In a powerful endorsement of her sustained impact on occupational health and risk management across the continent, Cynthia Ozobu has been awarded a Fellowship by the United Kingdom’s International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (FIIRSM). The Fellowship, one of the highest distinctions in the global risk and safety profession, recognizes individuals whose achievements have profoundly shaped the evolution of safety standards, research, and professional practice.
Cynthia’s journey to this international recognition is rooted in over 13 years of deep technical work, strategic leadership, and academic contribution to workplace health and industrial hygiene. From petrochemical facilities and fertilizer plants to sugar refineries and hazardous waste operations, she has consistently championed systems that protect workers from exposure risks while aligning operations with the best global practices.
Currently serving as Group Lead of Occupational Health, Safety, and Hygiene at Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Cynthia designed and implemented a proactive health surveillance and risk assessment system that helped unlock a $700 million investment under the firm’s backward integration project. She reviewed over 150 health surveillance reports, championed targeted exposure monitoring, and rolled out comprehensive training programs for over 150 personnel on subjects ranging from heat stress to chemical handling.
Her selection as a FIIRSM Fellow is not only a reflection of her professional leadership but also a recognition of her robust intellectual contributions. Cynthia has authored several peer-reviewed publications that are shaping discourse on risk mitigation, AI-driven hazard detection, and the integration of health surveillance systems in African industries and have become a key reference point for policymakers, safety managers, and researchers globally.
But Cynthia’s influence extends beyond fieldwork and research. She is also a prominent voice in the global editorial community. She serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals, including the Engineering Science & Technology Journal, the International Journal of Applied Research in Social Sciences, and the International Journal of Management & Entrepreneurship Research. In these roles, she has helped steer publication quality, peer review standards, and the broader conversation on emerging safety and occupational health issues. Her editorial leadership ensures that complex, interdisciplinary are communicated rigorously and accessibly to global audiences.
Through her editorial work, Cynthia mentors emerging authors, encourages African-centered research, and pushes for greater inclusion of field-based case studies in scholarly literature. This advocacy is critical at a time when localized, real-world perspectives are needed to complement theoretical models in occupational risk science.
Her influence is not confined to academic and professional settings. Cynthia has served as an oral examiner for the BOHS UK International Certificate in Occupational Hygiene (ICertOH), and as an approved assessor for the NEBOSH International General Certificate examination. These roles reflect not only technical mastery but also her commitment to shaping the next generation of occupational safety leaders.
Cynthia’s Fellowship with International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (FIIRSM) comes on the heels of numerous recognitions, including the President’s Commendation Award from IOSH UK and the QHSES Leadership Academy Commendation Award in Education. Yet, she remains focused on what matters most: transforming workplace safety from a checklist into a culture, where data, empathy, science, and leadership converge to protect lives.
With ongoing research into AI-powered monitoring frameworks and a vision to build a digital toolkit that supports SMEs across Africa, Cynthia Ozobu continues to set new benchmarks in occupational health. Her FIIRSM Fellowship is both a celebration of her past achievements and a clear signal of her future impact on the global stage.
