Uche Ononiwu

I am a Chartered Process Engineer, belonging to two professional bodies – Engineering Council (UK) and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE, UK). I have a little over 14 years' experience in the upstream oil and gas industry bearing on process safety, process operations support and process design.

I also have a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering and an MSc. in Oil and Gas Engineering.

I have served in various capacities as an operator, consultant, contractor and a regulator all in the oil and gas industry and my wealth of experience places me at an advantage in not only understanding issues pertinent to the oil and gas industry but also as it concerns process plants in other sectors and in ensuring continued safe operations.
My vast experience and roles also place me at an advantage in interfacing with various disciplined engineers in meeting contractual and regulatory requirements in ensuring on time project delivery.

In a consulting capacity I have independently performed process safety site surveys and produced reports to the operators not only detailing current statuses of the offshore assets audited but also making recommendations to improving process safety and in line with regulatory requirements and best practice. I have also sat on various risk assessment reviews like HAZOPs, LOPAs, etc., not only as an Independent Process Engineer but have chaired a few in-house reviews. I have also had the opportunity to work for the Health and Safety Executive as a Process Safety Specialist Inspector, Offshore Division, HID – where as a team I have conducted various offshore visits and have provided guidance on the minimum requirements for establishing a case for safety to various duty-holders. In addition to my functions with this role is in reviewing Safety Cases, Thorough Review Summaries and incident investigation.

Other activities I have performed include prescribing particulars for effective Process Safety Management systems, risk assessments, feasibility studies, process safety in design verification studies, etc.

I am passionate about process safety as I fully appreciate the adverse impact on systemic failures on personnel, assets and environment and I am bound by the Code of Conduct and Ethical Statement of the professional bodies I belong to responsibly prevent accidents from happening in the course of performing my professional duties.

I have written a few technical papers on process safety, held many presentations on safety topics and continue to promote safety culture whenever the opportunity presents itself.

I currently seek a role which not only bears on utilizing my skills fully but offers me a platform for continued professional development and in taking on more responsibilities.