Anne-Marie Laurencine, Hygiene, Safety and Environment Coordinator

What was your background before joining Imagine?

From the very beginning, my background has been in science. After training in cellular and molecular biology, I worked on a high-throughput sequencing platform at the CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives). Following a reconversion, I was in charge of QSE (Quality, Safety, Environment) in a service company, before joining Imagine at the beginning of the 2018 academic year.

For me, Imagine was an obvious choice because of its highly stimulating scientific and technological excellence and the Institute's values, which are close to my own.

What are your missions?

My role is to support the staff in all matters relating to health, safety and the environment. I provide advice and draft procedures on health and accident at work issues, for example, on safety protocols related to laboratory work, evacuation and fire, first aid, types of products and gloves, I make declarations and applications for approval concerning GMOs, I ensure the monitoring of machines, service providers...Waste management, both hazardous and non-hazardous, is also an important part of my job, it is necessary to ensure its safety and monitoring.

I carry out my missions in coordination with the Institute's departments - management, human resources, internal services, operations department -, the laboratories and platforms, but also with external suppliers and service providers. I work in conjunction with teams of prevention assistants and occupational first-aiders organised in floors. This diversity of contacts and missions is very enriching and allows me to remain open-minded and curious at all times.

A policy to reduce the Institute's environmental impact is being developed at the Institute?

Yes, and with this in mind, we want to have a waste reduction approach upstream of sorting. Since last year, Imagine has distributed reusable cups (ecocups) and individual glass bottles to all its members, and has installed new printers that have already reduced the number of prints by 41.6% compared to 2018. We also currently have a number of actions in place related to the sustainable economy.

With regard to waste sorting, to standardize our sorting practices and optimize the recycling of the waste we produce, we are inaugurating a new sorting system, with collective and harmonized sorting terminals.

Standardizing sorting is the first step in our sustainable development approach and in the global waste management chain. The next step will be the development of a new waste collection and sorting circuit, to ensure that the end-to-end sorting chain is respected, that the five regulatory recycling streams (paper, plastic, metal, cardboard, wood) are respected, and to be able to measure our environmental impact. 

Sustainable development is not limited to the environmental part and other actions are to come to develop our approach.