IRRI DG: Safety is central to our mission

During the Safety Awareness Summit at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the importance of an overall culture of safety was highlighted by IRRI Director General Bob Zeigler, who is also chief of the Risk Management and Quality Assurance (RMQA) team of the institute.

In his welcome address, Zeigler emphasized that safety is central to the entire mission of IRRI. He explained that the future of the institute's ability to deliver promises and contributions to alleviate poverty and hunger around the world depends on people who must be working in a safe and comfortable environment.

Around 400 staff members who attended the Summit learned much from information sessions given by various experts—Mariza San Jose, a medical doctor and supervising health officer at the Occupational Health and Safety Center of the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, gave a talk on ergonomics; Glenn Enriquez, head of IRRI’s Safety and Security Services (SSS), discussed about emergency and disaster preparedness and gave a demonstration on using an automated external defibrillator (AED); and James Quilty, head of the IRRI Experiment Station, expounded on the importance of  waste management in the institute. Quilty encouraged everyone to maintain a safe, healthy, and sustainable working environment. He also presented a review of the IRRIcycle, a campaign launched early in 2014 which aimed at reducing the amount of waste that goes into landfill.

The rest of the topics discussed were fire safety, transport safety, and safety in the field and in the laboratory.

The Safety Awareness Summit: Promoting Safety in the Workplace was held on 2 October 2015, sponsored and organized by IRRI’s RMQA and SSS.

Learn more about IRRI (www.irri.org) or follow us on the social media and networks (all links down the right column).