Safety Training Center Expands, Gets New Name

Safety is at the center of everything Watco does. That commitment, coupled with Watco’s growth, has led to the expansion and renaming of the company’s safety training center in Birmingham, Alabama.

The former STAT Center has become the Safe Performance Center. A newly-built second building, which more than doubles the Center’s previous space, opened Jan. 3, 2022. The 11,000-square-foot building includes multiple classrooms, a conference room, and a large space designated for a future simulation lab.

The project was driven by Watco’s growth, which created a need for more safety training space than the original building – built in 2017 – could handle alone. The capacity expansion boosts the number of team members who can receive on-site instruction from 40 per day to about 150 per day.

The expanded Safe Performance Center will provide training for all Watco operations. It is expected to meet the company’s training needs for the next decade, ensuring team members receive consistent, high-quality training that adheres to Watco’s standards.

Classes in the new building began the day the center opened. For the first time since the center has existed, the Safety team was able to hold three different classes at the same time, conductors, locomotive engineers, mechanical, car repair, and maintenance of way. The new building will house training for engineers, locomotive engineers, mechanical, car repair, and engineering.

The conference room in the new building is wired for live, interactive, remote learning, permitting instructors to provide additional safety training and safety refreshers to team members and leaders around the country. In the future, this technology could be used to provide training to other members of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.

As part of the expansion, a confined-space simulator – a tanker car modified for training – was added to a piece of track outside the new building. Its addition allows hands-on confined-space rescue training for Watco team members. First responders also will be able to use the simulator for live exercises in a safe environment.

The Safe Performance Center’s team of nine instructors demonstrate a level of professionalism and competency that is unmatched in the industry. These dedicated training professionals, along with the Safe Performance Center’s new name and recent expansion, underscore Watco’s commitment to team members’ safety and job growth opportunities.

Over the next few months, stories in The Dispatch and on Watco Vision will introduce the Safe Performance Center team and give you more information about the breadth of training Watco provides.