Thank you for inviting me to be part of this award ceremony that celebrates excellence in safety standards at our Faculty.

Awards ceremonies may be commonplace, but the event today is particularly significant because it is another important milestone in the Faculty's endeavour to make our institution a safe place to work and learn.

Other than the new divisions, the fact that every department in the Faculty is represented here to receive the SEAL awards encourages me. When I hired Swapan five years ago to be the Faculty's Safety Officer, I envisaged putting in place safety standards and practices. Today, you all have surpassed my vision - you all have done a great job in improving safety standards and made good progress in attaining excellence in the area of safety, receiving awards even at university level. I am happy and proud to offer you my heartiest congratulations.

At an educational institution, one may think that safety does not rank among our core
values. On the contrary, safety is and should be placed among the top priorities of our Faculty, especially so because we experiment with potentially hazardous materials in our labs. I am heartened to learn that we have now cascaded safety training top down, from 80% of academics, all the way to post graduates. Perhaps, we could consider incorporating safety in our undergraduate curriculum, raising the
importance of safety awareness in a real work environment.

I know I'm preaching to the converted - laboratory supervisors, professional officers,
laboratory officers and research supervisors present here. Beyond legal compliance, one knows too well that compromise in safety standards means loss of assets and revenue, loss of man hours, and more crucially, possible loss of lives. Statistics have enough living examples of mishaps and disasters caused by unsafe practices. In the past 30 years, the 100 largest losses arising from chemical disasters alone amounted to a whopping US$7.5 billion. And of course, it would never happen here, right:)?

Looking at it from the flipside. This means safety could be a greater benefit than one
realises. For one, reputation. The past couple years saw an increase in the number of
visitors, both local and international, including the media and prospective students and partners. A tidy and safe environment will not only impress our visitors, it will inspire confidence in our Faculty's best practices. Safety, then, can be a strong point of differentiation for the Faculty.

Other positive effects of safe practices are resource maximization and asset effectiveness. Assets here include people who are our biggest assets.

My challenge to you today is to go a step further. Make safety second nature to you. I am quite sure that without incentives and awards of the kind that we are presenting today, you will all practise safety not just in handling laboratory equipment -- you will go beyond the lab and the campus, and share the importance of safety with your family and loved ones. Embrace someone else's life as if it were your own, I'm sure we can aim for zero injuries and accidents, both at work and at play.

Colleagues, keep up the good work! Thank you.


Faculty of Engineering SEAL Award Winners
(Center: Prof Seerem Ramakrishna, Dean of Engineering & Dr Peck Thian Guan, Director OSHE)