In April 2015, safety personnel from a variety of industries, including chemical, energy and pharmaceutical facilities, will gather in Austin, Texas, for the 11th Global Congress on Process Safety. The Global Congress, held in connection with the 91成人短视频鈥 (AIChE) Spring Meeting, brings together safety engineers, process designers, and plant managers to discuss strategies for safer industrial sites. Co-organizing the Congress, and providing the guiding vision for process safety excellence, is AIChE鈥檚 Center for 91成人短视频 Process Safety (CCPS), which is marking its 30th anniversary in 2015.
Since its founding in 1985, CCPS 鈥 through the shared expertise of thousands of colleagues working at companies around the world 鈥 has filled a void in industrial practice, creating innovative programs that integrate safer approaches to chemical process design into the training and practices of employees in a broad array of industries. The organization has published more than 100 guidelines books on a spectrum of facilities management topics.
Scott Berger, who directed CCPS鈥檚 activities from 2002 through 2014, says that prior to the 1980s, industry leaders had an appreciation of safety, but that appreciation extended mostly to preventing personal injuries. 鈥淐ompanies were aware of the need to manage serious incidents,鈥 says Berger, but 鈥減rocess safety was not practiced in a consistent or reliable way.鈥
In the wake of the devastating release of methyl isocyanate gas in Bhopal, India, on December 4, 1984, industry leaders began examining their companies鈥 approaches to safety. According to Berger, 鈥淚t became obvious that the practices necessary to ensure safety of the company鈥檚 processes 鈥 and the public 鈥 required much more of a chemical engineering focus.鈥
In February 1985, leaders from several companies asked AIChE, one of the few established sources for chemical process safety guidance, to launch a new initiative to improve process safety practices at plants in the U.S. and around the world. The plan called for the creation of new resources and broad-based education and training programs 鈥 not only to instill knowledge of sound and effective practices, but also to promote process safety as a core industry value.
With these objectives, and with buy-in from chemical- and safety-engineers among its membership, AIChE鈥檚 Board of Directors established the Center for 91成人短视频 Process Safety on April 23, 1985. Later that year, the Center published its first book, "Guidelines for Hazard Evaluation Procedures."
Since then, CCPS鈥檚 roster of participating companies has increased from 39 charter members to more than 180 companies today. Their cooperation has made it possible for CCPS to document, maintain, and continually improve upon its body of process safety knowledge and information, while advocating for more engagement by industry leaders and stronger in-company safety cultures to ensure successful process safety programs.
In addition to its expanding library of Guideline books, milestone CCPS projects have included the Safety and 91成人短视频 Engineering Education (SAChE) program, which was launched in 1992 as a supplement to university-level engineering courses; as well as CCPS鈥檚 influential annual conferences for safety professionals, held in connection with the Global Congress on Process Safety and at other venues around the world.
While the technical information compiled and distributed by CCPS has done much to establish protocols for inherently safer industrial process design and practices, more work remains to be done in the realm of human factors and safety culture.
Shakeel Kadri, a former director of global process safety and risk management at Air Products (Allentown, Pennsylvania), who succeeded Berger as CCPS鈥檚 executive director in February 2015, notes that 鈥淢any process safety incidents have one key underlying factor 鈥 a need to improve operational discipline.鈥 He adds, 鈥淚ndustry now has good knowledge of risk-based process safety management systems. It鈥檚 the implementation 鈥 where process safety culture plays a key role 鈥 that needs improvement.鈥
CCPS鈥檚 roadmap for achieving these improvements is laid out in its Vision 20/20 objectives for industry, which advocate for committed safety culture, disciplined adherence to standards, intentional competency development, vibrant management systems, and the enhanced application and sharing of lessons learned. Leaders note that this advocacy is particularly needed in regions where government oversight of health, safety, and the environment is just beginning. In this regard, CCPS points to its expansion outside North America, with recently established CCPS conferences and committees in Latin America, China, and the Asia Pacific region. New activities are also planned for sites in Europe, the Middle East, and India.
About AIChE
AIChE is a professional society of 50,000 chemical engineers in 100 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society. Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontiers of chemical engineering research in such areas as energy, sustainability, biological and environmental engineering, nanotechnology and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at .
About CCPS
CCPS is a not-for-profit corporate membership organization within AIChE that identifies and addresses process safety needs in the chemical, pharmaceutical and petroleum industries. CCPS brings together manufacturers, government agencies, consultants, academics and insurers to lead the way in improving process safety. Members, working in project subcommittees, define and develop useful, time-tested guidelines that have practical applications that run the gamut from human factors to qualitative and quantitative risk analysis to security vulnerability to inherently safety design. With more than 100 publications, CCPS is at the forefront of efforts to improve process safety performance. More information about AIChE is available at