Intellex Acquires Expert by Big Village

We're thrilled to announce that Intellex has acquired Expert by Big Village, effective March 22, 2024. This strategic move enhances our capabilities and strengthens our commitment to delivering exceptional solutions to our customers.

Stay tuned for more updates on how this acquisition will benefit our clients and experts.

For inquiries or more information, please contact us at info@intellex.com.

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Expert Details

Process Safety, Risk Assessment/Management Major Accident Risks, Hazards and Land Use Planning

ID: 728655 United Kingdom

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Process Safety has been the main focus of Expert's work as he seeks to assist companies avoid accidents completely (by eliminating hazardous materials or processes) or prevent them through providing protection (containment or control). In some circumstances the only available means of increasing process safety has been through mitigation measures. He has been able to assist projects save considerable capital sums by reducing and simplifying equipment, which eliminates potential leak paths and therefore reduces the risk of loss of containment. He has also highlighted the importance of human factors and developed methods of assessing whether the staffing arrangements are adequate to maintain process safety. He has assisted companies with the development of Major Accident Prevention Policy and the associated parts of the Safety Management System to implement the policy.
He has assisted governments in the development of policy and regulations to control activities that give rise to major accident hazards as well as helping industry with the response to regulation by assisting with the preparation of Safety Cases and Safety Reports required under regulations based on EU Seveso and Offshore Safety Directives.
He is currently working with the UK Energy Institute on the development of guidance and training in immediate Emergency Response following loss of containment accidents, with particular focus on actions for front line operators and decision making by their supervisors.
He is also involved with the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers' initiatives in Process Safety, including training courses and books.

Risk Assessment is one of the principal tools that Expert has employed to help companies identify where improvements are required as well as to demonstrate the major accident risks are as low as reasonably practicable - which should be a principle requirement of any Major Accident Prevention Policy. Expert is familiar with all the techniques used in Risk Assessment, including Hazard Identification Methods (HAZID, HAZOP, FMEA, etc) the use of Qualitative and Quantitative Risk Assessment, the application of risk criteria and recent developments of LoPA and SIL assessment.

He has been involved in carrying out quantitative risk analysis (QRA) and developing improved methods since 1981. Projects have included siting studies to assist with site selection, plant layout and extensions to existing facilities for major oil, gas and chemical companies. He has also carried out risk assessments to determine appropriate zones for land use planning around major accident hazard sites and pipelines.

Accident Investigation: Expert has written Expert Witness reports and given advice to:
- Texaco following 1994 PCC (Fluid Catalytic Cracker) incident and subsequent HSE prosecution; including investigation of root causes of the accident (management systems, human behaviour and equipment failures) and development of mitigation arguments advanced in Court.
- the Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry on Safety Case Regime, Safety Management System, Group Standards and Accident Investigation. (Client: HSE/Inquiry Secretariat)
He has given assistance on specialised technical subjects to the teams involved with investigating and leading the major accident inquiries into:
- the Kings Cross Fire (1987),and
- the Piper Alpha Disaster (1988) for UK Government.
He has provided analysis of accidents and remedial measures at steelworks for BHP in Australia on two separate occasions following thermal radiation and explosion incidents with multiple fatalities.
He has also carried out investigation and analysis of refinery incidents including Pembroke Cracking Company (1992 and 1999) and Total Le Havre (Vacuum Distillation Column), 1995 – 1997, BP Grangemouth Hydrocracker, 1987.
Expert led the team and participated in providing advice on safety & environmental requirements for bulk liquid storage facilities; then conceptual layout and site selection for new facilities and risk assessment of transport following the major incident at Coode Island in Victoria, Australia.
Following the initiation of Court actions he has provided follow-up advice to legal teams on two major incidents at different pipeline landfall gas plants in Australia.
He gave advice on the avoidance of future problems to Perrier SA following the mineral water contamination.

