Dr. Hans Schwarz

Dr. Hans Volkmar Schwarz is currently owner of consulting company ProsafeX, which is focused on Process Safety in the process industries. As a partner of decarbonisation consultancy Celanx he works with clients on decarbonisation strategy. He also has a part time assignment with TÜV SÜD Chemie Service GmbH as Business Development Director. Until July 2019, he was Vice President of Process Safety at BASF SE, between 2010 and 2016 leading Process Safety globally in BASF group in a centralized organization. During this period, Hans initiated major upgrades of BASF’s corporate Process Safety Management System. From 2017 to 2019, in the wake of a major incident end of 2016 in Germany, Hans headed a corporate project, in which the globally largest 10 sites of BASF were investigated for any undetected Process Safety risks, which might have escaped the corporate safety review programs. The project resulted in the determination of appropriate countermeasures and the corresponding project approvals. Before his time in Process Safety, Hans served in leadership positions in BASF’s Polyurethane Division, including Vice President of Technology and Production Coordination, executive director of a major investment project, and roles in operations. Hans holds several patents for Isocyanates Technology, and was awarded BASF corporation’s Technical Innovation award in 1999. Hans had started his career in 1986 in BASF’s process chemistry R&D unit in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where he contributed to new processes for monomers and chemical intermediates. Hans holds a PHD in Physical Chemistry from Heidelberg University, Germany. Active involvements in associations and journals: • Board member of EPSC (European Process Safety Center) • Dechema/Process Nets Risk management working group • Review Panelist of Loss Prevention Bulletin, a publication of IChemE