Ensuring the safety and well-being of employees and visitors in our buildings is essential. While safety experts play a critical role in maintaining a safe environment, there is also a need for a person who is a link between the building occupants and the Safety Office as well as the Health & Safety and Environ-mental Protection Unit (HSE).

The Territorial Safety Officer is not a safety expert but they embrace the responsibility of promoting safety and facilitating communication between occupants and the Safety experts. The aim is to im-prove awareness, to address concerns, and to assist in risk assessments.

They ensure that the information flow between the Safety Office and building occupants is efficient by proactively relaying safety-related information, such as evacuation procedures or preventive measures. They also ensure the emergency guides are aware of the specific risks within a building and that they are all following the same procedure during evacuations. All of this requires a regular communication to keep occupants informed.

Although not a safety expert, the Territorial Safety Officer can provide initial assistance with risk as-sessments. They can guide occupants on identifying potential hazards, and offer advice on preventive measures. When experts are requested, whether it involves electrical concerns, equipment malfunc-tions, or potential hazards, the Territorial Safety Officer can connect the occupants with the right per-son or department within our organization. By disseminating a safety conscious culture, they encour-age occupants to proactively report and address safety concerns.

For all other daily issues that do not relate directly to safety but to infrastructure like issues with locks, doors, curtains, sanitary problems, then occupants shall directly open a SNOW ticket or contact their group secretariat (GAO).

The Territorial Safety Officer role is a key role at CERN and this role will be emphasized in the future. A working group is currently re-evaluating the role of the TSO to provide them the needed tools to be able to better manage the various situations they will face. Territorial Safety Officers and their deputies are a team, sharing responsibilities and having the aim of promoting safety wherever it’s needed with-out being perceived as something bad in the daily work. They are an asset to provide the support you need for anything related to safety.

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