She said: “I am grateful for the recognition for my work as an ambassador for health and safety and engineering, but I could not have done that without having such a brilliant, world-class organisation to talk about.
“It has been an honour and a privilege for me to chair HSE for the last eight years. I am immensely proud of this organisation and what it does.
“We’ve made a real difference to how people perceive health and safety and will continue to drive improvements to keep people safe at work and help Britain to work well.”
A chemical engineer, Hackitt worked in the chemicals manufacturing industry for 23 years before joining the Chemical Industries Association in 1998, becoming its director general in 2002. She then worked in Brussels for the European Chemical Industry Association.
She is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2010. She was awarded her CBE for services to health and safety in 2006.
Meanwhile, Paul Hamey, a long-serving member of HSE’s Chemical Regulations Directorate, has been awarded an MBE.