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Ben Hatfield

CEO, International Coal Group

Tallmansville is a small coal mining town snuggled in rural north central West Virginia. Obviously not a sophisticated, media savvy community. It’s an area whose residents had been able to live their lives with little attention from the outside world. Until January 2nd when an explosion in the Sago coal mine trapped 13 miners and all but one died.

Suddenly, unsuspecting Tallmansville found itself on the international media map and under invasion by an army of high tech news crews. The pressure of the disaster was compounded exponentially by the media’s thirst and insistence for information. No doubt, the closest company executives and local residents had ever come to big time media was by watching it on their TV sets. Now, they were the main attraction.

Evaluating ICG

Through the use of video recorded as the tragedy unfolded, we are analyzing just how well senior executives of International Coal Group dealt with their crisis and the news media over a two day period. As you read on, and view the video, consider the company’s performance on four primary criteria: filling the information vacuum; realistic presentation of the situation and risks involved; personal demeanor (is the concern genuine?); and indicating that positive action is taking place.

(Note: Most of the video built into this article for you to click on is under a minute in length. A couple excerpts are longer, including the CEO’s recitation of the timeline at the time erroneous news was reported. That piece is just over four minutes long. Because you might not have time to view everything, each video segment is summarized in full for you.)

January 3rd

It’s important to note that the coal company’s management was accessible. CEO Ben Hatfield handled periodic briefings. Each time he appropriately began these sessions with prepared remarks and then opened the floor to questions. Reporters were given plenty of time for Q&A. Hatfield was remarkably patient, even in the face of some very challenging queries.

	On January 3rd, nearly 35 hours into the crisis, after a brief update on the continuing rescue operation, Hatfield is immediately asked how he is keeping the families’ hopes alive? The CEO’s response is realistic without being pessimistic, and without creating false hope. He says it’s crucial to get to the miners in a matter of just a few hours.
	Another question with a much bleaker premise, asking if Hatfield agreed it would take a miracle, and when the rescue operation would become a retrieval mission. To his credit, Hatfield is honest, agreeing that it will take a miracle, but that miracles do happen. And, without validating the rescue–to–retrieval premise, he does say it is coming down to a matter of just a few hours.
	Predictably, Hatfield is frequently asked to speculate on various things, including the cause of the explosion. He will go only as far as the facts known at the time, saying it appears to have been methane-related, but that a full investigation will determine the cause.
	Reporters persist, one wanting to know if this crisis is an indication of even more serious safety violations than originally reported about the Sago mine. Hatfield’s response is direct, firm and focused. This is not the time to appoint blame. This mine has made giant strides in its safety in the two months since his company took it over. And, the only important issue right now is the welfare of 13 trapped miners.

January 4th

Nerves are raw, feelings are on shirt sleeves, and many are sleep–deprived, including CEO Hatfield. Now, it’s his job to say how such a horrible mix up occurred and that for nearly three predawn hours, families believed all but one of their loved ones survived, only to find that all but one died.

Who screwed up?

Hatfield details a timeline of events late the night before into the morning.

11:45pm	Mine rescue command center receives a report that 12 are alive
12:18am	Command center receives word that the survivors and the rescue team are leaving the base area of the mine (At this point, Hatfield notes that while the command center did not relate any of this information to anyone, it was aware that people were receiving word on cell phone calls from "jubilant employees" and rescue team workers.)
12:30am	Rescue team members now breathing fresh air, without the use of their air masks, and the command center receives word that only one miner appears to have survived; the 11 others displayed no vital signs. Some in command center hold onto hope this report is erroneous, maybe the other 11 are just comatose.
1:20am	The team and the one confirmed (and unidentified) survivor reach the surface.
1:38am	Four additional rescue teams and EMTs are dispatched to confirm status of remaining miners. Company officials decide it is unwise to release any statement until the condition of the 11 miners and the name of the one known survivor are known.
2:00am (approx)	State police are asked to notify clergy at church where families are gathered that original reports may have been too optimistic; some of the clergy get the message, but it’s not communicated to the families.
2:15am (approx)	Randal McCloy (the survivor) is positively identified.
2:30am	Company completes a brief statement and heads to church to inform the families.
	Of course, it is this series of events that has come under intense examination and criticism. Reporters, perhaps inspired to some degree by the embarrassment of their own overnight reports of a miracle, hammer Hatfield, who is clearly upset himself, yet manages to maintain his composure.
	Interviewing’s initial question as these events unfolded: what, if any, policy had the company created over how information would be disseminated to the families and the media? The same question comes up at Hatfield’s briefing. There was, indeed, a rule over who and where word would originate. But, he says, when such a spectacular report from rescuers was overheard over the loud speaker in the command center, jubilant workers spread word over personal cell phones.
	It had been Hatfield who had to go to the church early in the morning to tell families the very sad fact that 12 miners actually died. Asked about the rage he met from those families, Hatfield says he understands their feelings, as he tries to control his own anguish.

Certainly, after any crisis, an analysis will point up how things could have been done better. In hindsight, management probably could have conducted more briefings, even when there was little new, just to maintain and solidify its role as the epicenter of the facts. And, the company should’ve had constant representation at the church in order to relay information both to the families and back to the command center.