Health and Safety Specialist (Defined-Term) at Alameda County Water District – Fremont, California

**This position is classified as Defined-Term**

Defined-term positions are allocated full-time equivalent positions with appointments that are intended to last longer than six months but less than or up to two years. These assignments are not continuing in nature and terminate upon completion of the work, a specified term, or the end of the budget allocation.

Under direction from the Workplace Health and Safety Officer, coordinate, oversee and participate in activities supporting the health, and safety needs of the District, including developing, implementing, and administering programs, policies, procedures, and work instructions for compliance, accident prevention, safety education, and loss control; interpret and help ensure compliance with applicable federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws, codes, regulations, and standards; and to perform a variety of tasks relative to assigned areas of responsibility.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
Health and Safety Specialist is the journey-level class. Incumbents perform the full range of work in the following areas: identifying and evaluating potentially hazardous conditions, serving as District liaison to a variety of external regulatory agencies, and developing and administering safety training and programming to District staff. Incumbents receive only occasional instruction or assistance as new or unusual situations arise and are fully aware of the operating procedures and policies of the work.
TYPICAL DUTIES
TYPICAL EXAMPLES OF DUTIES MAY INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

•Plan, organize, coordinate, oversee, act as project lead, and participate in the development and implementation of various environmental, health, and safety programs, policies, and procedures within assigned areas of responsibility; establish an environment of workplace safety for employees by increasing safety awareness.

•Plan, direct, coordinate, and provide training and technical assistance and support for District personnel regarding environmental, health, and safety programs, policies, procedures, and work instructions; purchase and distribute personal protective equipment.

•Develop program objectives and design and conduct safety training programs; develop and recommend the purchase of training materials; conduct initial and refresher training classes for areas of assignment; develop and organize specialized training as needed.

•Investigate workplace incidents and near misses; recommend corrective action plans to appropriate personnel; evaluate and analyze trends, barriers to performance of safe work and root causes of incidents and near misses; develop action plans to control or eliminate organizational barriers and/or hazards in the workplace.

•Conduct various audits and inspections of District offices, facilities, and worksites; review construction drawings and contractor programs; identify unsafe conditions; assess District compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, codes, regulations, standards, and District rules; analyze data to identify trends; prepare reports; define control measures; monitor corrective action plans; recommend process improvements and policy and procedural changes.

•Perform permit required confined space assessments, and conduct job safety assessments under a wide variety of working conditions both in industrial and construction settings. Collect water, lead, asbestos, or other samples as required for lab analysis.

•Assist with elements of managing the District DOT safety program as assigned; work with pre- and post-employment testing and monitoring programs, including non-DOT, and DOT alcohol and drug testing, fitness for duty, DMV screening and monitoring, and related testing and notification programs as appropriate per District Policies.

•Assist with the management of hazardous waste generated from District operations; sample hazardous waste and submit to testing laboratory for accurate waste characterization when required,; accompany hazardous waste disposal contractors in the pick-up of hazardous waste, and ensure that proper procedures are followed including inspection of transport vehicles, proper signing of hazardous waste manifests, and proper accounting of hazardous waste materials.

•As assigned, participate as a member of the Emergency Response Team.

•With oversight from senior staff, creates, maintains, and ensures compliance with Hazardous Materials Business Plans and Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans associated with applicable facilities.

•Represent the District with outside agencies and regulatory entities; coordinate program activities; communicate and share information to improve/ ensure compliance; participate on various organization-wide and interagency committees and teams.

•Ensure maintenance, calibration, and arrange for the repair or replacement of various EH&S monitoring and measurement equipment, including air monitoring devices and sensors, and noise dosimeters, for example.

•Complete and maintain required environmental, health, and safety documentation and records; prepare reports, including those concerning new or ongoing programs and program effectiveness.

•Maintain awareness of new developments in the field of environmental, health and safety and emergency response; incorporate new developments as appropriate; attend training as necessary.

•Employees have a responsibility for safety; for following safety regulations and safety policies and procedures applicable to their work.

•Performs other related work as required.
Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge, skills, and abilities would be the equivalent of:

Education and Experience:
Possession of a Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in industrial engineering, safety engineering, occupational health, business administration, or a related field; and three (3) years of full-time experience in the administration of environmental, health, and safety programs and projects.