Skills Academy, chemicals industry link to improve process safety management
17 Aug 2010
London – The National Skills Academy Process Industries and the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) have formed a partnership to address the issue of process safety issues in the wake of incidents at Buncefield, Texas City and the ongoing investigation of the fatal explosion and oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico.
The linkup centres on the creation of a ’specialist skills network’ to focus on process safety management. The aim is to provide employers with the confidence that any training undertaken is high quality, based on externally verified standards and fit-for-purpose.
According to NSAPI, regulatory authorities will increasingly require employers in major hazard industries including chemicals to provide a clear demonstration of organisational competence in the area of process safety management. The focus, it said, will be directed particularly at board and senior management level.
The Academy is now seeking expressions of interest from training providers and consultants to help the new partnership establish a specialist network that builds on established best practice to identify and benchmark process safety management development needs.
The initiative will also involve work with industry and Cogent, the Skills Council for the Chemicals Industry, to establish national training standards for process safety management. Another goal is to ensure a modular delivery model to meet the needs of both SMEs and large national / international businesses.
“The new national training standards will underpin the key competences for process safety management. This will undoubtedly help towards improving safety in the UK Process Industry,” said Phil Jones, CEO of the Skills Academy.
The initiative has backing from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), a spokesman commenting: The HSE is keen to support the development and delivery of training and coaching for Board members and senior managers in process safety and process safety leadership. We also place great emphasis on improving the competence and skills of staff at all levels within chemical and processing industries.”
For his part, Steve Elliot, CEO of the CIA pointed out that the Association’s Responsible Care requires chemical companies to continuously improve their HSE performance.
“We are delighted to build on our existing relationship with the Academy and Cogent SSC to work together to develop this specialist network,” said Elliot.