He provided overall technical, safety and environmental assurance and peer review for a $1.5 billion project during the FEED and permitting stage. The project involved an initegrated gasification plant, pre-combustion CO2 removal, combined cycle gas turbine power generation, CO2 compression, pipeline transfer offshore, platform modifications for use with CO2 to enable Enhanced Oil Recovery and modification of the platform processing to allow for CO2 injection, modified product flow rate and composition.He has provided safety advice on numerous LNG projects, including both LNG liquefaction and export terminals as well as import and re-gasification plants. The advice started with issues of safe plant layout, spill prevention and collection measures and usually led on to final conclusions based on QRA that he managed which could be used for practical advice on design accident loads, fire protection, escape and evacuation. He also dealt with satisfying risk acceptance criteria for both major accidents affecting the public offsite or domino risk to adjacent sites.He worked with developers of brownfield sites to consider how developments could be modified to ensure that future users or occupants would not be subjected to unacceptable levels of risk from major accident sites or pipelines. He had to take account of the views of the Heakth & Safety Executive, codified in a rigid system that did not consider some of the features that mitigate risks. He was able to propose variations on hazardous substance consents or modifications to their conditions that would enable reduced risks to be used in the assessment of risks to the developments, thus achieving consents for developments that would otherwise be rejected.He assisted a bulk liquids storage tank farm operator develop the facility to store larger quantities of flammable liquids whilst reducing offsite risks. As the site became a top tier COMAH site under the Seveso 2 Directive he then assisted with the development of a more formal safety management system addressing major accident hazards including the Major Accident Prevention Policy and the major Procedures required to implement it. He carried out the hazard identification and risk assessment under this policy. He was then commissioned to carry out regular audits of the sites and reviews of the system to ensure compliance and to improve the accident prevention and mitigation measures.
More recently, he has provided advice and performed assessments to assist operators / duty holders meet the requirements of Seveso 3, including assessment of the risks of major accidents to the environment and whether "all measures necessary" are in place to prevent them and/or mitigate the consequences. He has used the UK CDOIF Guidance on a series of liquefied gas facilities.He investigated the details and background circumstances of the 1994 major accident at the Pembroke Cracker on behalf of Texaco. He examined the safety management system, the actions of the operators on the day and the design and management of the plant to determine the root causes and identify where there were gaps in the arrangements for hazard identification, risk assessment and control, where designs could be improved and the training of the operators upgraded. More importantly he was able to help the copmpany rebut much of the HSE prosecution case that followed the accident and ensure that the real lessons of the accident were learned. He assisted with a presentation of the learning points from the accident which was delivered to a meeting of all UK refinery managers or their safety representatives at the Institute of Petroleum after the court case was concluded.

Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1978 Degree: MSc Subject: Numerical Analysis Institution: Brunel University
Year: 1975 Degree: MA Subject: Mathematics Institution: Corpus Christi College, Oxford University

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2010 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: Proprietor / The Principal Consultant Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert is the owner of this business which has been set up to provide Expert's services in the fields of Accident Investigation, Process Safety and Risk Assessment.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1981 to 2010 Employer: Entec UK Limited Title: Technical Director - Risk and Safety Department: Environment Policy & Safety
Responsibilities:
Expert started as a Senior Scientist at Cremer & Warner London in 1981. He was recruited to develop dense gas dispersion models and other mathematical models of hazardous consequences folowing loss of containment accidents in oil, gas and chemical plants. He also developed experties in the identification of potential accident sequences and assessing the frequency of accidents. He became leader of the risk assessment group in 1987 and a Director in 1988. After a series of takeovers Cremer & Warner became part of Entec in 1993 and was fully integrated in 1995. Expert took on additional roles including Director of the French subsidiary from 1990 to 1993 and the Quality Director role for Entec from 1995 to 2005. He was responsible for a team of up to 23 safety and risk specialists carrying out a variety of consultancy projects principally in the oil, gas and chemical industries, for both projects and operating assets. Most of the work resulted from the introduction of requirements for Safety Cases offshore and Safety Reports onshore. Expert instigated the integration of Human Factors with the Technical Aspects of Process Safety and was able to assist the psychologists based upon his experience of accident investigation and the 1994 Pembroke Cracker incident in particular. This led to the development of the Staffing Assessment tool known as the Entec method. He also developed risk assessment in new areas, in particular helping the UK Home Office develop a risk based toolkit for assessing the need for firefighting resources (firefighters, equipment and premises) based on risk to life and property. His work on process safety led to accident prevention and a demonstrable reduction in casualties in accidents that did occur.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1974 to 1981 Employer: Department of Environment (UK Government) Title: Higher Scientific Officer Department: Hydraulics Research Station
Responsibilities:
Expert was a member of the Overseas Development Unit which carried out research and assisted in projects designed to assist developing countries improve their use of water resources whether for drinking, irrigation, navigation or hydro-electric power. His two main areas of interest were:
1. Modelling Salt Water Intrusion in Estuaries to determine suitable locations for drinking water and irrigation water intakes and the impact of increased water abstraction on the interface between salt and fresh water. This interface could change position by a hundred miles between wet and dry seasons in some tropical rivers. In some cases it was necessary to assess the impact of multi-purpose schemes, such as major dams designed to produce hydropower, and provide water for irrigation, drinking water, control water quality and assure adequate depths for river navigation. Expert carried out risk assessments on the likelihood of failure to deliver on any of these outputs.
2. Investigating the causes and measures to control soil salinisation which caused severe loss of production in many agricultural areas of the tropics and subtropics. This involved field studies and modelling. Salinisation is increased when water tables are high, evapotranspiration rates are high and there is insufficient irrigation. Expert's role was to develop models of drainage and irrigation showing how the depth and spacing of drains controlled the water table for different soil types (permeability) and irrigation rates. He was awarded his MSc for a comparison of the use of finite difference and finite element models of flow in porous media based on his irrigation and drainage models. All the code was written from scratch without library routines to ensure maximum speed and efficiency when computer power was rather limited.

