The 2026 AIChE Spring Meeting & 22nd Global Congress on Process Safety short courses will be held on Sunday, April 12, 2026, from 9 AM - 5 PM Central Time.
You can register for any of these short courses by selecting the course title during the 2026 AIChE Spring Meeting and 22nd GCPS Online Registration process or calling customer service at 1.800.242.4363 to add the courses to your registration.
If you need a certificate of development hours for the short course you attended, Please contact customer service at certificates@aiche.org after the conference to request your CEU/PDH certificate. after you completed the short course.
22nd GCPS Short Courses:
S2: Empowering Frontline Staff to Take the Lead in Process Safety (Achieving Sustainable Process Safety Culture)
Location: To be determined (Hilton Americas)
Price: $500
Instructor: William Bridges
Book: Yes
Introduction
Frontline staff, such as plant operators, operations specialist, and maintenance craft-persons,
should and can take the lead on implementing and improving process safety. For this to happen, site leadership must see the value in this approach and must support this delegation of responsibility and authority over the long term. This “How To” workshop will provide valuable information to aide sustainable process safety culture.
What You Will Learn:
- Provides the business case for empowering frontline staff
- Lists the key activities that frontline workers should control:
- Writing highly accurate procedures for their area
- Controlling verbal communication errors
- Stop Work Authority
- Spotting human-machine interface issues
- Leading investigations and root cause analyses (and reporting very high numbers of near misses)
- Lays out the necessary five (5) steps leadership must take to have frontline staff take over these activities
- Includes multiple exercises to illustrate the business case and steps
- Closes with group-based discussion on the path forward
The 1-day workshop is targeted at the operations, maintenance, and process safety leadership at the site and at a corporate level as well as Operators and Maintenance Technicians from a site.
Questions are welcome throughout the workshop.
Take Home:
- Certificate of Completion
- 0.8 CEUs & 0.8 COCs
Typical Course Candidates:
- Managers – Operations, Safety, and Executive; and Production Supervisors
- Training Managers
- Engineers – Process, Safety, and Mechanical
- PSM Coordinators and Managers
- PHA (hazard review) Leaders and Incident Investigators
- Plant Operators
- Operations Specialists
- Maintenance Craft Workers
S3: Hazardous Area Classification (HAC)
Location: To be determined (Hilton Americas)
Price: $500
Instructors: Mikaela Dressendorfer, Murtaza Gandhi
Book: Yes
Hazardous Area Classification (HAC), also known as Electrical Area Classification (EAC), is a foundational aspect of process safety aimed at minimizing the risk of fire or explosion due to the presence of flammable or combustible materials. Proper HAC implementation ensures that electrical and mechanical equipment are appropriately located and protected based on potential release scenarios.
This training course is designed to provide participants with a robust, hands-on understanding of HAC principles and methodologies, while showcasing BakerRisk’s deep expertise in this area. Participants will build confidence in developing and interpreting HAC drawings through practical exercises and leave equipped to enhance site safety, support compliance, and reduce operational risk.
The primary learning objective of this course is as follows:
- Participants will learn about minimizing uncontrolled ignition of flammable or combustible material in air by electrical equipment or hot surfaces—the fundamentals of Hazardous Area Classification (HAC), also known as Electrical Area Classification (EAC)—through an interactive workshop.
Key Topics Covered:
- Understand the science behind HAC and its role in preventing ignition events
- Review of fire/explosion triangle (flammables) and pentagon (dusts)
- Overview of Class I, II, and III materials and their properties
- Objectives and requirements of HAC
- Dissecting example HAC drawings
- Comparison of HAC standards – NFPA, IEC, and API HAC methodologies
- Acceptance around the world
- Zone versus division approaches and global code acceptance
- Methodology comparison for identifying release sources and classifying areas
- 3D modeling of release scenarios for complex facilities
- Examples of applying the methodologies to physical systems
- Mitigation strategies: protection techniques and design consideration with HAC
- High-level overview of protection techniques and their applications
- Understanding and controlling potential leak points
- Learn how to apply national and international HAC standards including NFPA 497/IEC 60079-10-1 during a hands-on workshop
- Discussions on how to conduct an HAC study, start to finish
- Identifying release sources within a facility
- Determining HAC parameters and extent distances around release sources
- Maintaining proper HAC documentation through MOC program
- HAC implementation in facility design (e.g. analyzer buildings, control rooms, electrical MCCs, shelter-in-place buildings)
- Interactive, instructor-led HAC study - implementing HAC recommendations
Who Should Attend:
This course is ideal for:
- Process Safety Engineers
- Electrical and Instrumentation Engineers
- Facility Design Professionals
S4: Managing RAGAGEP (Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices) Compliance
Location: To be determined (Hilton Americas)
Price: $500
Instructor: Michelle Brown, Becky McDonald
Book: Yes
The objectives of this short course it to provide participants with an overview of the RAGAGEP review requirements, why RAGAGEP reviews are important, how to identify applicable RAGAGEP for your facility, industry pitfalls, revalidation requirements, how to manage changes in RAGAGEP, and finally, useful tips and tools on how to conduct and document a RAGAGEP review. The instructor will use “real life” case studies and exercises to reinforce the training.
