Medical research and energy experts to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 at Hazards Australasia 2021
23/03/2021 The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
Process safety experts from leading Australian energy companies will share how COVID-19 has impacted their operations at Hazards Australia 2021 - the Institution of Chemical Engineers’ (IChemE) premiere process safety conference in Australia. In addition, a top medical researcher will present safety challenges of working on vaccines, such as those for COVID-19.
David Bird, Senior Vice President Production Operations at natural gas supplier Santos, Peter Harcus, General Manager Gas Distribution Asset Management at Jemena Gas Network, and David Harrison, Head of Laboratory Operations and Facilities Support at the Burnet Institute, are set to present at Hazards Australasia from 10–11 November in Melbourne. The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Process safety in uncertain times’.
In Adelaide, Bird is responsible for operations across the Santos portfolio of onshore and offshore gas, oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) assets.
After obtaining his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London, UK and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in the US, Bird went on to become a Chartered Engineer. He joined Santos in 2019 following a 17-year career at Shell where he held a variety of leadership roles in LNG, refining, project and commercial around the world, including in France, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, the UK and the US.
At Hazards Australasia, Bird will share his thoughts on how Santos coped from a process safety management perspective with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based in Sydney, Harcus is responsible for developing asset management strategies and plans to deliver safe, reliable and affordable performance of Jemena’s gas network, which supplies energy to more than 1.4 million customers in New South Wales.
With over 30 years’ experience in the gas industry from technical asset management, appliance research and design to energy retail management, he has had a significant role in the development and implementation of gas and energy industry policy in Australia and New Zealand. He has advised these governments on policies for greenhouse gas, renewable energy target and gas economic regulation through roles upon the Energy Network Australia’s gas committee, the Australian Gas Association’s technical committee and Australian Government’s standards committee, and as chair of the Gas Association in New Zealand.
At the conference, Harcus will discuss the risks and impact of the pandemic upon the electricity and gas networks during lockdown, as well as Jemena’s risk management learnings.
Harrison is a virologist by training, with a Bachelor of Science degree from Deakin University and a PhD from The University of Melbourne. In 2008 he joined Burnet Institute in Melbourne, an organisation that specialises in medical research focusing on infectious disease and public health.
At the institute, he has worked with HIV and the Hepatitis C virus in a high containment laboratory environment before moving on to laboratory management in 2016. He currently leads a team supplying expert scientific support services to all aspects of laboratory operations, as well as managing the physical space of the organisation.
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The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
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Tel: +44 (0)1788 578214
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Web: https://www.icheme.org
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