The man who led the inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster is to deliver the keynote address at a new conference looking at the human risk factors affecting the oil and gas industry.
Lord Cullen of Whitekirk will lead the speakers at the conference, which is due to take place in Aberdeen in March.
The conference, organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, will see hundreds of delegates attend the event at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre to discuss the safety risks faced by the industry.
“We are absolutely honoured that Lord Cullen has agreed to be our keynote speaker, this being the first time his Lordship attends an SPE Conference,” said organiser Ella Minty.
“We are also delighted that so many leading authorities from the UK, the United States and elsewhere have agreed to attend the conference proceedings.”
The conference, on March 5, will also see David Pritchard, who chaired the US commission into the Deepwater Horizon disaster, speaking.
“Amongst the conference’s main aims will be to address human risk and its impact upon industry operations,” said Ms Minty.
“It is the first step towards building a genuine platform for dialogue and discussion amongst industry leaders and risk experts. The lessons learned and all the issues arising during the day will be followed up and, hopefully, built upon.
“There are matters where the industry is divergent but, when it comes to people or human risk/factors, the solutions need to be jointly found.
A panel session at the event will feature contributions from Step Change in Safety leader Les Linklater, union boss Jake Molloy and Susan Mackenzie of the Health and Safety Executive’s energy division.
It will also feature plenary sessions from former Cullen Inquiry expert witness Dr Tim Marsh, Lillian Espinoza-Gala from the Berkley University’s Centre for Catastrophic Risk Management and William Libby, director of key accounts for Control Risks, among others.
Recommended for you
