(65a) Beyond Technical Competency – the Soft Skills Needed By a PHA Leader
AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety
2023
2023 Spring Meeting and 19th Global Congress on Process Safety
Global Congress on Process Safety
Developing Process Safety Influencers
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 - 10:15am to 10:45am
Being technically competent and experienced in the PHA methodology is, at best, only half of what it takes to be a good PHA leader. The study quality can be significantly degraded due to poor team management. The leader is responsible for organizing and guiding the teamâs discussions. The team must be kept focused, proceeding step by step through the PHA. Team members that stray outside the topic under discussion or try to engineer new safeguards can distract from the purpose at hand. Often, Project Managers are tempted to make design changes, while other team members sit idly by. Outspoken team members who dominate the discussions must be tactfully controlled in order to allow input from others. Conversely, the viewpoint of a team member who sits quietly at the table must be included in the conversation, drawing out the unique knowledge and perspective he or she may have. Without these soft skills, PHA quality can suffer significantly, regardless of the leaderâs knowledge and experience in PHAs.
This paper will discuss the importance of considering soft skills when selecting PHA leaders. The personality traits, leadership, and people skills of a good PHA leader will be reviewed, along with the potential impacts on the study if they are missing.