A Message from our sponsor

The fourth of a free six-part Safety Foundation Webinar Series presented by the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) safety committee is available now. The series is being produced in co-operation with WorkSafeBC, the University of British Columbia Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group, BioMass Canada, and media partner Canadian Biomass magazine.

A journey to improve situational awareness is the second of two webinars focusing on human-machine interface (HMI). Brian Grantham, pulp manager at West Fraser, will show how his company is implementing high-performance HMI and alarm rationalization throughout its pulp division, and discuss the benefits. The first HMI session focused on situation awareness and effective alarm and HMI design practices.

“By redesigning its human-machine interface, West Fraser aims to present information in a manner that is consistent with how human brains work,” says Fahimeh Yazdan Panah, director of research and technical development at WPAC. “This improves situational awareness so operators can recognize abnormal situations quicker, and react faster.”

Each of the webinars is about an hour long and followed by a quiz. Participants who successfully complete the quiz earn a certificate, and those who pass all six quizzes receive a Safety Foundation Course certificate.

Register HERE for the latest webinar as well as to see the first three sessions. The remaining two will be posted as they are released every two weeks. The first two webinars involved bow tie analysis and the last two will explore safe handling and storage of biomass.

The webinars provide valuable information about process safety to everyone involved in the pellet industry, including operating personnel at all levels of a pellet plant, supervisors, senior management, control operators, other industry participants, equipment suppliers, and safety professionals.