Cogent extends safety strategy
10 Nov 2015
Industry body Cogent Skills has updated its process safety management competence programme.
The strategy for competence in process safety management (PSM) was first launched in 2012 to help support the industry’s need to better understand and manage major incident risks.
The updated three-year strategy, which covers 2015-2018, now extends to process industry organisations that are not covered by Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) regulations.
Business and local economic impacts may well be more significant in smaller enterprises where even small losses might lead to the end of operations
PSM board chairman Richard Roff
COMAH regulations are designed to ensure companies take all the necessary measures in preventing serious accidents involving dangerous substances.
By extending the safety strategy, firms not covered by COMAH will understand the lessons being learned in the process industries and larger major accident hazard operations via high quality training, Cogent said.
The training will create “a stronger process safety culture in other industry sectors and smaller companies,” Cogent added.
PSM competence programme board chairman Richard Roff said: “It may be tempting to think that events with large losses of life or other major damage can only occur at large scale operations but, on the contrary, business and local economic impacts may well be more significant in smaller enterprises where even small losses might lead to the end of operations, therefore affecting livelihoods and communities beyond those directly involved.”
Roff said smaller incidents can and should be prevented.
“Having a framework of industry-assured competence standards and training materials for businesses will allow them to apply consistent approaches and deliver the organisational competence to manage risks from those hazards, not only contributing to compliance with regulation but also bringing business benefits from loss reduction,” he said.
Cogent said that although the new strategy assists smaller firms in more depth, it will also continue to focus on COMAH duty holders, while continuing to encourage larger organisations to adopt PSM Training Standards.
