energy lacked adequate contingency plans for disaster recovery, evidenced by its subsequent acquisition by a competitor. The financial compensation provided was insufficient to address the needs of the affected community, revealing a failure in corporate social responsibility. The provided solution delves into the organizational failures, contingency planning shortcomings, and the company's community and environmental responsibilities.

Running head: COAL MINE EXPLOSION
COAL MINE EXPLOSION
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1COAL MINE EXPLOSION
Introduction
With its headquarters in Virginia, Massey Energy Company happen to be one of the
major coal extracting companies operating in the US, with large production of coal and an
equally large amount of revenue income. The company was bought by its competitor Alpha
Natural Resources in the year 2011, which subsequently had to pay all the guilt liabilities of
Massey.
Discussion
The company had been severe criticisms for the last few decades due to breach of
laws, the major blow coming from a huge blast that occurred at the Upper Big Branch Mine
of West Virginia, where 29 miners were reported dead (Tavernise, 2018). The incident
occurred under the operative supervision of Performance Coal Company, which was a
subsidiary of Massey Energy, on whom the entire guilt was imposed. It was the largest coal
mine disaster in forty years, after a similar one at Kentucky in 1970, where Finley Coal
Company was held responsible for the death of 38 miners ("Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster |
ExploreKYHistory", 2018). The blast of Upper Big Branch was triggered from a yet
unknown source due to an unnaturally high rate of inflammable coal dust and methane, and
poor safety facilities against them.
In its final report published in 11th December, 2011, Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA) concluded that the explosion took place due to the violations of
relevant safety laws by the company (Msha.gov., 2018). This was the result of a yearlong
investigation into the matter, whereby it was discovered that the authorities of the company
have been wilfully violating the basic safety norms for a long time. There was a dearth of
proper ventilation and escape route for the workers, who had to work in abject conditions.
The company had always put on a clean hand, while focusing more on the productivity than

2COAL MINE EXPLOSION
the safety of the workers. As such, Massey Energy had to pay a heavy compensation for this
incident, some of it even being paid by Alpha Natural Resources. The statements given by the
CEO of Massey Energy Don Blankenship were overruled as they did not correlate to the
actual incident and its probable causes (Tavernise, 2018). Later on, in April 2012, the Upper
Big Branch mine of West Virginia was completely shut down.
The disastrous incident was very much preventable, provided the company authorities
had paid more attention to their assets, that is, their workers, at the cost of whose labour the
company had been making huge profits. The failure of the company had more internal than
external dimensions. The internal policies failed to provide safe working conditions for the
miners, as there was room enough for explosive gases to develop and risk their lives
(Nrc.gov, 2018). Externally, both MSHA, as well as the company was held incompetent
enough to regulate safety policies, in spite of a number of citations against the existing safety
policies were reported both before as well as after the incident.
Conclusion
Therefore it may be concluded by saying that the Massey Energy failed to develop
adequate contingency plans to recover from the aftermaths of the disaster, which is reflected
in its sale to a competitor. The financial compensation was not sufficient in matching up to
the requirements of disaster recovery for the affected community.

3COAL MINE EXPLOSION
Reference List
Hurricane Creek Mine Disaster | ExploreKYHistory. (2018). Retrieved from
http://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/559
Nrc.gov. (2018). [online] Available at:
https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1206/ML12069A003.pdf [Accessed 8 Sep. 2018].
Tavernise, S. (2018). Massey Energy’s Negligence Led to Mine Blast, Study Finds. Retrieved
from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/us/20mine.html
Msha.gov. (2018) Upper Big Branch Mine-South, Performance Coal Company | Mine Safety
and Health Administration (MSHA). Retrieved from https://www.msha.gov/data-
reports/reports/Upper%20Big%20Branch%20Mine-South%2C%20Performance
%20Coal%20Company