ASSE President Calls Liberty Mutual Center Closure 'Major Loss'
"Moving forward, it is vital for the occupational safety and health community, along with governments and universities, to pick up the baton and keep workplace research going," said ASSE President Tom Cecich, CSP, CIH. "We need more evidence-based data to convince all employers of the value in building safety and health management programs, as well as providing proof for the most effective workplace safety interventions.
The planned closure of the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety is a "major loss for the occupational safety and health field," the president of the American Society of Safety Engineers, Thomas Cecich, CSP, CIH, said in a statement released on the afternoon of May 15.
"Liberty Mutual's Research Institute for Safety has been a prime source of scientific workplace safety data for more than 60 years, so its closure will result in a major loss for the occupational safety and health field," Cecich said in the statement. "Liberty Mutual should be applauded for its years of leadership that helped protect workers and citizens through peer-reviewed research. I have always been impressed by their investment in research that has improved workplace safety and health by advancing the profession's body of knowledge.
"Moving forward, it is vital for the occupational safety and health community, along with governments and universities, to pick up the baton and keep workplace research going. We need more evidence-based data to convince all employers of the value in building safety and health management programs, as well as providing proof for the most effective workplace safety interventions. We've seen safety programs work in keeping people alive and healthy on the job while improving a company's bottom line, but the evidence still is mostly anecdotal. That scientific body of research needs to be expanded."