HSRC Integrated Annual Report 2018/2019

Environment The HSRC has embarked on a number of Go-green initiatives to reduce the impact of the organisation and its people on the environment. Electricity consumption is closely monitored to evaluate the effectiveness of these Go-green initiatives. Initiatives include: • The use of energy efficient globes for lighting in offices, the library and undercover parking facilities to reduce electricity consumption; • Replacement of the electrical motors in the chiller plant rooms with more reliable, energy efficient motors to reduce electricity consumption; • The installation of an E-boil system at the HSRC Pretoria Office, which has provided additional savings due to reduced electricity usage compared to conventional kitchen kettles; • The use of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) to collect and recycle office waste to contribute to a healthier working environment for HSRC staff and tenants, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and • Fitment of all taps in the Cape Town office with sprayers and replacement of old taps in bathrooms and kitchens in the Pretoria building with push taps, to preserve and conserve water resources. Library lights with energy efficient globes Board Secretary The HSRC Board is assisted by a board secretary who provides secretariat and administrative support to the Board and its subcommittees. The role and function of the board secretary include acting as liaison between the Board and the organisation, providing comprehensive support and guidance to the Board, compiling and filtering Board documents, ensuring compliance with appropriate standards of ethics and good governance and performing project management assignments relevant to the activities of the various committees. Research Ethics and Integrity The HSRC is committed to undertaking high-quality research. It has systems and structures in place to promote responsible research, and integrates principles of research ethics and research integrity into the way research is planned, reviewed, conducted, and communicated. Research Ethics Committee The HSRC functions in accordance with a code of research ethics approved by its Board. The establishment of the Research Ethics Committee (REC) was approved by the HSRC Council (now known as the HSRC Board) in 2002. The HSRC REC was constituted in 2003 and is the only internal institutional ethics review committee of the HSRC. International equivalent titles of the REC are ‘Institutional Review Board’ (IRB) or ‘Independent Ethics Committee’. The REC aims to promote respect for human rights in research, as well as ethical values and research integrity within the HSRC. To this end, it reviews and monitors research proposals and practices in the HSRC from an ethical perspective, and reports annually to the HSRC Board. The REC is registered with the National Health Research Ethics Council (NHREC) of the Department of Health. The NHREC audited all registered RECs during 2018/19. The outcome of the audit was positive, with a few matters highlighted for attention to retain its Level 1 registration with the NHREC (registration number REC-290808- 015-RA). These matters, mostly relating to a need to update policy and procedure documents, were referred to the Office of the Deputy CEO: Research and have been attended to during the reporting period. In February 2019, the fifth formal annual report of the HSRC REC was submitted to the NHREC, covering the 2018 calendar year. In terms of international recognition, the HSRC REC has a current Federal-wide Assurance (FWA) registration (registration number FWA 00006347) of the United States Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). This registration confirms that the HSRC REC complies with the regulations of the US-based Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regarding the protection of human participants in research. The HSRC REC requires this registration for the review of studies supported by US federal funds, e.g. through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). HSRC INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2018/19 / 73