The PSCI India Regional Team conducted an in-person workshop on Process Safety, covering technical topics such as the basic elements of Process Safety Management, root cause analysis, powder analysis relevant to dust explosion risk assessment, and Hazardous Area Classification. The sessions were delivered by experts from Chola MS, Green Circle and GVS Cibatech. The session was attended by 39 participants from 26 suppliers and member companies.

The workshop started with information about PSCI and an introduction to Learnster, our e-learning platform. A technical session was then delivered by the Chola MS team emphasizing the importance of leadership in the Process Safety Management (PSM). Mr. Ninad of Chola MS explained other elements of PSM and their importance and the way these elements can be integrated with operations. He also indicated how lagging and leading indicators can be utilized to monitor the safety performance of an organization. Mr. Umakant Gaikwad of Chola MS explained how effectively why-why analysis can be used for root cause analysis of various process related incidents.

In the afternoon session, Mr. Bhujale and Mr. Ganesh Kumar of GVS Cibatech explained the importance of powder analysis to assess dust explosion risk. This topic is very important to the pharmaceutical formulation industries where powder is handled in bulk. Each of the tests and its significance was explained in this session. The session was supported with discussion of recent industry incidents.

The final session was conducted by Mr. Pradeep Joshi of Green Circle where he explained the Hazardous Area Classification (HAC) to the participants. He explained the common mistakes the industries make while understanding the HAC maps. Mr. Joshi also explained the relevant standards for HAC.

The PSCI India Team ended the workshop ended by thanking all the participants who spared a day for this important topic and took forward the objectives of the PSCI. Special thanks were offered to the team of Alkem Laboratories specifically Mr Sachin Gharat & Mr Vishwamohan Yadav for extending their help to facilitate the local support.

This workshop was part of the India Connect project, endorsed by the Projects Committee, which seeks to deliver in-person capability building workshops to Indian suppliers in different locations across the country. The project and wider workshop team included Milind Samant, Sudhir Bhagwat, Amish Kamat, Aditya Shirodkar, Rohit Virmani, and Ranjana Ganguly.