Process safety is everyone’s responsibility — but great process safety doesn’t happen by accident. It requires leadership, consistency and a shared commitment across an entire sector.
The Process Safety Management Competence Programme Board (PSM Board) brings together major UK industries to set the benchmark for process safety competence. Backed by industry, regulators and employers, the PSM Board ensures that everyone working in high‑hazard environments is supported by world‑class training, clear standards and a consistent approach to managing risk.
The PSM Board brings together operators, experts and safety leaders to create a unified approach to process safety competence — reducing duplication, raising quality and accelerating improvement.
The Process Safety Management Training Standards set out industry‑agreed best practice for process safety awareness across major hazard industries. First introduced in 2011 for senior executives and later expanded to include foundations and operations‑level standards, they define the core knowledge and behaviours needed to build and maintain a strong process safety culture at every level of an organisation.
High‑hazard industries face rising expectations around safety, compliance and resilience, where incidents carry significant financial, reputational and human consequences. The PSM Board brings the structure and shared discipline needed to reduce risk, strengthen decision‑making and build a consistent safety culture across organisations. By improving leadership, workforce competence and operational reliability, it helps companies invest in the people who keep complex operations running safely every day.
The PSM Board is supported by a broad network of industry organisations, including regulators and employers across energy, chemical, pharmaceutical, nuclear, manufacturing and other high‑hazard sectors.
Together, they collaborate to:
Industry leaders and regulators met in York for the 2025 Process Safety Summit to reflect on 15 years of progress and address emerging risks across high‑hazard sectors. Key themes included climate‑related risk, evolving technologies and urgent workforce capability gaps. More than 25,000 delegates have now completed Process Safety aligned training, underscoring the programme’s national impact.
The Climate Resilience Leadership Standard provides a clear benchmark for executives preparing their organisations for climate‑related risks. Created with regulators and industry experts, it sets out the knowledge and behaviours needed to strengthen resilience, embed adaptation into decision‑making and ensure effective board‑level oversight. It helps organisations build adaptive capacity and lead confidently in a changing climate. For more information, contact [email protected].
The PSM board is supported by Cogent Skills. Cogent provides the board with recognised expertise in secretariat services, industry standards and strong connections across employers and regulators. This partnership ensures the PSM Board remains independent, industry‑driven and aligned with the evolving needs of high‑hazard sectors.
