The Explosion Research Cooperative’s (ERC) continued success with virtual meetings

Like so many teams during the pandemic, the Explosion Research Cooperative (ERC) held its first virtual meetings, first in September of 2020 and more recently for the 2021 Kickoff meeting on February 23 – 25. During the Kickoff meeting, BakerRisk project managers presented results from 2020 studies and discussed new topics (as shown below) selected by the ERC participants.

This joint-industry program has provided over 25 years of research on hazards to the petroleum and chemical processing industry. The program holds it’s much anticipated meetings twice a year at BakerRisk’s headquarter offices, which provide this international team the opportunity to work collaboratively and openly discuss safety challenges common across ERC participants.

The ERC is funded by chemical, petrochemical, and refining companies around the world that are interested in gaining further understanding of hazards and predicting their consequences on buildings, process equipment, and people.

This ongoing program conducts research on hazard prevention and mitigation, siting of occupied buildings, design of protective structures, and structural upgrades of existing buildings. The goal of the ERC is to undertake studies aimed at solving problems common throughout chemical processing industries with the results, benefits, and costs being shared by all participating companies.

Although our team missed catching up with our friends and colleagues in person during these much-anticipated meetings, we are so pleased to have been able to connect with participants online. We look forward to the results of this year’s studies, and we of course look forward to the day when we can regroup in person and share some Texas barbeque!

View our dedicated ERC page for more information on this program, or explore our other cooperative programs here.