Description
Career Opportunity
The Utilities Safety Officer designs, implements, manages, and continually evaluates the Utilities Department's health and safety programs, including utility-specific industrial safety, job-related training programs, and investigations within the Department. This position ensures compliance with applicable federal, state, and local workplace safety and environmental regulations, including timely completion of mandatory training requirements for the City's electric, fiber, water, gas, and wastewater utilities staff. This position works in the office and field and requires independent judgment and knowledge of principles and practices of health and safety program administration, conducting audits, inspections, investigations, and developing applicable training programs.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate will have a strong background in utility safety (electric, fiber, gas, water, and wastewater) and a thorough understanding of utility operations, workplace safety, and environmental regulations to ensure organizational compliance. The successful candidate will possess extensive experience interpreting and implementing OSHA requirements, developing and delivering safety training programs, and identifying training needs through worksite audits, hazard assessments, and evaluations of work practices. This individual will be an engaging and collaborative leader who fosters accountability, influences safe work behaviors, and promotes a proactive, organization-wide culture of health and safety.
Essential Duties
Essential and other important responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to the following:
Design, develop, and manage the Utilities Department's safety/health program; manage the development and implementation of goals, objectives, policies, and procedures for the safety program in collaboration with others; identify resource needs.
Lead Department managers and other staff in the development of a safety program.
Conduct investigations and review injury/accident reports and evidence to determine cause, effect, liability, and prevention methods; recommend and implement modifications to working procedures as needed to reduce and/oreliminate the frequency and severity of accidents and incidents.
Regularly track and report incident frequency and severity rates from personnel and vehicle accidents.
Coordinate with risk management staff as appropriate.
Participate in safety inspections and audits conducted by outside agencies; Conduct independent audits of Department facilities/work locations to ensure compliance yearly and as needed to identify potential safety hazardsand/or unsafe working conditions.
Assist the Department's first responders in emergency events when appropriate.
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Requirements
Minimum Qualifications
Any combination of experience and training that would provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the required knowledge and abilities would be:
A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in occupational health and safety, industrial hygiene, or a closely related field; and,
Four years of increasingly responsible experience in the development and administration of safety and training programs and experience in utilities operations; or,
An equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to perform the essential job functions and possession of the required knowledge and abilities.
