Safety Specialist - Covering Rochester to Syracuse, NY

SUMMARY

Assists with development, implementation, and evaluation of companywide occupational health & safety programs. Provides support to customers and other business partners in their efforts to prevent injury and loss, through the education and validation of applicable occupational health & safety standards and procedures in retail locations. Provides instruction through training, coaching, auditing, and mentoring. Interacts with third party occupational health & safety service providers and regulatory.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for always ensuring regulatory compliance with all aspects of occupational health & safety, in all assigned locations. 
• Performs proactive inspection in assigned locations to ensure they meet or exceed established internal and regulatory occupational health & safety standards and requirements. Conducts in depth root cause analysis on non-compliant issues in assigned locations and provides necessary support to achieve and maintain compliance.
• Assists with the development, implementation, evaluation, and maintenance of all occupational safety and health programs, policies, procedures, and standards, and works with leadership in assigned locations to support and influence implementation and execution.
• Assists with development and implementation of all companywide occupational health & safety training programs and education events, including on-boarding training for all new or newly promoted managers in all assigned locations.
• Establishes contacts and relations with regulatory officials (OSHA, EPA, etc.) for assigned locations. Participate in regulatory meetings, educate and be advocate for company occupational health & safety standard practices/policies/programs.
• Monitors and follows-up with occupational health & safety vendors activities daily as related to assigned locations. Work with the local safety technicians to ensure compliance. 
• Provide direction and solution-based recommendations to leadership and 
supervision in retail and other assigned locations regarding occupational health & safety issues within their respective regions.
• Conducts all aspects of accident and injury investigations and performs root cause analysis to determine appropriate corrective actions; abatement, contacts OSHA if reportable; prepares formal response to OSHA for final approval by supervisor; and establishes future injury prevention strategies for the company.
• Conducts all aspects of internal investigations on regulatory inquiries, and other issues, and provides summary corrective action response information to supervisor, and regulatory partners when necessary. 
• Follows up on all consumer complaints regarding teammate and customer safety and health issues and assists with necessary corrective actions and response. 
• Provides support and training to leadership and retail locations on corporate occupational health & safety standards, as well as regulatory requirements.
• Supports all corporate occupational health & safety projects and initiatives and works with assigned locations on end user execution levels and key performance indicators.
• Manages and maintains the content on Safety Department Intranet page including updating policies and procedures, and all safety resource documents. 
• Analyze, interpret, and utilize data/metrics to further prevent, reduce, and eliminate occupational health & safety risks in assigned locations. Presents findings and solution-based recommendations at regional/zone store management meetings.
• Interpret regulatory standards and identification of industry trends and best practices and works with leadership to ensures compliance in all assigned locations.
• Provide occupational health & safety support, direction, and follow-up for any emergency/crisis situations (power outages, water emergencies, fires, floods, claimed illnesses/injury, recalls, audits, etc.), and updates supervisor as needed.
• Liaison with Safety Representative for the relevant local unions and attends available Union Safety Meetings.
• Assists in legal discovery requests, claim reviews and court proceedings as needed.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Excellent customer service skills.
• Good analytical ability and competence in problem solving.
• Strong computer skills (Windows, Office, Excel)
• Self motivated and able to work independently
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to meet deadlines.
• Must hold a valid driver’s license.
• May be asked to obtain or maintain AED certification or emergency responder certification

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree with studies in occupational health & safety, community health sciences, business and/or physical sciences is preferred.
• Experience in Occupational Health & Safety, preferably in a supermarket environment or 3 - 5 plus years of occupational safety related work.
• Extensive knowledge of occupational health & safety regulations (OSHA, EPA, NIOSH, NFPA) and other safety standards is required.
• Extensive experience with implementing occupational health & safety or other training programs.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

OTHER PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Flexible work hours with evening and weekend work required
• Up to 90% travel
• Overnight travel is required
• Store, warehouse, cooler and freezer environments.
• Hard hats and safety-toed footwear are required to be worn in construction sites and when operating equipment.
• Occasional physical effort (up to 50 lbs.)
• Significant amount of driving, standing, sitting, walking, and reaching.

EQUIPMENT USED

Motor Vehicle operation

Personal Computer/Tablet

Personal protective equipment