Environmental Health and Safety Specialist

Perform technical work and assist in the development and coordination of the District’s environmental health and safety programs; provide highly responsible and technical staff assistance; schedule, plan, and conduct environmental health and safety inspections of District facilities; and ensure District compliance with federal, state, and county regulations.

Responsibilities

• Conduct ergonomic evaluations as required and submit them to appropriate managers.
• Provide assistance to District personnel in areas related to hazardous materials and safety, respond to a variety of difficult complaints from internal and external sources, and research and document requests for information in the field of environmental health and safety.
• Assist in the development, communication, and facilitation of District environmental health and safety programs, including District rules, policies, and procedures.
• Research and appraise the degree of environmental health and safety program compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations and recommend changes in the design of the various programs to meet new environmental health and safety standards to appropriate management personnel.
• Plan, develop, organize, coordinate, direct, and evaluate environmental health and safety programs and advise key managerial personnel on courses of action affecting District operations, work processes, and environmental conditions with impact on the safety and efficiency of personnel.
• Coordinate, schedule, and conduct training for First Aid/CPR, hearing conservation, forklift operations, hazardous waste operations, health, and other adopted programs.
• Establish and maintain professional relationships with individuals in and outside the District.
• Investigate accidents/incidents, obtain statements from witnesses, and photograph accident/incident scenes; record circumstances of accidents/incidents and extent of injuries, and prepare a final report of findings with recommendations to correct the unsafe acts or conditions which caused the personnel injury or property damage.
• Make presentations to management and employee groups regarding environmental health and safety.
• Serve as acting Environmental Health & Safety Division Manager as assigned.
• Serve as chairperson and staff resource person to the District Safety Committee as assigned.
• Respond to emergency situations as assigned.
• Comply with all District rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Perform other related duties as required or assigned by supervisor.

Hazardous Materials Core Functions

• Schedule, plan, and conduct environmental inspections of District facilities, equipment, and personal protective equipment, and distribute findings to appropriate management personnel for corrective action.
• Remove employees from areas that are deemed immediately dangerous to life and health.
• Manage the operations of the Hazardous Waste Storage Building.
• Coordinate hazardous waste acceptance, sampling, labeling, storage, manifesting, transportation, and disposal, and prepare required reports and documents in compliance with applicable environmental regulations and safety requirements.
• Monitor and operate within the current budget.
• Advise managers on the proper clean-up levels for hazardous material spills.
• Assist and accompany inspectors from governmental agencies that audit the District in the realm of environmental health and safety.
• Collect, track, compute, and summarize relevant factual information in connection with compliance reviews in chart and narrative form.
• Serve as a site auditor to accomplish on-site surveillance of disposal contractors and facilities for the temporary storage of hazardous waste throughout a multi-state area.
• Obtain information on contractors, storage facility operations and processes; determine compliance with environmental regulations and policies, permit requirements, contract clauses; evaluate the effectiveness of hazardous waste management systems; and recommend approval or disapproval of said facilities.

Safety Core Functions

• Inspect worksites to ensure that work is done in accordance with the Injury and Illness Prevention Program and safe work practices.
• Research laws, regulations, policies, and procedures related to safety to sufficiently interpret and explain the reasons and purposes for applying measures and procedures in minimizing or abating safety hazards.
• Inspect and observe safety conditions and employee performance patterns to identify hazards, detect risk, determine causal relationships, and recommend corrective procedures where the potential for injury or property damage exists.
• Influence, motivate, and encourage individuals to adopt or comply with safety standards, practices, and procedures.
• Assist and accompany inspectors from governmental agencies that audit the District in the realm of environmental health and safety.
• Conduct periodic safety inspections of District facilities.
• Provide formal/informal instruction to work leaders and employees covering a variety of safety subjects including mishap prevention and safe working practices.
• Analyze accident and injury reports, study data to discover trends and causes, and develop recommendations for eliminating or mitigating the hazards detected.
• Interview supervisors and employees for information on specific working conditions to evaluate the total worksite environment.
• Develop educational material and promote safety awareness, coordinate training, and prepare informational safety brochures.

Requirements

Any combination of experience and education that would likely provide the required skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the skills and abilities would be:

Education

Associate’s degree from an accredited college, preferably with coursework in occupational health, safety, industrial hygiene, hazardous material, or related field. Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for education.

Experience

Three years of recent work experience which provides a general knowledge of environmental health, safety, hazardous materials/waste principles, techniques, practices, and program development.

Skills and Abilities

Interpersonal and Communication

• Ability to interact and communicate effectively orally and in writing with all levels of District employees.
• Able to maintain professional relationships with those contacted during the course of work.
• Able to work independently and maintain confidentiality.
• Maintain a positive work atmosphere by acting and communicating in a manner so that you get along with customers, clients, co-workers, and management.

Technical and Analytical

• Knowledge of modern office software programs, procedures, methods, and computer equipment.
• Fundamentals of related federal, state, and county regulations that pertain to safety, hazardous materials/waste.
• Fundamentals in methods and techniques of research, statistical analysis, and report presentation.
• Assist in the maintenance of computer-maintained files of all District environmental health and safety programs and records.

Administration and Operations

• Ability to respond to hazardous and/or stressful situations at a moment's notice.
• Make independent decisions that could affect employee safety and the District’s liabilities.
• Recommend corrective measures in the areas of environmental health and safety.
• Knowledge of job hazard analysis and other analytical techniques sufficient to perform accident investigations; identify causal factors through interviews and the study of the sequence of accident events.
• Practical knowledge of the methods, principles, and techniques of ergonomics sufficient to minimize adverse health conditions affecting employees in the work environment.

Special Requirements

• Possession of an appropriate California driver's license.
• Must file a Statement of Economic Interest in compliance with Governmental Code Section 8100.
• Sign and acknowledge a Confidentiality Agreement.
• Ability to obtain the following certifications:
  • Standard First Aid/CPR Instructor’s Certification
  • 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (Hazwoper), and 8-Hour Supervisor Training Certifications
  • Forklift Training Instructor’s Certification
  • Other training as required

Benefits

• Holidays: 12 paid holidays per calendar year
• Sick Leave: 12 sick leave days per calendar year with no accumulation limit
• Vacation:
  • 2 weeks (7 months through 2nd year)
  • 3 weeks (3rd year through 5th year)
  • 4 weeks + 1 day (6th year through 14th year)
  • 5 weeks (15th year through 24th year)
  • 5 weeks + 3 days (25th year and thereafter)
• 1 Floating Holiday
• Health Insurance: Provided by the District and administered through Anthem Blue Cross Prudent Buyer PPO Network. Employees have a choice of a PPO Plan or a HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan).
• Prescription Insurance: Administered by Navitus with a four-tiered co-pay structure: generic, formulary, non-formulary, and specialty.
• Dental Insurance: Provided by the District and administered through Delta Dental PPO Network. The District offers a voluntary Base Plus Buy-Up plan.
• Vision Insurance: Provided by the District and administered through VSP. The District offers a voluntary Buy-Up Vision plan.
• Flexible Spending Account (Section 125): Available to cover health and/or dependent care expenses on a pre-tax basis.
• Health Savings Account: Available for those employees electing the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).