Modular Protective Buildings for High-Hazard Environments

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Karen Vilas is President of FORTRESS Protective Buildings, a new market offering that provides balanced protection for a full range of hazards. With over 15 years of experience in technical process safety consulting within the petrochemical industry, Karen is passionate about hazard and risk management to protect people and critical infrastructure in high-hazard environments. Her career began as a Principal Consultant at BakerRisk (FORTRESS’ parent company), and she recently served as the company’s Director of Regional Business Development for North America. Karen is in charge of bringing FORTRESS’ patented modular precast building to the market, providing next-generation technology for protective structures.

In this episode…

Modern industrial facilities and workplaces are subject to a range of hazards. Toxic leaks, explosions, and industrial fires are just a few of the dangers that protective structures must guard against. How can corporations operating in high-hazard environments identify hazards, manage risks, and keep personnel safe?

Karen Vilas, President of FORTRESS Protective Buildings, shares insights on how to do just that using multi-hazard resistant buildings. Made with high-density precast concrete, they are more durable against acid attack, corrosion, explosions, and impact. Aiming to provide a turnkey building that provides balanced hazard protection, Karen and her team at FORTRESS created precast concrete blast-resistant buildings that identify potential threats and address site-specific risks in addition to hazard protection. Their gas detection and control panels, combined with their being extremely leak-tight, help prevent direct exposure to a toxic event. This allows personnel to buy themselves hours to safely shut down the unit and figure out the best way to evacuate. These blast-resistant buildings are excellent defensive solutions for personnel protection, peace of mind, and added security against a wide range of risks.

In this episode of Get the Intel, Chad Gill sits down with Karen Vilas, President of FORTRESS Protective Buildings, to delve into the world of multi-hazard resistant buildings (MRBs). Together, they discuss the inspiration behind FORTRESS’ patented modular design and the construction process of modular precast buildings. Karen shares her thoughts on the challenges of finding a niche market for MRBs and the intricacies of managing a product-based business versus a service-based organization.