Hur säkerställer vi att erfarenheter från tidigare olyckor fortsätter att påverka säkerhetsarbetet, även när branschen förändras? På Cisterndagarna 2027 medverkar Peter Davidson, Chief Executive för brittiska Tank Storage Association (TSA), för att dela med sig av internationella erfarenheter från Buncefieldolyckan och betydelsen av ett långsiktigt säkerhetsarbete. Inför konferensen har vi pratat med honom om branschens utveckling, framtidens utmaningar och varför det är så viktigt att dra lärdom av det förflutna.
Peter Davidson har lång erfarenhet från energi- och processindustrin och leder sedan 2016 Tank Storage Association. I sin roll företräder han den brittiska tanklagringsbranschen och arbetar nära myndigheter och branschorganisationer med frågor som rör bland annat processäkerhet, ledarskap och branschens framtida utveckling.
På Cisterndagarna 2027 i Göteborg håller Peter föredraget “Buncefield – The lessons we have learned, and those we must not forget.” Där kommer han att belysa de bestående konsekvenserna av olyckan 2005 och varför lärdomarna fortfarande är relevanta för branschen.
To start, could you tell us a little about yourself, your background and your role as Chief Executive of the Tank Storage Association?
As Chief Executive of the Tank Storage Association, I represent the interests of over 100 companies which operate terminals across the UK, or provide equipment and services to the sector. I am responsible for all aspects of advocacy and lobbying, and tasked with promoting process safety leadership, helping members achieve excellence in this area and work toward becoming high reliability organisations. I work in close collaboration with the UK Government and Regulators and I am a leading member of cross-industry committees, Process Safety groups and the Federation of European Tank Storage Associations.
Prior to joining TSA in April 2016, I was the Director of Safety, Commercial and Projects at the UK Petroleum Industry Association and formerly the Regulatory Compliance Manager for ABB Automation in the UK, specialising in the delivery of automation systems to highly regulated industries, including the Oil and Gas, Petrochemical, Pharmaceutical and Nuclear sectors.
Having worked in and around the tank storage sector for many years, what continues to make this industry interesting and important to you?
The bulk storage and energy infrastructure sector plays a vital role in providing products and services that are critical to UK consumers. Our sector provides and supports an essential interface between sea, road, rail and pipeline logistics for many different substances including transport and heating fuels, chemicals, animal feed and foodstuffs. Many terminal operators are classified as third-party storage providers, which means that they do not own the products they handle, but instead provide logistical services on behalf of their customers. This flexibility in inventories and product transformation means that there are always new challenges. One of the greatest challenges we face today is ensuring our sector works to help governments achieve their net zero ambitions and terminal operators are pivotal to that transition.
More than 20 years have passed since the Buncefield incident. Why is it still important for the tank storage industry to talk about what happened?
We must ensure that the lessons of the past inform how we manage our businesses today and in the future. All too often we have seen the same incidents re-occur, for the same reasons. Keeping incidents such as Buncefield in the consciousness of our staff and contractors can ensure that those lessons are not forgotten.
As the industry evolves and new generations of professionals enter the sector, how can we make sure that important experiences and lessons are passed on over time?
We work in an ever-evolving sector, with new technologies and inventories developing over time. However, the fundamentals of keeping people and the environment safe from harm do not change. Robust procedures to manage our assets and inventories, combined with strong leadership at the very top of our businesses and a strong safety focus are essential. The Buncefield incident alone has demonstrated that, without effective safety management, we do not have a business to manage.
Through your work, you engage with many different organisations across the tank storage sector. What questions around process safety do you believe are particularly important for the industry to be discussing right now?
Process Safety Leadership is very much a top priority for us – ensuring that a business has the right mechanisms in place to understand what can go wrong, the measures in place to prevent things from going wrong, and the knowledge to ensure those preventative measures are working as they should is essential. Good leadership encompasses everyone in an organisation from the Board to the staff on the ground – and not just those in operational roles. Decisions made by other support functions – for example Finance and HR – can also have a significant impact on safety. With the energy transition we are starting to see many new players enter the market, managing sites with major accident hazard potential, without the years of experience that traditional industries such as Chemicals and Oil and Gas have. Good and sustained process safety leadership will be essential in this context.
Looking ahead, how are changes in the tank storage sector affecting the way we need to think about safety and leadership?
With the energy transition, we are seeing a change in the traditional inventories of terminals such as chemicals and refined hydrocarbons. A greater focus on first and second generation biofuels, ammonia and liquid organic hydrogen carriers, and CO2 transport and storage means that the risk profiles of our terminals are changing. Our sector is expertly placed to manage the risks, but that must start with our business leaders, and most importantly we must not forget the basics. We can spend a great deal of time thinking about the future, but that must not come at the cost of forgetting how to manage the assets that we have.
At Cisterndagarna, you will revisit Buncefield and the lessons the industry must not forget. Without giving too much away, what can participants expect from your session – and what do you hope they will take away from it?
We must avoid complacency – talking about incidents such as Buncefield, and implementing recommendations, has never been about setting an endpoint, it is about continuous review and learning. We need to work ever more closely with our peers, regulators, and governments to ensure the right balance is struck between managing our risks and maintaining a healthy sector. This is particularly important now with changing inventories and processes for the energy transition. Making the right improvements for the right reasons is important. Many of the improvements that will be discussed in my presentation to Cisterndagarna were not developed in response to a Buncefield recommendation, but have emerged from the change in our working culture since. That is the real legacy, and the most important lesson.
Träffa Peter Davidson på Cisterndagarna 2027
Hur kan vi dra nytta av tidigare erfarenheter för att stärka säkerheten i en bransch under förändring?
På Cisterndagarna 2027 fördjupar Peter Davidson resonemangen om Buncefieldolyckan och de lärdomar som fortfarande är aktuella. Han belyser bland annat betydelsen av ett starkt säkerhetsledarskap, kontinuerligt lärande och hur branschen kan utveckla sitt säkerhetsarbete i takt med nya utmaningar.
Den 26–27 januari 2027 samlas cisternbranschen i Göteborg för två dagar med aktuella branschfrågor, erfarenhetsutbyte och möjlighet att knyta nya kontakter. Ta chansen att lyssna till Peter Davidson och andra experter, och diskutera gemensamma utmaningar med kollegor från hela branschen.
Läs mer om Cisterndagarna 2027 och anmäl dig här.
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