The conference is effectively two in one: ‘LNG hazard awareness' and ‘fire hazard management' will be discussed today and tomorrow; then a ‘storage tank and associated facilities hazard management' on Wednesday and Thursday.
This event follows an Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association conference last week in Perth that combined health, safety and environment for the first time. CEO David Byers said APPEA's conference was timed in preparation for the LNG industry tripling its trains from seven to 21 with concurrent decommissioning and production.
Similarly, Jonathon Silbert, Perth-based director of Falck, which hosts this week's conferences, told Energy News that with the Australian LNG market expanding rapidly, there is a need to "ensure there is a global sharing of knowledge" in the LNG space.
"That knowledge should not be compartmentalised by company or by country, particularly knowledge in the safety area, for the betterment of the industry," he said.
"No one has ever run a technical fire conference in these specialised areas before in Australia, and at Falck we saw it as the opportunity to share our global knowledge with our Australian clients."
Falck was founded in 1906 as an assistance business specialising in the delivery of fire, emergency response, medical, training and assistance services. A Danish company with its headquarters in Copenhagen, It now operates in 46 countries on six continents, with over 32,000 staff.
Danish Ambassador to Australia Borge Petersen opened the conference this morning, and said the Danish government was "very supportive of our endeavours to share our knowledge globally".
Silbert said there is also a push for increasing collaboration between Danish expertise and Australian LNG industry proponents.
Dr Niall Ramsden of the Society of International gas Tanker and Terminal Operators will also address both conferences throughout this week, while Jeff Haworth, petroleum chief of Western Australia's Department of Mines and Petroleum, gives his take on the local regulator's perspective today.
Peter Davidson, the UK Petroleum Industry Association's director of safety, commercial and projects, will address the conference on Wednesday and Thursday.
