Upcoming events and webinars
Below are conferences and webinars where Trish Kerin will present.
December 2022
Webinar: Safety Lore No 19: Confined Space Entry
20 December 2022, 08:00 GMT
Trish Kerin and Craig Wright discusses two cases studies that occurred in the past, stressing the key lessons on confined space entry. It also provides useful tips and recommendations as how to avoid future recurrence of such accidents.
February 2023
Webinar: Evidence based insights about procedural systems and process safety
14 February 2023, 22:00 GMT
Workers’ use of and adherence to procedures can be an important risk mitigation method in the process industries. In this presentation, Dr. Peres will present findings from the Next Generation Advanced Procedures’ (NGAP) consortium on the attributes associated with more (less) effective procedural systems. NGAP is an industry/academia consortium focused on conducting industry driven empirical research to improve the risk profile of procedural systems and develop technology to support this.
Webinar: Remember the Philadelphia Gulf Refinery Fire 50 Years on
28 February 2023, 01:00 GMT
17th August 1975 is remembered for the highest firefighter fatality count in Pennsylvania State’s modern history. What started as a crude oil tank fire at the Girard Point refinery (then operated by Gulf Oil Corporation) was initially brought under control. However, containment issues and problems managing the spent firewater left a precarious situation; a layer of naphtha hidden beneath the firefighting foam suddenly ignited, with the resulting inferno rapidly advancing through the flooded refinery. A massive emergency response was eventually able to reclaim the facility, but at a cost; eight firefighters dead. Memorial plaques outside of the Fireman’s Hall Museum in downtown Philadelphia honour each of the fallen.
This tragic incident has been largely forgotten about in the process industries; however, the memory is kept alive within the firefighting community. The official investigation report does not exist on the internet; the presenting author was able to track this down after months of trawling historical newspapers and reaching out via union leaders, fire commissioners, and national archives. This presentation will reveal why a floating roof storage tank should never be brought “off-float” in error, the importance of effective communication in emergency response, and why there should always be a plan for managing firefighting run-off water.
Process safety has doubtless come a long way in the last 50 years, however, there is an unfortunate ending to this story that suggests that maybe we have yet to learn the lessons of the past.
Presenter: Ewan Stewart is an IChemE Australia board member, IChemE state representative for Queensland, and chair of the Queensland Joint Chemical Engineering Committee. He works for Wood Plc in their Australia East process engineering team, supporting clients in the oil and gas, and municipal water sectors. He has authored content for The Chemical Engineer magazine and more recently the Loss Prevention Bulletin. He applies a strong safety focus across his work and is a firm believer in storytelling as a means of getting the safety message across.
March 2023
2023 Spring Meeting and 19th Global Congress for Process Safety
12–16 March 2023, Houston, Texas
The Global Congress for Process Safety will take place at the Hilton of the Americas, George R Brown Convention Centre, Houston.
July 2023
Global Experts Conference on Renewable and Sustainable Energy
27–29 July 2023, Osaka, Japan
The Global Experts Conference on Renewable and Sustainable Energy (GECRSE-23) is focused on the innovatory approach for innovation and invention in Renewable and Sustainable Energy. GECRSE-23 aims to proclaim knowledge and share new ideas amongst the professionals, industrialists, and students from research areas of Renewable and Sustainable Energy to share their research experiences and indulge in interactive discussions and technical sessions at the event. The conference will be a platform to globalize one research, share scientific experiences, to gain knowledge of new technologies and regulations.
October 2023
Mary Kay O'Connor Safety & Risk Conference
11–13 October 2023, College Station, Texas
Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety and Risk Global conference is planned for 2023 with strong industry and academic participation. The conference will serve as a venue to discuss challenges faced and potential solutions to support the safer energy transition.
Conference topics:
- Process safety and risk management
- Process instrumentation and safety
- Safety of hydrogen and alternate fuels
- Ocean energy systems safety (renewable and non-renewable)
- Safety and security in cyber physical
- Reliability and asset integrity of processing systems