INERCO Consultoría México masters in health and safety administration, occupational health and ecology

INERCO Consultoría México’s Masters in Health and Safety Administration, Occupational Health and Ecology, organised in collaboration with the Autonomous University of Coahuila, the Mexican National Association of Chemical Engineers and Chemists and Acciona Infraestructuras México, began on Friday, 26 February with an inauguration ceremony presided over by Dr Rogelio Miguel Figueroa Velázquez, director general of the Mexican Federal Labour Inspectorate.

The educational initiative features the participation of more than 50 professionals from the main companies and managers from the Mexican Secretariat of Labour and is supported academically by the Autonomous University of Coahuila. The course will train specialised professionals with knowledge in health and safety, occupational health and environmental protection, enabling them to perform their roles as effectively as possible to carry out investigations related to their responsibilities.

During the inauguration, Rogelio Miguel Figueroa highlighted the importance of training specialists in safety: “these aspects contribute to the promotion and reinforcement of a culture of prevention, with mechanisms to support compliance with labour regulations.” Similarly, the director general of the Federal Labour Inspectorate announced the upcoming entry into operations of the first School of Labour Inspection, a project promoted by his organisation and based on one already existing in Spain.

He also expressed his satisfaction with an event like the Masters in Health and Safety Administration, Occupational Health and Ecology, “with educational institutions, the competent administration, the private sector and professional groups coming together to contribute towards achieving the Mexico we all want.”

Acciona Infaestructuras’ director in Mexico, Guillermo Jiménez Michavila, demonstrated his company’s commitment to workplace protection, which is of utmost importance to the company’s daily activities and as regards this Masters, a help in sharing its experience and management systems.

The INERCO group’s corporate director of business development, Patricio Navarro Blázquez, gave an overview of the group’s history in the field of health and safety: “over thirty years’ experience have allowed us to develop and implement the most advanced tool in the field and given INERCO the capacity to adapt to the reality of business in Mexico, where it has been present for over 25 years.” In this context, Navarro mentioned the importance for INERCO of prevention, innovation and training, “cornerstones of our activities, which we bring with us to this master along with our commitment to rigour, our knowledge and our advanced experience in this field.”

The training of experts to assess workplace hazards, analysis and the development of prevention actions are determining factors for companies in the areas of prevention, environmental protection, liability and costs, objectives which the masters aims to meet with modules including:

• Legal aspects of health and safety, occupational health, social security, ecology and the environment
• Recognition, assessment and control of diseases and health impacts
• Occupational disease and accident control systems in the organisation
• Environmental emergencies
• Occupational health and safety administration systems
• Implementation of Standard ISO 14000
• Environmental project planning and development
• Quantitative and qualitative hazard analysis methods
• Internal civil protection programmes

The team of academics is made up of high-level specialists in these disciplines, including Santiago Argelio Cisneros Alonso, industrial chemical engineer and science lecturer (IPN) and current president of the Mexican National College of Chemical Engineers and Chemists A.C.; Iris Yamilet Hidalgo González, workplace risk prevention manager for Latin America at Acciona Infraestructuras; Esther Valdivia Loizaga, director of INERCO’s Environment division; Carlos Manuel Morales Ocaña, head of public health at the SEMAR specialised hospital; and Agustín García Reynoso, researcher at the UNAM Atmospheric Sciences Institute, among others.