Occupational Health and Safety Management (OHS) forms an integral part of the general management of the School and integrates health and safety objectives and policies into design and management of work systems.

Health and Safety Management defines the modalities to identify responsibilities, procedures, processes and resources within the organisational structure of a company, to implement the prevention policy of the company following the health and safety rules in force.

OHS is a system with the following benchmarks:

• Monitoring performed together with personnel belonging to the organisation;
• It is economically justifiable, because it also produces economies of management;
• It adapts to the specific features of the company/organisation;
• It improves adaptation skills to the evolution of laws, regulations and norms of good technique;
• It includes employees and their representatives in the management system;

OHS is aimed at ensuring the achievement of the organisation's health and safety goals in an effective cost-benefit perspective. Such system aims at:

• Improving occupational health and safety levels;
• Enhancing the effectiveness and the performance of the organisation;
• Improving the internal and the external image of the organisation;
• Progressively reducing the overall costs of occupational health and safety, including those costs deriving from accidents, injuries and diseases related to work, by minimising the possible risks faced by employees or third parties (customers, suppliers, visitors, etc.);

OHS work is based on a cyclic sequence of planning, implementing, monitoring and system assessment (PLAN, DO, CHECK, ACT) phases, through a dynamic process. This system can help achieve the planned goals thanks to the commitment and the involvement of all the company's functions, in particular those at the highest levels.

In detail, the current cyclic sequence of OHS is as follows:

• Establishing an occupational health and safety policy, to define the general commitments for risk prevention and the progressive improvement of health and safety;
• Identifying what applicable laws and regulations prescribe;
• Identifying the dangers and assessing the possible risks for all employees (whatever their position is in the organisation: teachers, technicians, administrative personnel, alumni, post-docs, etc), including particular cases related to specific processes or risk situations (laboratories), particular operational and management activities (including interactions among the personnel), dangerous substances and preparations, etc.;
• Identifying other potentially exposed subjects (such as self-employers, employees of third parties and occasional visitors);
• Setting specific goals which are appropriate, achievable and consistent with the general commitments defined in the policy;
• Developing programmes to reach such goals, by defining priorities, deadlines and responsibilities and by allocating the necessary resources;
• Establishing the most appropriate modalities, in terms of procedures and practice, to manage the programmes;
• Sensitizing the structure of the company on the achievement of the goals which have been set;
• Implementing suitable monitoring, assessment and inspection activities to ensure that the system works;
• Activating any corrective and preventive actions according to the monitoring outcome;
• Having regular checks to assess the efficacy and the efficiency of the system in reaching the goals set by the health and safety policy, as well as to assess its appropriateness with respect to both the specific business reality and the internal/external changes. If necessary, policy and objectives of health and safety will be modified, according to our commitment to continuous improvement.