The European Process Safety Centre (EPSC) is an international, not for profit network of major hazard operators, research institutions and related organisations who share a common goal of eliminating process safety incidents.

EPSC has recently produced a report on Risk Acceptance Criteria which explores the requirements for tolerating risk shared by various parties: just how much safety is safe enough?
Reflecting the work of the Risk Acceptance Criteria Working Group, the report is based on the experience of companies who have faced complex situations involving multiple entities sharing risks and risk management.

This is a common situation in industrial parks or other land with neighbouring industries where infrastructure is also often shared. If a hazardous effect can spread to neighbours, then all must be involved in management of risk. However, as the report concedes there is no universal standard for defining tolerable levels.

The report gives an overview and evaluation of practices in Europe in order to allow informed decision-making and a path to finding common best practice standards. The results are also expected to feature in the work of a new EPSC working group on use of semi-quantitative risk evaluation methods which will examine harmonised use of risk matrices across member companies.

What we do

Founded in 1992 by the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE), EPSC is hosted by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IchemE) and has its headquarters in Rugby, UK. Its membership represents today a significant part of the process safety community in Europe.

EPSC organises many activities across Europe every year, including public international conferences and member meetings, and we welcome contact with FERMA and FERMA members. The centre publishes regularly in many formats, including newsletters, and technical reports for members as well as scientific publications. EPSC is always actively scanning the horizon for new, innovative methodologies, technologies and solutions for process safety.

For our members and the wider European process industry, we:

• Share and disseminate information and experience on safety technology and accident prevention;
• Advise the European Commission to enable pragmatic development of Seveso legislation;
• Identify emerging safety-related issues or gaps in knowledge where guidelines or reports could be produced or commissioned;
• Reach out to organisations with the potential to advance the practice of process safety;
• Facilitate transfer of knowledge from elsewhere to Europe and between European countries; as well as between different industrial sectors;
• Give access to information from a single source.

Konstantinos Mitropetros is Regional Executive of the European Process Safety Center (EPSC). KMitropetros@icheme.org

Free tickets for FERMA MEMBERS!
FERMA members are invited to the EPSC session at ACHEMA 2015 “Beyond compliance based safety: The European paradigm”.
16 June 2015 (12:30h – 15:00h)
ACHEMA 2015 Congress Center, Frankfurt, Germany

The programme includes a talk by Klaus-Jürgen Niemitz of Clariant on a European perspective on accepting major accident risk, including a presentation on the Risk Acceptance Criteria Report.

To order tickets, email Tracey Abrahart at TAbrahart@icheme.org indicating that you are a FERMA member as well as the number of free daily ACHEMA cards (max. 10) that you would like to receive. We will send you the tickets in electronic form. There is no deadline for ordering your ACHEMA tickets, provided we still have tickets available.
Konstantinos Mitropetros