Hazards 33: Helping Turn Good Practice into Common Practice
Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
The internationally recognised qualifying body and learned society for chemical, biochemical and process engineers.
With process safety experts and risk management practitioners set to gather for IChemE’s annual Hazards conference in November, we caught up with Eamon Chandler, chair of its technical committee to ask what attendees can expect from this year’s event
What is the focus of the conference this year?
“Firstly, we want to help those attending the conference address the consistent challenges of turning good practices into common practices, and developing the leadership required to successfully manage major hazard processes. Continuing these journeys and improving industry capability is so important. Secondly, we want to encourage discussions about contemporary issues including climate change and its impact on process industries, the challenges of decarbonisation, the energy transition, the impact and lessons from the pandemic, and the opportunities of digitalisation and big data. The quicker we learn how to address new challenges, the quicker we get the right focus on new major hazard issues.”
What are the new and lesser-known topics that are bubbling up??
“There are lots of pressing topics to discuss. There is strong interest in the growth of the hydrogen economy, the management of the risks that entails, and the development of related technology. In parallel, we see interest in the management of environmental protection alongside major accident management.?
“In recent years, safety professionals and chemical engineers have begun to focus more keenly on the lessons about major hazards management that we can learn from other sectors and disciplines. We plan to include insightful thinking in this critical space.
“Additionally, we have continued interest from engineers who want to gain a deeper understanding of how human factors contribute to major accidents and explore the broader understanding of how we can best implement the lessons learned from past incidents.”
How does Hazards benefit attendees professionally or personally?
“The Hazards conference provides so many insights for those who work in or with major hazard industries. For me personally, one of the key lectures that shaped my thinking and approach to major hazards management was given by Trevor Kletz. He spoke about the need to gain deep learning from previous major hazard incidents, and to implement, embed and engrain what we learn to improve how we manage major accident hazards in our industries. It was deeply insightful, and I have carried his thoughts in my ‘toolkit’ throughout my career.
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For me, Hazards never fails to deliver valuable insights. It’s an opportunity to spend time away from your regular activities, present your latest thinking, meet with experts and peers, refocus your own thoughts, and reflect on how you can lead on major hazards within your own organisation.
You will meet engineers who share similar dilemmas, and those new connections will create opportunities. Whatever issue you are struggling with, there will be more than one person who can give you fresh insight, suggest a different approach, and help you to solve challenges in new ways.
“A real strength of the Hazards conference is the wide range of industry experts who attend, covering the full spectrum of process safety topics. There is always a terrific mix of operators, engineers, expert consultants, regulators, and safety professionals in attendance. The individual subject sessions are lively and there is plenty of room for questions and discussion, especially during the panel discussions and plenaries.?
“Amir Gerges, the group safety vice president for Shell, is delivering the Trevor Kletz lecture. He will be describing Shell’s safety improvement journey. Stuart Hawksworth, head of HSE’s Centre for Energy and Major Hazards will give an update on developments in hydrogen infrastructure and strategy and how this relates to its safe use across sectors. And Rhona Flin from the University of Aberdeen will discuss the role of non-technical skills in process safety.
“Please do join us and help share stories, fresh know-how, and insights that will help the wider community.”
Hazards 33 will run from 7-9 November in Birmingham, UK. For more information and to book your place, visit: www.icheme.org/hazards33
This article first appeared in The Chemical Engineer.
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1 年On the 10th August 2020, lava-like melted plastic and a catastrophic inferno completely destroyed a plastics recycling facility on the Tyseley Industrial Estate in Birmingham. Upto 100 firefighters fought the blaze. Interestingly the following arson investigation was shown on the BBC Series, Forensics: The Real CSI, Series 3, Episode 3. Playing Fire (30th May 2023). The broadcast is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mg1l/forensics-the-real-csi-series-3-3-playing-with-fire or here: https://youtu.be/pP8p3I_6Uns. The CPS did not prosecute. A 'burn test' (from CCTV evidence the cause of the blaze) was common practice in the factory. While the CPS view is understandable, the lack of prosecution rankles with my professional responibilities "to hold paramount the health and safety of others, draw attention to hazards and prevent avoidable dangers to health and safety". Issues arising from the HASAW 1974 act were not followed up because the company went into administration. Last week, Safety and Loss Prevention SIG committee meeting discussed some of the issues I raised, but I wondered if the wider IChemE membership had any thoughts about my concerns.?Let's hear what people think.