Competence and compliance in plant safety
Author : Amy Hollamby
02 March 2010
The Majestic Hotel in Harrogate, UK once again hosted the annual HazardEx conference which was held on the 24th and 25th February 2010. The programme concentrated on the experiences of leading end-users in the oil, gas and downstream process industries where hazardous areas exist and safe operational procedures must be adopted.
The HazardEx event- Promoting competence & compliance in plant safety
Speakers included: Gordon Macdonald, HSE Director of hazardous installations; Richard Lawson Head of technical regulation, BIS; and John Hodges, Head of the Explosion Safety Unit at Health and Safety Laboratories who detailed the findings of the investigation into the explosion at ICL Plastics, Glasgow.
The HazardEx event- Promoting competence & compliance in plant safety
Two of the country’s leading associations – UK Petroleum Industry Association and the Energy Institute – represented the interests of their many influential members by presenting papers on the experiences of process and energy companies in safe operation in the hazardous area. Speakers from leading manufacturing and processing companies including Ineos Chlor, Solutia and Dow Corning also presented end-user based papers covering a variety of their experiences in achieving compliance with the directives and regulations needed to operate in the hazardous area.
Other papers looked at issues of non-electrical and dust hazards while representatives from two of our most important notified bodies provided an insight into the developing functional safety standards and the new IECEx personnel competency scheme, which bridges an important gap in the safety jigsaw. The need for an international scheme for certifying the competence of plant personnel was first recognised by IECEx in 2005, when a working group was set up to investigate the possibilities after some market research. The scheme was finally approved at the end of last year and the details were released to the hazardous area community at the HazardEx conference.
Delegates at the conference received the news enthusiastically, understanding that a critical gap in the safety chain has effectively been plugged.
The HazardEx event- Promoting competence & compliance in plant safety
As in previous years the conference was supported by the exhibition and sponsors workshops, to provide the perfect opportunity to learn more about the hazardous area.
A highlight of the event was of course be the evening Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony itself, during which each of the winners were presented with an award. Guests enjoyed a drinks reception, 4 course meal with wine and entertainment in the form of Jack Charlton OBE, former footballer and manager.