Creating Safe And Equal Workspaces

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED

Female engineers represent just 12% of the profession in Ireland. To coincide with International Women In Engineering Day 2023 we ask how we can encourage more young women to join the industry?

What would a workforce with a better gender balance look like? How could the industry benefit from the unique skills and attributes of women that can often be missed in male dominated spaces?

To answer these questions, we’re speaking to two female professionals who excel in the space of safety and sustainability, and are passionate about highlighting the variety and creativity available in an Engineering career. They are chartered civil engineer and artist Regina Clery, and safety specialist and experienced auditor Mary Foley.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

01:53 How to recruit young women into engineering
08:39 Better representation of female engineers
10:45 Safety measures in action
15:17 Why prevention is better than a cure
19:10 Staying on top of changing environments
23:40 Sustainable development goals
26:56 Applying safety to other industries
31:56 Everyone is responsible for safety

GUEST DETAILS

Regina Clery
Having first started out as an Art & Design student, and now an Engineer, Regina Clery is interested in projects that involve a range of technologies, culture & art to deliver STEM data across multi-disciplinary audiences. Regina is a Chartered Engineer CEng MIEI - currently working in Transport (railroad & structures) with previous roles as a Civil Engineer in the Construction Industry, Third Level Education Program Coordinator of Civil Engineering and as a Third Level Lecturer - teaching Mechanical and Civil engineering, Building Construction, Environmental Sustainability and Renewable Energy. Regina is passionate about Environmental Sustainability & Intrinsic Ecosystems, where the built environment meets the natural world. She is a Master of Science in Sustainable Energy and Green Technologies focused on development & optimisation of renewable energy resources, life cycle analysis & efficiency in power generation, mitigation of environmental impacts, plant biotechnology & business innovation.

Mary Foley
MaryFoley is a Safety Professional with exceptional cross-industry experience in Pharma, Biopharma, and general industry manufacturing spanning almost 25 years. She has vast experience in planning and Safety Management and in developing Major Accident Plans for many of the County Councils. She is experienced in working closely with regulatory bodies as well as charities and planning authorities across a number of EMEA territories. Mary is an experienced Auditor with over 10 years of Experience as Lead Auditor. She is the author of National Industry standards and has advised at Government level on developing Safety Management Systems for sections of industry previously unregulated. She has created and contributed to Risk and Risk Management Programs for numerous Irish companies, government departments, multi-nationals and National Governing Bodies. She is an entertaining public speaker and a highly competent expert Witness with experience in both the Circuit and High Court.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foley-safety-solutions/

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

In general, women have a really, really good follow through. I also know that their attention to detail, in my experience, has been much, much better. And I think in my industry specifically, that's so important. - Mary Foley

I started off in art college and in fashion design, and now I'm an engineer. Nobody could have told me at that stage of my life that I was going to be an engineer, I wouldn't have believed it. The link is how to create and fix problems. You have to get into the schools and get them at an early age to attract women into these industries and show them that they can do this, that women are already doing it. - Regina Clery

Engineers Ireland has been incredible in terms of providing us with continuing professional development, new stuff coming down the track, new information. We absolutely have to stay on top of it all time, because it's ever moving, ever changing and thankfully ever improving. - Mary Foley

Prevention is always better than a cure, but unfortunately, people have this image that safety is expensive. It's not as expensive as a claim, but a claim isn't the be all and end all. It's the personal injury, the pain, the loss, the suffering, the everything else. You should be looking after your people. - Mary Foley

There's a huge drive at the moment, particularly with the sustainable development goals. A lot of companies know they should work towards becoming an SDG champion, which is rare nowadays. Maintaining safety in the workplace, the well being of employees, having wellbeing programs, and even gender equality, all those things make your workplace safer. - Regina Clery

When we're talking about longevity, changes need to be made to acknowledge that the female body needs particular sizing to comfortably wear PPE. There's no such thing really as unisex PPE, especially when it comes to protective equipment. - Regina Clery

KEYWORDS
#safety #engineering #women #IWED #InternationalWomenInEngineeringDay #train