Process safety attitudes need to change: IChemE president

Attitudes towards process safety need a mindset and culture change, from the boardroom down, according to Judith Hackitt, president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).

“Boards who do not focus on process safety have a very serious gap in their corporate risk register and are potentially taking a gamble with the survival of their business,” Hackitt told delegates at IChemE’s inaugural Hazards Australasia conference in Perth via live video link.

“All high-hazard industries have to make a commitment to leadership in process safety. Society is becoming less and less tolerant of mistakes. We are not yet at the point where process safety is part of the DNA of running a major hazards business.

“We need leaders who know what they don’t know and are willing to learn. We need leaders who can live with a chronic sense of unease and who can spot the warning signs of complacency creeping in.

“And we need leaders to give the same priority to process safety wherever they are in the world - because the threat of process-related incidents occurring is the same worldwide.”

IChemE is hosting a series of major conferences around the world to improve safety in the chemical and process industries. In 2013, nearly 80 accidents have been reported in the sector, with 244 people killed and more than 800 injured.

Hackitt used her presentation as an opportunity to send a message to process safety professionals about their role in culture change.

“Be clear that your role is to create unease, not to provide false reassurance. It is essential that we all focus on this need for a culture of constant unease ... which replaces complacency,” Hackitt said.

“In this new world there will also be a positive desire to learn from others and to share knowledge and experience so that lessons do not have to be relearned time and time again in different organisations.”

Hazards Australasia was held on 26 and 27 November at the Hyatt Regency Perth.