The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) welcomes the appointment of Trish Kerin as director of the new IChemE Safety Center (ISC) that will initially operate out of Melbourne, Australia.

After graduating from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) as an honours graduate in mechanical engineering, Kerin worked for Mobil Oil where she project managed aviation fuels, installation and design. This followed by operational roles at the Mobile Altona Refinery, where she supervised shipping and offsite areas.

Kerin then went on to work in various national safety and operational roles before moving on to Australian Vinyls as risk manager and just prior to joining IChemE, was the national health and safety manager for Wesfarmers Kleenheat Gas.

Outside of these roles, Kerin's passion for process safety saw her to take on roles as a representative of the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association (PACIA) on the WorkSafe Victoria Major Hazards Advisory Committee and as an invited speaker on safety and environment matters at various local and international conferences. Kerin also represented PACIA on drafting the 2007 OHS for major hazards in Victoria - Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 and represented the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) on the Safe Work Australia temporary advisory area for drafting the major hazards section of the Harmonised Model Law.

Kerin is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and is director and vice president for a not-for-profit community radio station.

IChemE ceo David Brown said that Kerin's appointment marks a significant milestone for IChemE's international process safety programme.

"Having a dedicated ISC leader in place will help to present a co-ordinated approach for influencing government and policy on improving process safety in industry and assist in delivering on objectives outlined in IChemE's technical strategy document, Chemical Engineering Matters."

Kerin says she welcomed the opportunity to lead the ISC and has received feedback indicating a high level of support for the centre following meetings with several industry partners and regulators to help understand their priorities and challenges in process safety.

"One of the greatest benefits of industry partnership is the opportunity to exchange knowledge and learning across differing industries providing a rare and candid opportunity for this to occur."

The ISC is the place where all safety resources can be found, providing industry partners access to a wide range of products and services, including discounts on training and learning opportunities, publications and resources, professional development opportunities and priority assessment for the new process safety practitioner registration, Professional Process Safety Engineer.