IChemE Safety Centre Director wins Leader of the Year Award

TRISH Kerin, Director of the IChemE Safety Centre (ISC), has won the Women In Safety Leader of the Year Award. 

The award recognises Kerin’s outstanding leadership and contributions to driving change in process safety internationally, mainly through her activities with the ISC. She was also a finalist in the Professional of the Year category.  

“I am grateful and humbled to have received this award,” Kerin said. “The work we do in process safety is vital to ensure people can stay safe at work. This award recognises that effort from the ISC internationally.” 

Margaret Donnan, former chair of the IChemE Safety Centre who nominated Kerin for the award, accepted the prize on Kerin’s behalf at an online ceremony as part of the Women In Safety Virtual Summit on 5 October.  

In her nomination, Donnan said: “Trish Kerin is very deserving of the Women In Safety Leader of the Year Award for the enduring impact she is making to advance process safety in workplaces locally, nationally and internationally. Trish’s guiding belief is that: “People have a right to not get hurt, no matter where they are”. 

“One of Trish’s greatest strengths is her ability to connect – different industries, different associations, different people, and different concepts – clearly a key marker of strong professional leadership” Donnan added. “She is then able to share the safety message in ways that everyone can understand. This is quite a feat when talking about complex engineering challenges and solutions.” 

Women In Safety is a network designed to encourage women working as safety professionals to discuss issues, barriers and to help each other grow and learn. These were the first awards held by the organisation. 

The ISC is a subscription-based industry consortium. The centre has produced a framework to provide a common language to use in process safety; guidance documents on topics including leadership, human factors, and culture; and case study training resources to help advance process safety.