Safety and Health Specialist - Community Hospital and Clinic Safety Division

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit: The Occupational and Environmental Safety Office (OESO) provides the focus for the administration of all safety and environmental programs to Duke University, Duke University Medical Center, and Duke University Health System.  OESO has the responsibility for developing institutional safety and environmental plans and policies; providing information and training to meet all regulatory requirements; providing technical consultation and guidance; conducting exposure and risk assessments; conducting safety and environmental audits; monitoring compliance with all safety and environmental policies; and investigating accidents, injuries, spills, environmental releases, and reported unsafe conditions.

Specific to theCommunity Hospital and Clinic Safety Division: The Community Hospital and Clinic Safety Division is responsible for developing, organizing, directing, and monitoring activities that minimize occupational health and safety risks and assure compliance with applicable regulations and accreditation bodies for Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, and associated clinics.  The Division accomplishes these objectives through the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of safety and health hazards and through coordination with the other specialized Divisions within OESO.

Primary Purpose of Position:  This position is responsible for the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of safety and health hazards for OESO’s, Community Hospital and Clinic Safety Division, to ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.  Responsibilities include developing, organizing, directing, supporting, and monitoring activities that minimize occupational health and safety risks and maintain compliance with applicable regulations.  This includes surveillance, reports of the results of the surveys, data collection, assurance of compliance, training as needed, development of site-specific safety plans, and review of employee exposures, injuries, and accidents. This position reports directly to the Director of the Community Hospital and Clinic Safety Division of the OESO.

General Duties and Responsibilities

In addition to the primary duties, the Safety and Health Specialist will:

• Assist in the occupational safety and health functions and relevant accreditation functions for the Community Hospital and Clinic Safety Division.  Be accountable for developing and implementing policies, procedures, and systems related to the occupational safety and health programs within the Division.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge and understanding of new or anticipated regulations or compliance interpretations that may affect or impact the Division.  Prepare analyses and strategies for review by OESO Management.
• Assist the oversight entities to assure compliance with all appropriate Federal, State, and local regulations and standards such as OSHA, EPA, DOE, DOT, NRC, RCRA, FIFRA, TOSCA, CERCLA, TJC, and CMS. 
• Provide leadership and direction to technical personnel of the Community Hospital and Clinic Safety Division
• Identify personnel, institutional and material resources needed to accomplish objectives. 
• Establish, maintain cooperative relations, work effectively as a member of a team, and communicate effectively with other Duke organizational units.
• Review planned expansion, modifications, or closures of facilities that impact areas of the Division’s oversight.
• Serve as a representative on the respective safety committees for Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, and other affiliated community sites, as needed.
• Assist with comprehensive safety and hygiene audits of Duke Departments. Will be able to recognize some deficiencies and hazards independently and will be able to research findings to determine extent of possible hazards.
• Perform tasks related to various environmental management functions, such as on-site management of hazardous wastes, spill response, hazardous materials treatment or recycling, and environmental compliance program support.
• Perform sampling to evaluate personnel exposures and engineering controls.
• Perform accident investigations and work with departments to correct safety hazards and develop preventative procedures.
• Perform Job Hazard Assessment and, after consultation with more experienced employee, recommend measures to control exposures, including substitution of less hazardous materials, personal protective equipment (PPE), work practice changes, and some engineering controls.
• Assist with preparing training classes and materials and deliver training courses that have already been developed.
• Write reports documenting observations, sampling results, and recommendations for supervisor's review. Assist with writing reports to external departments.
• Document all work in OESO computer files and databases.
• Able to lift and carry heavy materials and equipment. Serve as a member of the OESO hazardous materials spill response team.

