Director Environmental Health & Safety

About the Role

The Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Director is responsible for developing, implementing, and leading the company's environmental, health, and safety programs within a lean manufacturing environment. This role ensures compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements while fostering a proactive, behavior-based safety culture through effective training, employee engagement, and continuous improvement initiatives.

The EHS Director will provide strategic leadership in environmental, health, and safety initiatives by promoting a culture of safety, regulatory compliance, and operational excellence. This individual will demonstrate strong professional leadership through active involvement in the EHS field, while also serving as a positive representative of the organization within the local community. The role emphasizes collaboration, continuous improvement, and the development of sustainable safety and environmental programs that support business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Coordinates the EHS programs to ensure a safe environment consistent with regulatory, environmental, and company requirements and needs
• Promotes the company mission, philosophy, goals, and objectives by formulating plans, procedures, and objectives for EHS programs and by evaluating effectiveness of the program
• Creates and maintains a work environment that encourages open communication and positive employee relations to establish a climate of openness and trust
• Seeks out opportunities for staff involvement and innovation to promote employee creativity and to generate ideas to improve functions, devise solutions, and implement plans
• Oversees operation and maintenance of water treatment and wastewater equipment, ensuring compliance with state and federal environmental protection limits
• Manages personnel responsible for inspecting and maintaining air pollution control equipment
• Prepares reports and maintains logs for water treatment systems on meter readings, tests, chemical and equipment usage, and all other record-keeping requirements
• Builds a cohesive team with the skills necessary to successfully meet the departmental/company objectives and strategies
• Delivers training information in a formal classroom setting and conducts on-the-job training on various safety and environmental programs to all required facility personnel
• Keeps various safety and environmental records and logbooks up to date
• Works with the medical department to follow workers’ compensation cases
• Assists with cost-control efforts and participates in manufacturing improvement committees
• Interfaces with OSHA and various environmental programs inspectors
• Studies, plans, and formulates new and revised safety programs, JSAs, and rules; prepares recommendations and implements for conformance
• Responsible for effective application of safety and environmental policies and practices and to investigate and eliminate hazardous conditions and unsafe practices, including non-routine work programs
• Through safety and environmental training sessions, meetings, manuals, bulletins, films, etc., keeps supervisory personnel apprised of hazardous conditions and practices, recommends injury prevention measures
• Conducts industrial hygiene studies that may involve exposure to dust, fumes, mists, gases, vapors, noise, heat, and cold
• Assesses new developments in the safety and environmental fields that may have application to the company's operations
• Keeps appraised of developments in federal and state safety and applicable environmental laws likely to affect the company
• Coordinates safety and industrial hygiene to obtain optimum service with insurance carriers
• Investigates serious injuries/incidents in conjunction with line and staff personnel, Human Resources, and Occupational Health Nurse and ensures corrective measures are implemented
• Assists line and staff management to understand OSHA regulations and standards, including guidance on handling OSHA compliance, inspections, and citations
• Manages and maintains appropriate air, water, and waste permitting requirements
• Supervises EHS departmental staff, hourly and salaried; evaluates performance, provides feedback, and completes performance reviews
• Supervises and trains light technical and hourly personnel in performing supporting tasks
• Manages the handling and disposal of solid and hazardous waste generated at the facility to comply with local, state, and federal requirements
• Completes regulatory required reporting in the areas of air, water, waste, hazardous material, and health and safety

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Environmental Health and Safety or related field, or equivalent experience
• 10-12 years’ experience
• Working knowledge of safety regulations, OSHA, EPA, hazardous materials, and emergency preparedness
• Travel to other company locations or for training purposes
• Proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Required to be able to stand, sit, walk, and climb ladders to perform inspections of the facility and work in an office and manufacturing environment
• Must be capable of wearing respiratory protection

Preferred Qualifications

• Bilingual (Spanish)
• CSP and/or CIH certification
• First aid/CPR instructor
• Forklift instructor certified
• Certificates in courses such as hazmat technician, emergency responder, water treatment operation, and other safety and environmental topics

Pay

$170k–$190k base salary plus bonus potential.