Background & Vision

The growth of process related industry activities in Nigeria, coupled with some unfortunate safety incidents associated with the industry lately, has necessitated serious consideration for a platform for advancement of Process Safety knowledge and good practices in the country. Evidently, this is substantially a Process Engineering issue from the professional stand point and is therefore driven by the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE). It is however also expected to be of immense interest to other stakeholders in the Oil & Gas and Chemical Process Industries in Nigeria. Through this initiative NSChE thus seeks to collaborate with these like-minded stakeholders to foster the laudable cause of Process Safety in industry in Nigeria.

Notably, in the aftermath of the Bhopal incident in India in 1984 which shook the entire world, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) spearheaded the formation of the hugely successful Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) in USA, in collaboration with key Oil & Gas and Process Industry companies. Today CCPS is the leading global exponent of Process Safety and has its reaches and footprints all over the world (North America, South America, Europe, Asia/Pacific), perhaps with the exception of Africa.

NSChE signed an MOU with AIChE a few years ago which provides a collaborative platform on matters of mutual professional interest. Both parties have identified Process Safety as a key issue of interest in this regard. This initiative is therefore envisaged to provide the necessary framework for formally extending the reach and capabilities of CCPS to Africa, starting with Nigeria, within the context of the subsisting NSChE/AIChE MOU.