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Committee On Chemistry and Industry (COCI)

 

Safety: Closing the world gap

BP AMOCO is part of a programme aimed at closing the trial safety gap between developed and developing nations. Led by IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), it promotes interaction, disseminates state-of-the-art techniques and encourages accountability.

Esma Toprak on her recent US visit

In its role as a IUPAC company associate, BP Amoco recently sponsored the visit to the US of an IUPAC intern, Esma Toprak, chief chemical engineer at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. She visited BP Amoco sites in Naperville, Illinois, and Green Lake, Texas, shadowing nitriles, HSE and engineering groups during her two-week stay. The Naperville and Green Lake sites were chosen to show her as aspects of HSE both at the corporate, commercial and plant levels.

Toprak was amazed by what she saw. "We are really behind in safety and health in Turkey. We don't have strict safety laws as you have here." She was especially impressed with the safety manuals outside each laboratory door. Site safety councils and emergency response teams were also new to her.

The fact that Turkey suffered a devastating earthquake in August 1999 was never far from her mind. "It was a horrible experience. It makes safety training that much more important."

Upon her return home, Toprak will reorganize the student laboratories to comply with international regulations on safety, and will help her department review and supplement necessary safety measures and required equipment. Toprak is also planning to teach courses on safety to students in her department, as well as other departments and institutions in Turkey.

Reproduced from HORIZON . July 2000

> IUPAC Project 022/11/93 - IUPAC-UNESCO-UNIDO Fellowship Program for Safety and Environmental Protection in Chemical, Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Production


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