Duties and Responsibilities of Level 2:

In addition to the duties and responsibilities for the Level 1 Specialist, Level 2 will:

• Perform comprehensive safety audits of Duke Departments. Will be able to recognize most deficiencies and hazards independently and research unfamiliar situations.
• Perform environmental risk assessments of various property transfers. Manage environmental remedial projects.
• Develop comprehensive sampling strategies for a specific project. May supervise Safety Technicians who perform monitoring.
• Provide solutions to a variety of problems where analysis of data requires evaluation of identifiable factors. Exercise judgment within defined policies in selecting methods and techniques for obtaining solutions.
• Recognize injury and illness trends within the organization and work with Specialist III or Safety Supervisor to develop University-wide policies and training strategies.
• Demonstrate knowledgeable about control measures, especially engineering controls. Develop new training course material independently.
• Proactive on the Safety Committee in advocating improvements to department safety policies and work with OESO's Training Coordinator and other OESO divisions to organize safety events within the department.
• Act as liaison with various officials internal and external to Duke.
• Maintain documentation and inventory or hazardous materials and equipment and prepare paperwork for license amendments where necessary.
• Compile and present reports to upper OESO management related to safety and health activities. Enforce regulations governing occupational safety and health.
• Provide technical leadership to university departments and personnel.

Duties and Responsibilities of Level 3:

In addition to the duties and responsibilities for the Level 2 Specialist, Level 3 will:

• Manage compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
• Determine priorities for safety and health investigations in Duke's diverse work areas and make assignments accordingly. Determine sampling priorities for the institution and request the necessary budget resources to accomplish goals.
• Develop and recommend appropriate engineering or work process modifications to prevent worker illness or injury. Provide follow-up assessment of recommendations.
• Develop reports and recommendations independently. Assist lower level employees in developing reports and recommendations.
• Participate in interdisciplinary team to discuss multidisciplinary approaches to resolving safety & health issues. Make recommendation with respect to equipment purchase, engineering controls, workspace planning and work process planning.
• Determine training needs and develop new programs as necessary. Oversee training development and delivery by lower level employees.
• Review sampling strategies and results for Safety Technicians and level 1 & 2 Specialists. As needed, assist in development of strategies and interpretation of results. Serve as expert consultant for safety issues within the institution.
• Recognize injury and illness trends within the organization and work to address these. Work with EOHW, WC and other departments to reduce occupational injury and illness.
• Independently develop training materials on new subject matter as needed. Contribute to development of training materials by level 1 and 2 Specialists.
• Develop and implement University-wide policies with minimal input from Division Director. Provide input to engineers for development or improvement of engineering controls.
• Contribute to the design of new facilities where hazardous materials will be used or hazardous processes will be located.
• Work with Departments to develop new safety committees or take leadership role in enlarging the focus/scope of the safety committee's activities.
• Supervise Safety Technicians, Safety Associates, and Specialists level 1 and 2. This includes orienting employees to the Duke environment, training them on the typical hazards encountered by Duke Employees, and familiarizing them with OESO's record keeping and reporting practices.
• Coordinate contract agreements with outside agencies.
• Prepare reports to management on investigations and evaluations of safety management issues.
• Provide leadership and direction to professional and technical staff and participate in the professional development of staff. Identify personnel, institutional and material resources needed to accomplish objectives.

Minimum Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to Occupational Safety and Health and relevant accreditation requirements including The Joint Commission Environment of Care.
• Knowledge of organizational and personnel management skills.
• Creative problem solving to recognize and analyze needs and assist in the development of programs to address needs.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to use computer database and spreadsheet programs.
• Basic knowledge of occupational safety, industrial hygiene principles and/or ergonomics.
• Ability to locate and use appropriate technical resources in occupational safety and health.
• Ability to lift and carry heavy materials and equipment. Physically able to serve on a HAZMAT spill response team.
• Developed professional presentation skills.

Education:         

Bachelor of Science in Occupational Health and Safety, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Engineering, Fire Protection or related field.

Experience:

No experience for level 1; three years’ experience for level 2; five years’ experience for level 3.

Degrees, Licensure, and/or Certification:

• Must have a valid driver’s license.
• Must have completed or be able to complete First Responder-Operations Level Training (29 CFR 1910.120).
• Professional certification preferred for level 2 and 3.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.