Doug Conaway

Doug Conaway is a lifelong coal miner with deep roots in the West Virginia coal industry. He got his red hat in 1975 at the Eastern Associated Coal Company’s Federal No. 1 mine in Grant Town, West Virginia (Marion County) and never strayed far from those roots during a long and distinguished career that continues to this day. 

Conaway continued to work in the industry as he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in education from Fairmont State College in 1980, and as he earned two post-graduate degrees – a Master of Science in Safety Management in 1982 and a Master of Science in Occupational Safety and Health Engineering in 1989 both from West Virginia University in Morgantown. 

In fact, that commitment to mine safety became the very foundation of his future professional endeavors. In 1983, Conaway moved to the public sector for the next 21 years holding positions in the West Virginia Department of Mines and Department of Energy before joining the Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training, first as deputy director and then as director. 

In that capacity, Conaway engaged with the entire West Virginia coal industry to enhance Mine Safety. He was also appointed by numerous West Virginia governors to serve as chairman of the West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety, a role he held for over 15 years. 

In addition to his efforts to improve mine safety at the West Virginia level, he also strived to make improvements at the national level by serving two terms as president of the National Holmes Safety Association. 

In 2006, Conaway returned to the private sector when he joined Arch Resources, first as its corporate safety director and later as its vice president of safety. At Arch, he was instrumental in the development of Arch’s widely recognized behavior-based safety (BBS) initiative, which helped further solidify Arch’s deep safety-based culture and which has helped the company record one of the industry’s best safety performances year after year.