Course materials will consist of a Training Course Binder with printed slide materials as well as printed activity materials, useful references, and other materials, which can be used for future reference. The course materials will be provided for the participants by the instructor at the time of the course.
Who Should Attend?
- Facility Managers
- EHS Managers/Representatives
- Chemical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Mechanical Engineers
- Process Safety Managers/Coordinators
- PHA Facilitators
- Inspection and Maintenance Personnel
Proposed Course Agenda
2026 Spring Meeting Short Course:
S5: Process Safety for CO2 Sequestration From Source to Sink
Location: To be determined (Hilton Americas)
Price: $500
Instructors: Birol Dindoruk, Texas A&M University & Tekin Kunt, Process Safety & Reliability Group (PSRG)
CO2 sequestration projects include gas generation all the way to underground storage of gas at the sink.
CO2 Storage projects involve many aspects of engineering including designing surface facilities to their sustainable operations from the source until the sink. Some of the renewed momentum in gas flooding also comes from the potential for subsurface CO2 sequestration and other gases (H2, CH4, etc.) storage to lower the overall footprint of greenhouse gases. More than ever, there is a wider envelope of applications for chemical engineers that includes coupled CO2 sequestration and various modes of energy production.
This class will focus on the key topics of gas storage processes that cover both hydrocarbon gases as well as CO2 sequestration aspects, fundamentals, practical measurements, and workflows. In the class, we will emphasize use cases and various examples including experimental processes. As the complexity of in-situ fluids and the reservoir conditions become more challenging, progress in the computational area is also being made. Therefore, complex fluids and their implications in the context of gas injection processes will be inherently part of this class. One of the new topics that we will also introduce is the use of data-centric/machine learning methods for screening and designing of safe operations.
Who Should Attend?
- Project Managers
- Integrated Design Team Members
- Safety Professionals
- Chemical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Mechanical Engineers
- Process Safety Managers/Coordinators
- Inspection and Maintenance Personnel
- Graduate Students
Proposed Course Agenda
- Introduction and basic concepts
- Welcome, Course Overview
- Gas injection: CO2 Sequestration, Gas Storage
- Hydrocarbon gases
- CO2
- H2
- Gas Pipelines/Transportation: source & sinks for CO2, and H2
- Phase behavior of injectants and in-situ fluids (HC’s, CO2, Solvents, Aqueous Fluids)
- CO2 and Aqueous systems
- CO2 solubility in aqueous systems
- CO2 dry-out
- CO2 – cooling
- Diffusive mixing
- Top of the line corrosion
- Hazard Identification (HAZID) for Project Evaluation
- Data requirements
- Risk evaluation and mitigation
- Societal aspects of Gas Storage Projects
- Exercises/Discussion/Questions
- New Developments in brief: data-centric/machine learning methods for screening and design
Learning Level: Introductory to Intermediate
Course Length: 1-day (9 AM to 5 PM)
General Objectives:
- To provide the Chemical Engineers general understanding of gas storage processes including CO2
- To quickly assess potential process safety risks and project complexities
After the course, you will be able to:
- Ask the right question(s)
- Assess the importance of data and its impact when missing
- Use the outcome/learnings right away for day-to-day work
Also available at the conference is the 2026 Two-Day Risk Analysis Screening Tool (RAST) Workshop! Please note that this is not a Spring or GCPS short course, and it will be taking place on April 11-12, 2026.
GCPS Short Course Cancellation Policy
Cancellations called in at 800.242.4363 or emailed to customerservice@aiche.org no later than March 22, 2026 ((3 weeks before meeting start date)), 11:59 pm ET will receive a full refund less $50 in processing charges. After March 22, 2026 ((3 weeks before the meeting start date)) no full registration refunds will be given. If you registered but are unable to attend, AIChE will accept a substitute with a $50 processing fee.