EQUIP WORKING PROFESSIONALS WITH KNOWLEDGE TO MANAGE PROCESS SAFETY IN CHEMICAL PLANT

Date: 1^st September 2022

By: Mohamad Rezi Abdul Hamid

Safety in chemical plants is not something to be taken lightly. Take BP America Refinery explosion in 2005 as an example. A series of explosions occurring during of the startup of the hydrocarbon isomerization unit resulted in 15 fatalities and 180 injuries. The Master in Process Safety and Loss Prevention (MPSLP) is designed to prepare professionals with important knowledge to identify, manage, and control process safety to prevent occurrence of major accidents and losses during plant operations.

MPLSP is an accredited program by the Malaysia Qualification Agency MQA/SWA 0410. The program has been producing many graduates since its inception in 2009. The content of the program is inline with CIMAH regulations, is always updated to meet the current requirement and standards as well as addresses emerging issues and upkeep with the best practices. It is therefore not a surprise that this 1.5-year program manages to attract interest from working professionals such as safety engineer, process engineer, HSE officer, consultant, risk analyst, and many more. Mr. Rubachandran who works as a senior technical officer is among the MPLSP recent graduates.

“As a senior technical safety engineer in Petrokon Utama, Brunei, my role is to ensure process safety and technical safety design requirements for all ongoing onshore and offshore projects. Basically, maintaining process safety of the entire project.” said Mr. Rubachandran. “The knowledge obtained from process safety laboratory and hazard and risk analysis courses really helped me to enhance my knowledge in relief valve calculation and BowTie analysis in my profession”

Mr. Qhadzrool Afzan currently works as a process engineer in Malaysia LNG Sdn. Bhd. “MPSLP courses improved my understanding of process safety in my daily task; such as reviewing risk assessment prior to executing a particular work.” He said “I am also proud to be part of the culture shifting agent where people start to instill the process safety culture in an organization”

The MPSLP program coordinator, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rozita Omar always looks for initiatives to enhance program visibility and increase students’ enrolment into the program. “There is always a room to grow” she said.

Recently, MPSLP joined an academic promotional roadshow in Bintulu, Sarawak mainly to attract the working professionals to join the program. Why Bintulu specifically? UPM Campus Bintulu is within the town center. Tanjung Kidurong, Bintulu is the focal of many process and manufacturing industries that use and produce hazardous materials such as Malaysia LNG Sdn. Bhd., ABF Fertilizers Sdn. Bhd., Petronas Shell Terminal, Shell MDS, etc.  The numbers of facilities handling these materials are also increasing around Bintulu, making the increasing demand for process safety practitioners.

“We are planning for more targeted promotional tour in 2023 & 2024 around Malaysia, as well as to our neighboring country, Indonesia” said Rozita. “and we hope to attract more students into our MPSLP program in the future”

Date of Input: 29/08/2022 | Updated: 29/08/2022 | ahmadadib