Water contamination emergencies conference
Event preview: Conference for water emergencies professionals, London, 7-8 April 2008
 The first of a linked series of international conferences was held in March 2003 near Warwick. Entitled ‘Water contamination emergencies: can we cope?’ it considered the handling of incidents relating to water contamination emergencies.
Seven major case studies were presented, together with contributions from experts involved in real-life international incidents. The conference concluded that the UK water industry was well positioned to deal with typical emergencies.
The second conference, ‘Water contamination emergencies: enhancing our response’, considered the development of expertise and responses to contamination events, particularly in the areas of analysis and emergency planning. International contributions enhanced the consideration of potential malicious acts of contamination. Communication between key organisations and the public; consumer perceptions and the need for robust rapid screening of samples were identified as essential in answering the key question: ‘Is this water safe to drink?’
- Water contamination emergencies conference: collective responsibility
- 7-8 April 2008, the Royal Society of Medicine, London.
- £470 (incl VAT) for non-members; £411.25 (incl VAT) for members of RSC, SCI, IWO; £881.25 (incl VAT) for an exhibition stand, includes one attendee fee.
- Click here for further details
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This third international conference, ‘Water contamination emergencies: collective responsibility’, aims to encourage the global sharing of lessons learnt. It is intended that this focus, together with the results of collaborative research, will lead to the generation and adoption of best practice, so that all organisations with responsibilities in the field of water contamination can maintain and enhance effective preparedness. Significant effort is required when preparing for and responding to an emergency. Some of the responsibilities of individuals and organisations involved in preparing and responding to an emergency are defined in legislation and other national requirements. Individuals should also identify their own key responsibilities and take action to establish effective working relationships and knowledge-sharing networks with whoever they will work with in an emergency – in other words, take ‘collective responsibility’.
This conference has three parallel tracks covering: operations; information and data management; and communications. Each track groups papers under the general headings of planning and preparedness; security and initial responses; incident management and aftermath; and risk management – are we sharing?
Add to this a number of significant exhibitors and posters, and informal breaks, and the result is an important opportunity for delegates to network and debate up-to-date information and thinking on contamination emergencies with a truly international gathering of expertise.
The conference will deal with the full range of potential contaminations scenarios – chemical, biological and radiological. It will provide a significant networking opportunity, and will be of strategic, tactical and operational interest to organisations involved in civil contingency response, emergency planners, medical and health professionals, local authorities, service and support providers, detection equipment suppliers, disaster recovery specialists, remediation companies, research organisations and water companies and regulators.
SCI Environment Group
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