A professional development programme for the chemical and process industries

There is an increasing emphasis on the importance of managing ‘human factors’ to achieve improved safety and business performance in the chemical process industries.

It is widely acknowledged that human, rather than technical failures now represent the greatest threat to complex and potentially hazardous systems. IChemE responded to this challenge in 2009 by joining forces with the Keil Centre, a leading practice of chartered psychologists and experts in ergonomics, to develop a human factors training programme tailored specifically to meet the needs of the chemical and process industries. To date, more than forty international companies have benefited from the programme, which is recognised as one of the best of its kind.

Major accidents, including those at Texas City and Buncefield, have once again highlighted the importance of addressing this aspect of performance. However, many of the safety and operational professionals charged with managing human factors have no formal qualifications or training in the behavioural sciences.

The programme will be of particular interest to:

• internal human factors advisors/focal points
• operations managers
• HSE advisors and specialists
• industry regulators