About QPSS
The Qatar Process Safety Symposium (QPSS) is an annual two-day event organized by Texas A&M University at Qatar, ConocoPhillips Qatar and Qatargas on the theme of process safety and loss prevention. QPSS has become a key process safety event in Qatar and genuinely gathered the process safety community in Qatar. It is the Process Safety go-to event in Qatar where Industry, Regulatory Institution and Academia come together to exchange, discuss and hear about safety success stories, process safety challenges, incident case studies, best practices, new legislative regimes, and recent advances of research on process safety. QPSS is an example of how Industry and Academia can work together to improve process safety in Qatar.
The early days
Texas A&M University at Qatar hosted its first Safety Symposium on 15-16 March 2010. The event initiated and organized by Dr. Simon Waldram, Professor of Chemical Engineering and leader of the process safety research group at Texas A&M at Qatar, was generously sponsored by Qatar Shell, Exxonmobil Research Qatar and Qatar Petroleum. The first symposium was well received and attracted more than 80 attendees from local process industry and universities Qatar Process Industry. The program featured 12 speakers from Qatar and abroad.
Texas A&M at Qatar decided to pursue this initiative and make it an annual event. Accordingly, the second Safety Symposium was held on 15-16 March 2011 sponsored by the Ministry of Interior of the State of Qatar at Texas A&M at Qatar under the auspices and sponsorship of His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa AI-Thani, Minister of State for Internal Affairs of the State of Qatar. The event was a success and attracted more than 100 attendees. The program featured 17 speakers from Qatar and abroad.
QPSS, a collaboration between ConocoPhillips Qatar and Texas A&M at Qatar
Following the two successful editions of the Texas A&M at Qatar Safety Symposium, ConocoPhillips Qatar and Texas A&M at Qatar signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 30 November 2011 to memorialize their desire to establish an annual safety symposium in Doha, Qatar, named the Qatar Process Safety Symposium (QPSS).
The first edition of the QPSS was held on 13-14 March 2012 at Texas A&M at Qatar. For the first time the program of the symposium was developed around a central theme: “Role of Leadership Commitment in Making Safety a Core Value.” This event featured 18 speakers and attracted 120 attendees from Qatar and abroad. The symposium gave also the opportunity to Texas A&M at Qatar students involved in process safety research to present their work to the industry through eight research posters.
Given the growing demand to attend the event, QPSS had to move to a bigger venue. ConocoPhillips Qatar and Texas A&M at Qatar organized the 2013 QPSS at the Qatar National Convention Centre on 11-12 March 2013. This edition of QPSS was around the theme, “Investing in Process Safety for a Sustainable Future.” The number of attendees rose to more than 150 people. 22 speakers contributed to the program. 13 posters from process safety research students and from the graduate students of the Texas A&M at Qatar Process Safety Engineering course were presented to the industry on diverse process safety topics. The 2013 edition of QPSS was special as it was the event chosen by TAMU-Q to announce the launching of a satellite of the renowned Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC) in Qatar! From then on, MKOPSC became the entity to organize QPSS with ConocoPhillips Qatar.
From 2014 to 2016 the attendance and participation to QPSS kept growing in number of attendees and participating companies through the following editions that addressed hot and key process safety topics:
- 8-9 April 2014, Theme: “Reaching Operational Excellence by Asset Integrity Management”
Qatar National Convention Centre, Doha, Qatar; 28 speakers, 220 attendees. - 30-31 March 2015, Theme: “Successfully Managing Change for a Safer Future”
Qatar National Convention Centre Doha, Qatar; 24 speakers, 200 attendees. - 18-19 April 2016, Theme: “Building Competency in process safety”
Hilton Hotel, Doha, Qatar; 23 speakers, 240 attendees. - 10-11 April 2017, Theme: “Commitment — The Path to Process Safety Excellence”
Hilton Hotel, Doha, Qatar; 24 speakers, 250 attendees.
For this edition QPSS had the honor to have its keynote address delivered by H.E. Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry of the State of Qatar and Chairman of the Board of Qatar Petroleum. - 8-9 April 2018, Theme: “Are We Ready? By Failing to Prepare You are Preparing to Fail”
Hilton Hotel, Doha, Qatar; 25 speakers, 240 attendees.
ConocoPhillips Qatar and Texas A&M at Qatar welcome Qatargas as a new partner in the organization of QPSS
The 2019 edition of the QPSS was held on 14-15 April 2019 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Doha, Qatar, on the theme, “Human Error Happens: How do we Overcome the Inevitable?” The number of attendees reached 260 with 24 speakers contributing to the program.
During this QPSS, ConocoPhillips Qatar and Texas A&M at Qatar welcomed Qatargas as a new partner in the organization of QPSS. The desire of the three parties to continue the annual QPSS was formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding.
QPSS goes virtual in 2021
The 2020 edition of QPSS was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic but QPSS was still here.
The 2021 edition of QPSS was held on 21-22 June 2021 on the theme “Embracing the Red“ for the first time on a virtual platform. The number of attendees increased to 360 people with 30 speakers. The registrants were from 238 companies and 40 countries.
QPSS returns as a virtual event on 27-28 June 2022
In 2022, your beloved symposium will return in its virtual format on the theme “Vigilance”. We count on your support, attendance and active participation in order to make this year’s event a success.
The rest of this story is yet to be written.
We hope to write it with you all.
Thank you for your continuous support.
