Chemicals are used in nearly every sector, from water utilities and food processing to refineries, hospitals, universities and manufacturing. Major incidents around the world show that most losses follow familiar patterns: weak hazard identification, poor change control, inadequate training and complacency about routine operations. Regulators, insurers and customers increasingly expect documented management systems rather than informal good practice.

The Strategy and Innovation in Chemical Handling, Laboratory & Process Safety Training Course joins day-to-day controls with the management thinking behind them. It starts with chemical hazard classification, exposure limits and the information found on safety data sheets and labels, then moves to safe storage, transfer, personal protective equipment, ventilation and waste. A dedicated session covers laboratory practice, including risk assessment of experiments, reagent inventories and emergency preparedness. Process safety topics follow: layers of protection, HAZOP studies, incident investigation and learning, and the elements of a process safety management system. The closing sessions concentrate on strategy and innovation, covering safety leadership, key performance indicators, substitution and new technologies.

Participants analyse real-style incident reports, practise risk assessment on workplace scenarios and finish by drafting an improvement plan with priorities, owners and measures for their own site.

Upon completion, participants will be able to:

• Classify chemical hazards and interpret GHS labels and safety data sheets.
• Assess exposure risks and select controls using the hierarchy of controls.
• Apply safe practices for chemical storage, transfer, handling and waste disposal.
• Plan laboratory safety arrangements, including inventory, ventilation and emergency response.
• Explain core process safety concepts such as HAZOP, LOPA and management of change.
• Investigate incidents and near misses and extract lessons that prevent recurrence.
• Develop leading and lagging indicators to track chemical and process safety performance.
• Propose inherently safer design and innovative measures that reduce hazards at the source.

This programme is suited to staff who manage, supervise or advise on chemical risk, including:

• HSE managers and officers
• Process, chemical and plant engineers
• Laboratory managers, chemists and technicians
• Production and maintenance supervisors
• Quality assurance and compliance officers
• Emergency response and fire safety coordinators
• Environmental officers in industry and water utilities
• University and research institution safety coordinators

Participants will take back:

• A chemical risk assessment template they can apply to their own workplaces.
• A checklist for reviewing storage compatibility, labelling and secondary containment.
• A laboratory safety audit outline.
• An introduction to HAZOP worksheets and layers of protection thinking.
• A set of safety performance indicators suited to their site.
• A written improvement plan with priorities and responsible persons.

Sessions are practical and tied to workplace conditions:

• Case studies of chemical and laboratory incidents
• Inspection and audit exercises on realistic site layouts
• Group risk assessments and a simplified HAZOP workshop
• Short demonstrations of labelling, storage and PPE decisions
• Strategy workshop producing an individual site plan

Participants are awarded a Certificate of Completion, CPD-accredited and issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy, once they have attended the sessions and completed the assessment exercises.

The certificate records the training undertaken and can support continuing professional development records.