How can you make process safety training for Chemical Process Engineers more interactive?

A good process engineer understands the importance of chemical process safety through lessons learned. Training them can be challenging. I believe safety training should change their attitude, encouraging questions and instilling the mindset that "If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong" instead of just relying on codes and standards. This change is often achieved through case studies from organizations like CCPS, BP, and USCSB. Scenarios help engineers see potential issues. In a recent training, I asked participants to calculate the Bhopal tragedy MEF. They initially estimated one fatality in a million years, but the actual situation was different, emphasizing that "Maintaining a barrier is as important as designing it.

Process safety training for chemical process engineers can be made more interactive by using various techniques and tools such as simulations, games, videos, case studies, and group activities. These techniques can help to improve the engagement and retention of information by the trainees, ultimately leading to a safer working environment.

The best example I recently came across at NSC congress was the use of VR for safety training. It's fascinating to see they can mimic the environment of your company and customize the training. It is probably the best training mode I have seen for EAP

Local fire departments are often willing to set up demonstration fires and help employees practice using an extinguisher. Pull-Aim-Squeeze-Sweep is infinitely more memorable when you can feel the heat from a blaze. Lugging that extinguisher across a parking lot toward a fire will keep every employee cognizant of the distance between a fire hazard and the nearest extinguisher.

It's tempting to focus on the catastrophes as case studies but the small stories are often the most impactful. The most memorable safety video I've seen featured a picture of a ponytail tangled around a shaft and not on somebody's head. I don't have long hair but since that training I know I've been more conscious of loose sleeves, gloves, and anything else that could be caught by rotating equipment.

Quizzes are a great way to make sure the most important information was received by the audience. Videos are easy to snooze through or forget but answering "where are you allowed to smoke" can emphasize flammability hazards and confirm the audience knows they can't smoke in the picnic area. At the very least, the audience has to read the question and take a reasonable guess at the answer.

In my experience, getting out into the field with the operators is an excellent way to get some real world safety training. These are the people that are most affected by safety, or lack of, everyday. Also, hearing stories from people that have been affected by safety incidents can be a powerful attention grabber and help the training stick.