Madaba, Sept. 14 (Petra) -- The growing use of artificial intelligence in industrial operations is creating new opportunities for preventing accidents while placing greater emphasis on cybersecurity and real-time risk monitoring, experts said Monday at an international chemical process safety forum in Madaba.

Specialists attending the second day of the Third Jordan International Forum on Chemical Process Safety examined how AI, generative AI and operational technology cybersecurity can be incorporated into systems designed to identify industrial risks before they develop into accidents.

The forum, organized by the Process Safety Engineers Society of the Jordan Engineers Association’s Chemical Engineering Division, is being held under the theme "Towards Safe Engineering and Effective Industrial Risk Management." Technical presentations included an AI-powered platform for real-time verification of data from remote industrial sites and practical applications of generative AI in modern process safety.

Experts also addressed cybersecurity for operational technology and its role in protecting industrial processes and maintaining operational reliability.

Other sessions focused on industrial hygiene, human factors, workforce competency, management of change and dust-hazard analysis, as well as the economic implications of process safety and its role in operational performance.

Jordan Engineers Association Vice President Ahmad Al-Falahat said industrial safety must begin at the design stage rather than after a hazard or accident emerges.

Decisions on facility design, technology and operating methods, he said, should incorporate risk prevention from the outset, shifting industrial organizations from a culture of responding to accidents toward one based on anticipating and preventing them.

Al-Falahat added that managing industrial risks cannot be confined to a single department or individual, but requires responsibility across an organization, from senior management to engineers, technicians and workers.

Chemical Engineering Division Chairman Amjad Al-Nsour said process safety should remain a priority across industrial institutions, stressing that preventing a hazard before it becomes an accident is the most effective measure of successful risk management.

The second-day sessions were hosted by the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration. Al-Falahat and the institute’s dean, Ahmad Al-Amayreh, exchanged commemorative plaques during the event.

//Petra// RZ