Managing safety risks is subject of keynote at ISA Automation Week

Research Triangle Park, N.C., USA —The International Society of Automation (ISA) has announced that process safety expert David Cummings, Global Process Safety Management Competency Leader for DuPont Safety, Health & Environment (SHE), will deliver a keynote address at ISA Automation Week 2010 on 6 October in Houston. Cummings will address ISA Automation Week's attendees on the topic of "Marvel or Myth—a 'Golden Hammer' to Manage Process Safety Risks." His presentation will explore the key elements required to implement and maintain a consistent and highly reliable program to prevent process incidents, including risk management systems, safety culture, operational discipline and organization learning.Cumming's abstract states the following about his timely topic: "Serious process safety related fires, explosions and toxic releases seem to be in the news every day somewhere in the United States or in other parts of the world. Beyond high visibility industry incidents like those at BP's Texas City and Imperial Sugar's Port Wentworth plants, incidents also occur in virtually all industry segments involving a myriad of hazardous materials and technologies."David Cummings serves as the Global Process Safety Management CompetencyLeader for DuPont SHE based in Wilmington, Delaware. He has overall responsibility for internal standards and policies, training, improvement strategies, auditing and performance management systems relating to process safety across four global regions and 180 manufacturing locations. Cummings has over 30 years of experience within the safety and health field with a BS from Western Maryland College and an MS from Temple University in Occupational Health and Safety. He is an ABIH Certified Industrial Hygienist in Comprehensive Practice. In addition to various technical and management roles within DuPont, he has held previous positions within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)."Process safety is on everybody's mind these days and I'd imagine that any automation professional working in the process industry as well as other industries will benefit from attending David Cumming's keynote address. Recent incidents have shown the impact these accidents can have, not only for the affected organization itself, but for the environment, humanity, wildlife and the overall economy," said Gerald Cockrell, ISA Automation Week technical program co-chair. "We could not have asked for a timelier topic when we invited Cummings to present at ISA Automation Week," Cockrell continued. ISA Automation Week 2010 takes place 4-7 October at the Westin Galleria in Houston. It is an in-depth technical conference with a focused exhibit component featuring over 100 vendors. It will deliver critical knowledge on the theory and application of automation technologies in processing and manufacturing environments through vendor-neutral content across seven technical tracks. For more information about ISA Automation Week, please visit www.isaautomationweek.org.