ATLANTA – International collaborations are integral to Georgia Tech’s mission of advancing knowledge and innovation, and through a collaboration with a visiting colleague from Turkey, the team at Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES), is doing exactly that.
A program housed in Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, SHES provides occupational safety, health, and environmental (OSHA) consulting and training services to manufacturers across the state and country.
Since March, the group has been working in various capacities with Merve Ercan Celenk, an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) expert and policymaker at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in Turkey.
Throughout the course of her career, Celenk has collaborated with various NGOs and governmental institutions to advance workplace safety initiatives, and she’s currently in Atlanta as a Fulbright scholar with a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship.
“Each year, 13 of the top U.S. universities host 11 fellows from diverse countries,” Celenk said. “Emory University serves as the host institution for the Public Health Policy and Management track. I’m studying at Rollins School of Public Health to broaden my understanding of occupational health from a systems-level perspective and to gain deeper insight into public health policies and practices.”
Celenk was first introduced to SHES after speaking on a panel at Emory, where she met SHES industrial hygienist (and Rollins alum) Sean Castillo. Later she attended an American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) meeting, where she was introduced to more members of the SHES group.
For the professional affiliation portion of her fellowship, she served on projects for the Georgia Department of Public Health, where topics included lead exposure, heat-related illness, and mental health in the workplace.
“Because Merve is officially working with the Georgia Department of Health, she’s collaborating with us by proxy,” said Jenny Houlroyd, manager of occupation health service at SHES. “It was through one of our alliance meetings with Department of Health and OSHA that we were able to really get engaged, talk policy, and talk about making change and connections.”
While Turkey’s approach to occupational safety and health is similar to that of the U.S., Celenk has noticed a number of differences. “Turkey follows the European Union’s legislative framework, which emphasizes a general duty of care,” she said. “This approach allows more flexibility for employers to determine how they meet safety objectives based on risk assessments. In contrast, OSHA operates with a more prescriptive style, offering detailed rules, specific thresholds, and measurable standards. Another difference lies in enforcement models.”
During her time in Atlanta, Celenk will be auditing SHES’ training institute classes, with the aim of providing feedback. “We can improve and learn from her, and then she can learn from us as well,” said Houlroyd, “It’s really a growth opportunity for both of us. We’re also looking at ways we could collaborate with educational course development in the future.”
As for Celenk, she welcomes the chance to strengthen professional and personal ties with her colleagues at Georgia Tech.
“As an occupational safety and health professional, I immediately felt a strong connection with this team,” she said. “SHES is not only highly experienced but also incredibly hardworking and collaborative. I genuinely feel like I’ve found a professional community where I belong.”