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Meet the Team: Vijay Mandlik – PSM & PHA Expert
As part of the Meet the Team series, we are sitting down with AcuTech team members to learn more about their background, specialties, and how they are helping industry.
Today, we are talking to Vijay Mandlik – PSM & PHA Expert, Sr. Principal Engineer and Head of the India Office, who is based out of Mumbai, India.
Tell us about your background.
I grew up in small towns in Maharashtra state in India, celebrated colorful and sparkling festivals with the near and dear ones, enjoyed delicious vegetarian food prepared by mother and aunties. I graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree in 1989 with first rank. I learnt a lot through plant erection, pre-commissioning, commissioning and stabilization activities in fertilizers, petrochemicals, agrochemicals and explosives plants. I was fortunate to learn from maestros, which proved to be very useful in my consulting background. In 2016, I started at AcuTech Consulting in Process Safety and enjoying to share my experience and learn from others during my interaction with clients.
Tell us about your role and areas of focus at AcuTech.
I am leading AcuTech’s India Office and am determined to grow AcuTech presence and impact in this part of the world. My role in consulting focuses on Process Hazard Analysis (PHA), Process Safety Management (PSM) and Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Audits, Process Safety Elements Implementation, and Safety Trainings. Having spent 32 years in chemical industry, I am very passionate to bring that expertise and understanding to help our clients in achieving excellence in Process Safety!
Why are you passionate about process safety?
I have included sharing my expertise in Process Safety in my Personal Mission Statement. I believe, everything can be done in the safest manner, if we focus on the process, analyze and identify what can be improved. Staying healthy and protecting people and assets is extremely rewarding. I feel very happy when people appreciate the risk reduction measures recommended during the studies and promise to implement it!
If you could give industry one piece of advice, what would it be?
My advice is to place Process Safety at the top of everything! Do not rush during the project phase, take time to understand the risk and take effective measures to manage it effectively. Involve employees at all levels, make them understand the vulnerability and their role in ensuring high standards in Process Safety. Develop a very sound and robust Process Safety Culture.
What is your favorite part about working at AcuTech?
My favorite part of AcuTech is I get to meet and interact with different people and visit different places every week. I look forward to meeting energetic and enthusiastic teams participating in on-site PHAs and Audits and get elated when I see everyone has learnt something new during the interaction, which will be useful for rest of the lives.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
I love walking in the woods, deep breathing exercises, performing Yoga in cool and quiet places. First thing I do, when I go to a new location, is to find the best place for doing Yoga and Meditation!
