Participants at the Wuppertal workshop in November 2012
The Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the OPCW jointly organised a course on chemical-safety management for States Parties in Africa at the Department of Safety Engineering, Bergische Universität Wuppertal (BUW) from 5 to 9 November 2012. A total of 12 qualified participants from as many States Parties* successfully completed the course, which was supported with a voluntary contribution from the Federal Foreign Office.
The course was the third on chemical safety management for States Parties in Africa to be held at the BUW, which has a mini-plant specially built for the purpose.
The course covered a broad range of topics, including relevant legislation, operational and environmental risks, explosive/fire/toxic hazards, and hazard assessment, process-control engineering, manipulation of protection devices, and safety management. The programme also covered disaster management, emergency response and risks associated with human factors, and include practical exercises in a laboratory and at the mini-plant. Visits were undertaken to two chemical plants in the region, Currenta and DuPont.
* Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda