Lessons in Safety

ICHEME’s Hazards28 conference was held in Edinburgh on 15-17 May, and I was one of more than 300 people who attended.

While I have a background in science, the only potential hazards I experienced during my research career were computer cables that I could trip over, or a monitor not at the right height. As such, I found my first Hazards conference both eye-opening and unsettling with regard to the sheer number of chemical industry accidents that have occurred, and the often-shocking reasons as to why they happened. However, I was impressed with the passion of some of the speakers who are trying to put safety at the heart of industries, and I was also struck by some of the effective methods of communicating safety.