IIT Madras hosts conference on occupational safety and health

A two-day conference based on ‘Enhancing excellence in occupational safety and health - Emerging Trends’ hosted by Indian Institute of Technology Madras commenced on Saturday.

The conference will host the 7th Annual Professional Development Conference (PDC) of American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) India Chapter along with the ‘World Day for Safety and Health at Work,’ an international event promoted by International Labour Organization (ILO) Geneva.

Sunil Paliwal, Principal Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Labour and Employment Department said, “Safety has been a regulatory requirement for organisations. It is good to see that safety professionals could meet at a premier institute like IIT Madras to commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work, an ILO event to share best practices that can be deployed across industry segments.”

Stating that IIT Madras has been at the forefront of research and education of safety across industries, he said “It has been collaborating with industries across the spectrum.” Adding to it, Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “IIT Madras has been the connecting link to take concepts in laboratories to use cases in industries. Safety is a significant factor both for organizational health and the well-being of employees.”

According to him, founded in 1911, ASSP is the world’s oldest professional safety society. It also sets the occupational safety, health and environmental community’s standards for excellence and ethics. He said the programme, with combination of plenary, special as well as technical sessions will present great opportunity to practicing as well as budding occupational safety and health professionals to update their knowledge and get familiarized with best practices in the industry.

K N Sen, President, ASSP India Chapter said, “This event has brought various stakeholders including government, academia and industry to share experience and commemorate the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, an international labour organisation event.”