Process safety guide for OHS generalists

A new guide to improve the approach to process safety will be developed for OHS generalists through a collaboration between the Safety Institute of Australia, Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Safety Centre.

The joint project will produce a chapter on process safety for the OHS Body of Knowledge for Generalist OHS Professionals with content built around process safety competencies for generalist OHS professions.

Safety Institute of Australia CEO David Clarke welcomed the joint work on the new chapter.

“Some generalist OHS professionals have an engineering background. However, analysis of recent process engineering disasters has shown that all generalists operating in high-risk environments should have this foundation knowledge,” said Clarke.

“The ability to identify issues, contribute a unique perspective and engage with process safety specialists is essential for managing safety in such environments.”

The scope and content of the chapter will be produced by a technical panel, comprising process safety engineers and generalist OHS professionals.

Pam Pryor, registrar of the Australian OHS Education Accreditation Board, custodian of the OHS Body of Knowledge, said the project recognises the role of the generalist in supporting process safety and will provide a conceptual knowledge base for the generalist, including effective liaison with engineers.

Work will commence in February, with a workshop for the technical panel. The publication is planned for release in late 2016.