MCL will teach its 17,000 employees on safety and operating procedures using virtual reality
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has established a VR-based skill development initiative to teach 17,000 employees in safety and operational procedures by the year 2026.
As part of the paradigm shift programme under Mining 4.0, the corporation has set aside a budget of Rs 6.5 crore for skill development among coal miners.
Om Prakash Singh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, emphasised the importance of having a skilled workforce as a prerequisite for safe and effective mining operations. He added that ongoing training and skill upgrades are necessary to keep up with technological advancements and the introduction of new technology in the mining industry.
In order to successfully produce 300 MT of coal by 2026 and help Coal India reach 1 BT (billion tonnes), Singh stated, “We have strategically planned to upgrade the technical skills of workforce involved in operational activities, including contractors’ workers.”He said that the VR-based training for employees will save money and time while still providing objective, automatically produced feedback on the trainees’ abilities.
“The introduction of VR-based training for roughly 17,000 departmental as well as contractors’ employees will serve as a path-breaking initiative to run on 18 training modules leveraging this modern technology,” said Keshav Rao, Director (Personnel), of the initiative as a significant step towards the digitalization of business processes.
According to Rao, MCL, which has led Coal India in integrating new technology into business processes, is advancing quickly to modernise company operations via collaborative efforts and knowledge-sharing with R&D organisations and industry experts.
He said that the training would concentrate on both the departmental and contractor staff participating in operational operations in accordance with the suggestions of Annual Safety Conferences.
The initiative, led by MCL’s Innovation Cell, Safety & Rescue, Electrical & Mechanical, Excavation, and Electronics & Telecommunications departments, aims to integrate seamless training on 3D simulated VR-platforms and would give workers a safe training environment before they begin working in coal mines or workshops, all the while minimising direct exposure to hazardous activities during initial trainings and induction.
Through a competitive bidding process at the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), M/s Concoct Human Resource Practitioners (CHRP-India) Pvt. Ltd., a Hyderabad-based virtual reality technology company, has been given the task of creating a simulated environment and managing a training programme in subjects such as blasting, mine inspection, electrical safety, working at heights, HEMM operation, traffic simulation, engine/transmission maintenance, etc.
MCL, the most productive coal-producing subsidiary of Coal India, generated more than 193 million tonnes of coal in the most recent fiscal year 2022–2023, with activities distributed over the Odisha districts of Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, and Angul. Last year, it sent a record 148 million kg of coal to power plants.
