Lead Health & Safety Specialist
American Water

Requisition ID: 107306

Share Our Purpose. Be Yourself. Feel Valued.

People are the heart of our business. As an American Water employee, you will be offered a competitive salary and health benefits package, along with opportunities to develop, grow, and evolve your career. Our benefits packages focus on key areas such as health & wellness, emotional & well-being, and savings for current & future goals.

We are Beautifully Different. We strongly believe having diversity across our company makes us more successful and helps us provide essential services to our customers. We are stronger because we embrace different ideas, viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. American Water is the best choice for your next role! Click here for more information on our inclusion, diversity, and equity journey.

About American Water
American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across 14 regulated jurisdictions and 18 military installations. American Water's 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company's national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

As one of the fastest growing utilities in the U.S., American Water expects to invest $30 to $34 billion in infrastructure repairs and replacement, system resiliency and regulated acquisitions over the next 10 years. The company has a long-standing history of executing its core operations, aligned with sustainable best practices, through its commitments to safety, affordability, customer service, protecting the environment, an inclusive workforce and strengthening communities.

American Water has been recognized on the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the fifth consecutive year, ranked 18th on Barron's 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies 2023 List, earned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense® Excellence Award, among additional state, local and national recognitions.

For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Primary Role

Develops and implements delivery and verification of enterprise health and safety programs aligned with Company policy, practices and procedures. This position will work closely with all management levels to assure policies and programs are effectively developed, implemented, communicated and supported throughout the enterprise.

Key Accountabilities

Program Execution (50%)

• Conduct internal safety program evaluations,physical safety inspections, industrial hygiene monitoring for chemical and physical hazards and ergonomic evalutions in office and field environments, develop recommendations and track corrective actions.

• Deliver safety training programs educating employees on safe working practices, appropriate equipment operation, and emergency procedures.

• Evaluate the impact of regulatory changes against existing practices and assists in the implementation of new regulations.

• Develop or update health and safety practices and procedures as needed.

Technical Support (30%)

• Provides health and safety technical support to field safety staff.

• Conducts and/ or reviews incident investigations and develops corrective action recommendations.

• Gathers, validates and analyzes safety performance statistics (leading and lagging) and makes recommendations for improvements.

• Review results of enterprise safety inspections and, based on data, identify areas for improvement and develop corrective actions.

• Stay abreast of regulatory changes, evaluate impact to the business and develop action plans to address in a timely manner

• Develop inspections checklists and utilize apps and centralized platforms for tracking inspection results, safety performance data and corrective actions enterprise wide.

Management/ Administration (20%)

• Actively engage mid level management, supervision and hourly employees in the development, implementation, delivery and verification of enterprise health and safety programs

• Actively participate in outside industry organizations that are involved in or promote health and safety for the water sector.

• Support the workers' compensation management process to assure thorough and efficient claims management and investigation.

• Maintain health and safety training plans, training records and monitor progress towards annual training goals.

• Coordinate and verify enterprise safety recordkeeping and reporting of occupational injuries and illnesses.

Knowledge/Skills

Required Skills:

• Ability to influence and work with non-direct reports, peers and management to gain alignment and achieve goals in a complex matrix environment.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules and regulations, operating and maintenance instructions and procedure manuals and assess impact to the business.
• Ability to write technical reports, prepare presentations and correspondence and to communicate relevant information verbally to all levels of the organization.
• Ability to solve practical problems and respond to employee and public complaints effectively.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form. Must be able to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to create and execute SMART goals and meet deadlines
• Ability to technically manage staff of professionals
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision
• Ability to work well in a cooperative team environment, participate routinely in multi-disciplinary projects and activities
• Ability to recognize and deal appropriately with confidential and sensitive information.
• Knowledge of OSHA, Federal, State and Local regulations as applicable utilities, construction and related industries.
• Ability to generate trust and recognition as a coach and people leader.

Required Knowledge:

• Knowledge of and familiarity with health and safety program management and OSHA regulatory requirements for construction and general industry with increased opportunities to apply expertise across disciplines or organizational areas.

• Familiarity with safety systems development and implementation

Desirable Knowledge:

• Utility industry knowledge

• Water industry knowledge a plus

• Forward looking health and safety trends

Experience/Education

• Minimum bachelor's level degree from an accredited college or university in a safety health related field of study or an equivalent combination of undergraduate education.
• Highly desirable: At least one relevant/related nationally recognized professional H&S certification
• Seven (7) applicable safety experience in a utility, construction or industrial setting.

Travel Requirements

• IN State Driver's License and the ability to pass a motor vehicle report
• Approximately 10% overnight travel is anticipated in this position, most travel (up to 40%) is out in the field within the region and within a 2 hour drive.

Work Schedule

• Monday through Friday, 8am - 4:30pm

Work Environment

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee occasionally works in construction environments, near moving mechanical parts and in outside weather conditions and could include a work environment where possible exposure to physical hazards, weather extremes, wet and/or humid conditions and chemicals exists.
• The ability to wear appropriate personal protective equipment is required.
• The employee occasionally works at elevation, in confined spaces and in a construction environment.
• Use of respiratory protection may be required in certain instances.
• There may also be instances of potential noise exposure.

Competencies

Champions safety

Collaborates

Cultivates innovation

Customer obsessed

Drives Results

Nimble learning

Join American Water...We Keep Life Flowing™

American Water is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and prohibits employment discrimination for employees and applicants based on his or her age, race, color, pregnancy, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, citizenship, or because they are an individual with a disability, protected veteran or other status protected by federal, state, and local laws.

Nearest Major Market: Gary
Nearest Secondary Market: Chicago

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