Expert developed significant Project Management and self reliance skills whilst working on these projects particularly when in the field where practical solutions had to be found to any problems arising in areas which lacked any modern technology.

Government Experience

Years Agency Role Description
Years: 2011 to 2013 Agency: Commision for Energy Regulation Role: Consultant Description: Advice to the Safety Regulator on the development of the Safety Case Framework for the Oil & Gas Exploration & Extraction Industry in Ireland. Writing policy papers and response to stakeholder consultation.
Years: 2009 to 2015 Agency: Department of Energy Communications and Natural Resources Role: Consultant Description: Review of Gas Act section 40 Submissions and Plan oif Development for Corrib Field and Pipeline in Ireland. Assessed the Safety and Reliability aspects of the proposals, particularly with a view to major accident hazards and public safety. Advice to DCENR on conditions for consents to construct and then operate, including supervision of conformance during construction.
Years: 2000 to 2001 Agency: Health & Safety Executive Role: Researcher Description: Developed parts of a Human Factors Toolkit to assist with systematic assessments of the potential for human factors contributions to major accident risk. In particular - Assessment of Safe Levels of Staffing to Respond to Process Upsets and Assessment of Standards of Supervision in Process Industries.
Years: 1974 to 1981 Agency: Department of Environment Role: Senior Scientific Officer Description: Scientist within the Overseas Development Unit carrying out research and projects in developing countries. Using mathematical models to develop solutions to water resource problems and risks to multi-purpose schemes.

International Experience

Years Country / Region Summary
Years: 1982 to 1993 Country / Region: Australia Summary: Appointed to assess risks from Stony Point Liquids Terminal prior to construction and provide independent review of previous reports. Client - Jointly Appointed by SA Dept of Mines and Santos.
Reviewed risks from Altona Petrochemical Complex on behalf of consortium of local industrial landowners whose activities were being restricted by a conservative "cordon sanitaire" around the major hazard complex.
Appointed by Coode Island Review Panel following Coode Island Fire to review options for future bulk liquid storage of hazardous chemicals in SE Australia. Carried out feasibility studies and high level risk and environmental impact assessment of various sites aroun d Port Philip Bay.
Appointed by Commonwealth Resources Commission to review the Safety and Environmental Risks from a proposed Gold Mine and processing facility on the boundary of the Kakadu Naional Park, NT.
Various Risk Assessments of Major Hazard Plants in Western Australia and Queensland on behalf of Indstry and Government Departments.
Years: 1985 to 2014 Country / Region: Brazil Summary: Petrobras - Refinery QRA, Risk assessment Offshore Pipelines, Manning levels at Terminals.
Transpetro Reliability of Pipeline Networks, Maintenance of Pipeline Routes/Wayleaves, Organisation for Safety Management
Other companies e.g. Risks from methanol transport by barge
Years: 1986 to 1991 Country / Region: India Summary: IPCL Vadodara
EIL Training and BHN
Work with Alpha Projects and Mr Hazra
Years: 1992 to 1915 Country / Region: Ireland Summary: Gas Pipelines
Bulk Liquid Terminals
LPG Import and Storage
Corrib Project Review
PEES advice
Years: 1987 to 2009 Country / Region: Norway Summary: NPD Review of Flare Capacity
Sleipner
Hammerfest Melkoya LNG Storage and Export

Career Accomplishments

Associations / Societies
1. Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers
2. Fellow of Institute of Mathematics & Applications
3. Member Institution of Gas Engineers
Licenses / Certifications
1.Professional Process Safety Engineer
2.Chartered Engineer
3.Chartered Mathematician
4.Registered Safety Professional and Registered Environment Professional with Institution of Chemical Engineers
5.Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance
Professional Appointments
Judge of Annual IChemE Safety and Environmenta; Awards
Former Member of IMA Council
Member of IGEM Working Party Revising 3rd edition of Pipeline Code TD/1.
Publications and Patents Summary
Author of 38 conference papers and journal articles.
Contributor to IChemE books and training packages on Safety and Risk Assessment

Additional Experience

Expert Witness Experience
Expert has considerable experience of providing expert witness statements (written and oral) in land use planning inquiries, major accident inquiries and giving written reports to assist courst or lawyers in both criminal and civil courts.
Training / Seminars
Expert has prepared and delivered training courses in the complete range of process safety management and risk assessment techniques, including training the core team of Indian Engineers assigned to carry out risk assessments following changes in regulations and expectations following the Bhopal disaster in 1984.
Expert also led the team training the London Fire Brigade in risk assessment.
Expert has (and continues to) assist the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers with the development of training courses and books on topics related to Process Safety including, Safety Auditing, Risk Assessment, LOPA and Plant Layout.
Other Relevant Experience
Peer review and assurance of completeness and technical standards of safety and environmental issues.

Language Skills

Language Proficiency
French He speaks French with difficulty but can understand most everyday conversations and read technical reports.
Spanish He can understand technical reports to a reasonable degree

Fields of Expertise

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