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Dr Keith Gugan

Dr Keith Gugan

ASSOCIATE
PhD CEng CSci Eur Ing FIChemE

An Associate of SafeGuard, Keith Gugan has a BSc Degree in Chemical Engineering, is a Doctor of Philosophy (Chemical Engineering), a Chartered Scientist and Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a registered European Engineer (Eur.Ing).

Background and Experience

Dr Keith Gugan joined Safeguard Security in 2016 to provide expert witness and litigation services in the areas of fire, arson, explosion, and safety in the oil and gas industry.

After graduating with a BSc in chemical engineering, Keith’s first role was as an Assistant Lecturer at Imperial College where he undertook post-graduate and post-doctoral research.  Invited to join Dr Jack Burgoyne in his practice of fire and explosion investigation in 1965, he became a partner of DR J H Burgoyne & Partners in 1968.  Establishing his own consultancy in 1976, Keith continued to undertake numerous ‘post event’ on-shore, marine or aviation investigations of fire, explosion and chemical incidents worldwide, primarily for loss adjusters and solicitors.  This included appearing as an expert witness on numerous occasions.

During this period Keith also undertook comprehensive HAZOPs in Spain for Repsol and Cepsa installations at major refineries, a napthta cracking plant in Ulsan, South Korea and undertook safety reviews of ammonia, ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate installations in Libya.

Keith was appointed Research Fellow of the IChemE in 1977 to study and report on the then current state of knowledge regarding unconfined vapour cloud explosions; work that was published in the UK and US under the title ‘Unconfined Vapour Cloud Explosions’.

In the early 1990s, deciding to use his engineering background in a more useful industrial capacity, Keith moved towards the ‘conception’ field and the construction of oil and gas installations around the world.   Joining AMEC (now AMEC Foster Wheeler) in 1999 as their Chief Safety and Environmental Consultant, Keith continued to investigate numerous incidents for AMEC around the world. Leaving AMEC in 1999, Keith joined EP Consult as a principal engineer consulting on fire, explosion and safety in the oil and gas industry.  He continues to act as a consultant.

Keith’s long and varied industry expertise with a wide customer base includes amongst others Shell, Texaco, Maersk, GASCO, Exxon, and BP including BP Chemicals, BP Iraq, and BP Exploration.  For many years he lectured in Safety and Loss Prevention for MSc students at University College London.

With his wide technical base, extensive engineering experience, investigative skills and detailed knowledge of the industry, Keith is well placed to provide expert witness and litigation services in the areas of fire, arson, explosion, and safety in the oil and gas industry.

Download Keith’s curriculum vitae

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