Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology OIST is a leading graduate university in Japan, committed to advancing world-class research and education. As part of its pursuit of excellence, OIST has established a comprehensive safety and health management system based on international standards.
This page outlines the key safety measures OIST has developed and implemented, learning from past lessons.
1. Respectful Workplace/Prevention of Harassment
Although a respectful workplace is stated as one of OIST's basic policies, OIST held respectful workplace/anti-harassment seminars in English and Japanese targeting all staff members on September 21, 2017. This seminar reaffirmed OIST's basic "respectful workplace" policies and explained the harassment reporting hotline. Harassment prevention training has since become mandatory for all OIST employees.
2. Safety Training and Mandatory Health Check-up
OIST implemented an electronic "dashboard" system to manage all employees' and students' safety training and health check status. All employees, students, and immediate supervisors have immediate access to each individual's training completion status. Regarding health checkups, occupational health professionals are responsible for individually verifying participation and encouraging completion. Through these efforts, a system has been established to prevent individuals who have not undergone the required health checkups from participating in field activities and other related programs. Employees involved with field work are subject to taking basic life support training (First Aid, AED, and CPR) in a classroom, online general safety training for the field work, and other necessary trainings. All employees, students, and immediate supervisors have immediate access to each individual's training and health check completion status.
3. Field Work Safety Committee
OIST established a Field Work Safety Committee in 2017. This committee is responsible for reviewing Field Work Plans at OIST and is established with five internal members and two external experts.
The Field Work Safety Committee was reconstructed in early October 2023, appointing one external field (marine) expert.
4. Scientific Diving Safety
4-1. Diving Control Board
In the fall of 2022, the President, Provost, Secretary General, and marine faculty agreed to adopt the American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) Standards for Scientific Diving, a global standard for scientific diving. The Diving Control Board was established on March 10, 2023, to establish the system prescribed in the manual, and a new Diving Safety Manual was established on May 25, 2023. Since then, scientific diving at OIST has been conducted in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in the manual to ensure safety As of June of 2025 the DCB has welcomed 3 new members, and is well positioned to the autonomous management of the Scientific Diving Program required by AAUS. The DCB will be responsible for regular updates and improvements to the Diving Safety Manual, which will be made public on the DCB website.
As a commitment to the public, and to the students, researchers, staff, and administrators alike, the OIST Diving Program is dedicated to continuously improving safety programs, advancing diving practices, and cultivating a strong culture of safety through world-class training and education. These efforts are made possible through the support of the Shohei Suzuki Fund. We are honored to carry this work forward in memory of Dr. Shohei Suzuki, whose legacy continues to inspire our pursuit of excellence in diving safety.
4-2. Diving Safety Officer
A new Diving and Boating Safety Officer assumed the position on February 1, 2025. The Diving and Boating Safety Officer’s responsibilities associated with the position of the Diving and Boating Safety Officer, who will work closely with the Marine Science Section to support scientific diving, boating, and snorkeling activities and serve on the OIST Diving Control Board. This role requires a strong commitment to both the safety and technical guidance of research diving operations, with a particular emphasis on training, in-water supervision, and ensuring compliance with safety standards.
The Diving and Boating Safety Officer will play a pivotal role in providing expert supervision, training, and education. This includes monitoring compliance with safety protocols and overseeing the overall safety of the diving teams while conducting marine research and training. The Diving and Boating Safety Officer will report any issues or concerns to the Chair of the Diving Control Board to maintain the highest standards of safety at OIST.
A major component of the position is developing and maintaining a comprehensive training and certification program. Working in collaboration with the Occupational Health and Safety Section, Faculty, Researchers, and the OIST Graduate School the Diving and Boating Safety Officer will be responsible for designing and implementing an approved training curriculum for all research scientists, staff, and students. This includes creating opportunities for hands-on learning and supervising in-water diving activities to ensure that all participants are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills required to carry out safety focused and effective research diving.
4-3. License Conversion
Foreign commercial diving licenses are being converted to valid Japanese commercial diving licenses with support from the Japanese and overseas affiliations. So far, the Okinawa Labor Bureau approved license conversion for a UK diving license in 2019, two French diving licenses in 2021, three US private training organization certificate in 2022, 2024 & 2025.
In the training area, emergency oxygen provider training was provided to OIST divers and on-site leaders from June 2020. This training will make it possible to provide oxygen inhalation to those who have been involved in diving accidents before the arrival of emergency services, thereby improving the lifesaving rate. We will continue to train divers and conduct site inspections to improve safe diving.
5. Risk Manager
An OIST has appointed a Risk Manager on April 1, 2025, to be responsible for improving business continuity management (BCM), including the restructuring of business continuity plans (BCP) and conducting tabletop exercises.
6. Incident/Accident Report
OIST Research Related Incident Investigation Report Guideline was established in April 2020, which sets forth comprehensive rules for reporting, collecting, analyzing, and publishing information on incidents and accidents at OIST to prevent accidents from recurring. Based on this guideline, a project to gather near-miss cases that could have led to injuries and accident cases that resulted in injuries at OIST and the actions taken to prevent incidents. The OIST Safety and Health Committee discusses corrective actions to prevent recurrence and follows up with the reporter.
7. Health and Safety Month (previously known as Safety Enhancement Month)
Every year, we designate November, the month in which the diving incident occurred, as "Health and Safety Month" to re-focus and concentrate on how we can continue to improve our safety system.
OIST held a Shohei Suzuki memorial lecture on November 13, 2017, as part of the University's initiative to observe the "safety month." At the event, OIST Professor Noriyuki Satoh gave a lecture on marine science. Prof. Economo announced that he found a new ant species and named it after Dr. Shohei Suzuki. He presented a photo of the ant to the family and shared his thoughts on naming the ant after him with them.
The establishment of the "Shohei Suzuki Research Safety Fund" for the promotion of safe field work was announced. The fund started accepting donations from November 30, 2017. The Suzuki family, then-President Peter Gruss, then-Dean of Research Mary Collins, and other members of OIST have donated to the Shohei Suzuki Research Safety Fund to promote the safety culture in the University. The fund opened a call for applications to the Research Safety Financial Support Program in May 2018 to promote research safety awareness and training at OIST and enable students and junior researchers or technicians from OIST to undertake field work while developing the necessary skills, including research safety training. So far, seven programs have been supported by the fund.
The OIST Safety and Health Committee plans and implements activities for the "Health and Safety Month" every year with the cooperation of the Student Association, Health Center, and Ganjuu Wellbeing Service. We conduct a wide range of campus-wide health and safety awareness activities, not only in the field of safety but also in the fields of health and welfare. Through seminars and participatory events, we will continue to share issues with the entire University and raise awareness of safety improvements through activities to promote compliance check on safety regulations.
8. More Robust Safety and Health Division
As mentioned above, the Risk Manager, Diving Safety Officer, Field Work Safety Staff that supports Field Work Safety Committee, and the existing staff members promote safety management. OIST will continue strengthening relevant departments by expanding health and safety staff members to improve individual qualities.
Updated on September 1, 2025