Environmental Health & Safety Specialist at Burger Boat Company – Manitowoc, Wisconsin

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Environmental, Health & Safety (EH&S) Specialist supports safe, compliant, and efficient shipyard and manufacturing operations by partnering closely with operations leaders to embed safety and environmental stewardship into daily work. This role is intentionally designed in support of Burger Boat’s Value Stream Organization, where operations is accountable and responsible for safety, and the EH&S Specialist acts as a coach, facilitator, and subject-matter expert rather than a sole owner of safety programs.

Reporting to the Director of Quality & Continuous Improvement, the EH&S Specialist works hand-in-hand with Value Stream Managers, Supervisors, and frontline teams to strengthen leadership capability, deploy leading indicators, and integrate safety into SQDC (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost) management systems.

The role ensures compliance with OSHA, EPA, state, and local regulations, while advancing a proactive, data-driven safety culture that reduces risk, prevents incidents, and supports operational excellence.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Health & Safety Leadership & OSHA Compliance

• Ensure compliance with applicable OSHA regulations, standards, and company safety requirements across shipyard and manufacturing environments.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve safety programs, policies, and procedures aligned with regulatory requirements and operational needs.
• Serve as a technical resource to operations for hazard identification, risk assessments, and control selection.
• Conduct routine safety inspections, audits, and walkthroughs of facilities, yards, vessels, and work areas; partner with operations to prioritize and close corrective actions.
• Lead Safety Team

Coaching Operations in a Value Stream Organization

• Partner with Value Stream Managers and Supervisors to reinforce that safety is owned and led by operations.
• Coach leaders on daily safety management, standard work, and effective safety conversations.
• Support leaders in integrating safety expectations into planning, scheduling, and execution of work.
• Act as a trusted advisor, influencing without authority to drive sustainable behavior change.

Incident Investigation, RCA & Learning

• Lead and facilitate incident, injury, near-miss, and environmental event investigations using structured Root Cause Analysis (RCA) methods.
• Train and coach leaders and teams on RCA tools and problem-solving thinking.
• Ensure corrective and preventive actions address system-level causes and are tracked to effective closure.
• Promote organizational learning by sharing trends, lessons learned, and best practices across value streams.

Leading Indicators & SQDC Deployment

• Develop, deploy, and sustain leading safety indicators (e.g., observations, near misses, audits, training completion). This is owned by the Value Stream Manager.
• Support integration of safety metrics and actions into SQDC boards and daily management routines.
• Analyze safety and environmental data to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Partner with Quality and Continuous Improvement to align safety metrics with broader performance management systems.

Training & Engagement

• Coordinate and deliver safety training, including new-hire onboarding, job-specific training, regulatory-required training, and annual refreshers.
• Support safety committees, emergency response teams, and first responder programs.
• Encourage employee engagement through observation programs, near-miss reporting, and continuous improvement activities.

Environmental Compliance & Stewardship

• Monitor and support compliance with environmental regulations related to waste management, hazardous materials, air, water, and spill prevention.
• Maintain environmental permits, records, and regulatory reports as required.
• Partner with operations to reduce environmental risk, waste, and environmental impact while supporting efficient production.

LEADERSHIP & COLLABORATION

• Partner closely with the Director of Quality & Continuous Improvement to align EH&S efforts with continuous improvement strategy.
• Collaborate across value streams, engineering, maintenance, quality, and support functions.
• Communicate clearly and professionally with employees, leaders, contractors, vendors, and regulatory agencies.
• Serve as a visible, credible safety leader within shipyard and manufacturing environments.

DECISION MAKING & AUTHORITY

• Exercise sound judgment in identifying hazards, recommending controls, and prioritizing actions that impact employee safety and environmental compliance.
• This position has no direct reports but leads and facilitates cross-functional safety and improvement initiatives.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Safety, Environmental Science, Occupational Health, Engineering, or a related field; or an associate degree with relevant experience.

Experience

• 2–5 years of experience in an EH&S, safety, or related role within manufacturing, shipyard, marine, or heavy industrial environments.
• Strong working knowledge of OSHA compliance, hazard assessments, incident investigations, and safety training.
• Experience coaching leaders and influencing safety outcomes without direct authority.

Certifications (Preferred or Ability to Obtain)

• EH&S or safety certification (e.g., OSHA, ASP, CSP, CHST, or equivalent).
• CPR / First Aid / AED certification.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to routinely access production areas, yards, and vessels, including climbing stairs, ladders, and accessing confined or elevated spaces.
• Ability to wear required personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Occasional lifting of safety equipment or materials.

GENERAL STATEMENT:

This description is a general statement of required primary duties and responsibilities performed regularly and continuously. It does not exclude other duties as assigned.