Director of Safety & Loss Prevention

Job Description

The Director of Safety and Loss Prevention is the City’s chief safety official and is responsible for crafting and implementing a city-wide program of occupational and environmental health and safety.

Leading a team of nine full time safety and health safety and health professionals in Risk Management, this position creates, develops and / or articulates the City's central safety and health program and designs efforts to control risks of City operations to City workers and the public, thereby minimizing the potential for claims and lawsuits.

This position works primarily on-site and supervises two subordinate managers who supervise 3- 4 employees each. The position also provides technical guidance and support for safety and health programs across the City’s 43 departments.

This position reports directly to the City’s Risk Manager.

Essential Functions

Manages the City's worker health and safety program;

Develops and implements programs to measure and improve worker safety and health.

• Establishes, implements and maintains policies, practices, rules and programs dealing with all phases of occupational safety, health, accident prevention, and industrial hygiene covering all City workers and departments;
• Evaluates and assesses City operations for risks to the public and designs safety interventions to mitigate hazards;
• Ensures compliance with applicable laws and regulations dealing with occupational safety, health and industrial hygiene matters;
• Supports the City’s team in working with union representatives on health and safety issues;
• Designs, publishes, distributes and implements programs, policies and standards to assess and mitigate the City's potential liability related to City operations;
• Coordinates safety and health activities with department commissioners, senior leadership to assure coordinated City responses to public safety issues requiring responses from multiple city departments;

Acts in a consulting capacity on safety, health, industrial hygiene and environmental issues facing the City and the City's operations.

• Supervises the performance of on-site inspections to audit physical conditions and safe work practices for compliance with standards and regulations, and recommend controls and corrections;
• Analyzes worker’s compensation measurements to develop, implement, manage, and evaluate safety objectives;
• Directs investigation and analysis of accidents to determine causes and methods for prevention and personally investigates major accidents;
• Directs investigation of allegedly unsafe or unhealthy working conditions to identify possible hazards, and recommends controls for unsafe working conditions, including engineering controls, training and protective equipment;
• Coordinates the requirements for occupational medical programs for prevention, monitoring and surveillance of possible work-related medical conditions with physicians, nurses and other medical personnel;
• Manages the compilation of accident statistics and maintains accident records for internal and external use;
• Provides guidance on pre-employment physical qualification requirements and examinations;
• Provides training for departmental safety personnel and employees on occupational health and safety issues;
• Acts as primary liaison between the City and outside entities, including governmental regulatory agencies, on environmental and worker health and safety issues;

Works with the Department of Public Health, Public Property, OTIS and the Managing Director's Office to address environmental issues facing the City's neighborhoods.

Interviews, selects and directs contractors and consultants who perform safety, industrial hygiene, occupational health, and occupational medical services for the City

Other job duties as required.

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Occupational safety and health, public health and safety, industrial hygiene.

Health and safety hazard anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control

Safety inspection and accident investigation

Federal, state and local safety, health and environmental standards and industry guides

Occupational safety and risk reduction in a large, diverse, unionized organization.

The worker's compensation laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Program planning, analysis and evaluation.

Contract management.

Skill in interpersonal, verbal, and written communication.

Plan, organize, and direct, through subordinate supervisors, a comprehensive occupational safety and loss control program for a large, occupationally diverse City government.

Evaluate and analyze risk and develop strategies designed to reduce risk exposure. Plan, direct, and implement policies and procedures designed to reduce risk exposure.

Learn the operations, occupations and safety requirements of various City departments.

Learn, understand and interpret City regulation, codes and labor agreements that affect occupational safety and loss control.

Work effectively in a diverse work group.

Direct and evaluate the activities of a staff of analysts, industrial hygienists and administrative and clerical employees.

Prepare and effectively present comprehensive oral and written reports.

Enlist the cooperation of departmental officials to effect sound occupational safety practices and organizational quality movement.

Establish and maintain effective working relationships with administrative and operational officials, City employees, and others.