New safety chapters published by IChemE

Two new chapters for the Occupational Health and Safety Body of Knowledge have been published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Safety Centre and the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA).

The chapters focus on process hazards in the chemical industries, as well as process safety management.

They were created over 18 months of collaboration and will be launched via an online webinar.

The ISC and the SIA intend to close the knowledge gap between OHS professionals and engineers in the process industries to encourage better understanding and the sharing of best practice, and to improve general safety at work.

There were 178 workplace safety incidents reported in Australia last year according to SafeWork Australia. Seventeen of these occurred in the process industries, which includes chemicals, oil and gas, pharmaceutical production and food production.

IChemE Safety Centre Director Trish Kerin will host the launch with a webinar entitled ‘An Introduction to Process Safety’. This follows introductions from Australian National University Emeritus Professor Andrew Hopkins, IChemE Past President and former chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive Dame Judith Hackitt, and OHS Body of Knowledge Process Safety Technical Panel member John Temby.

“The collaboration between ISC and SIA has been a positive step in closing the gap between process safety and more generalist health and safety roles,” said Kerin.

“A basic knowledge of process safety is essential to improving your safety competencies more generally, whether you work in the process industries or not.”

The Occupational Health and Safety Body of Knowledge is an online resource used all over the world, defining for professionals what they need to know about safety. The addition of process safety content will help to advance process safety knowledge and understanding worldwide.

“The evidence is clear; all health and safety generalists should have a basic knowledge of process safety, particularly when they are operating in high-risk environments,” said Pam Pryor, registrar of the Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board.

“I am confident that this development will be essential to closing the current gap of knowledge and in turn reduce the number of incidents, not only in Australia, but on a global scale.”

Visit https://safetyinstituteofaustralia.eventsmart.com/events/introduction-to-process-safety to register for the launch webinar. IChemE and SIA members are provided with a discounted rate.