Health and Safety Specialist

Job Description

The Safety Specialist is responsible for implementing safety and health programs within the day-to-day station operations with a focus on employee engagement, culture, injury prevention and regulatory compliance.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities

• Partner with plant leadership and plant safety professionals to develop, implement, and maintain safety programs and promote a safety over production culture.
• Influence and motivate others to work in a safe manner and communicate safety requirements during shift briefings, Job Briefings and planned scheduling meetings.
• Identify, coordinate and maintain compliance with OSHA and company safety standards.
• Implement the Company's Safety and Health Management programs, and ensure compliance
• Designated Program Administrator for key Safety and Health programs.
• Coordinate with management of the facility and Corporate Safety on regulatory interpretation, timely internal and external reporting, and overall safety and health compliance.
• Conduct regular safety audits, inspections and risk assessments. Provide recommendations and strategic support.
• Participate in the incident investigation process including root cause analysis and identification/closure of corrective actions to prevent re-occurrence.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of safety programs, designs improvements, and works with management to implement identified improvements.
• Evaluate, develop, and/or deliver training to improve skills in the safety aspects of employees' jobs.
• Engage with and support plant safety committee and Fleet Safety Steering Committee.
• Lead and/or participate in internal special project teams with the purpose of continuous improvement.
• Engage, develop and maintain relationships with external contract partners and vendors.

Working Conditions

• Work overtime and non-standard hours, as directed
• Office environment and/or outdoors Power Plant work environment including working at heights, high/low ambient temperatures and high humidity areas.
• Willingness to work outside normal business hours as necessary, to support operations, maintenance and outage activities.
• Requires occasional travel to other plant locations for meetings and safety support.
• Requires wearing personal protective safety equipment (respirators, safety glasses, hard hat, appropriate footwear, ear plugs, etc.).
• May be required to work around rotating and energized electrical equipment, hazardous materials and chemicals and heat producing equipment/environments.
• Requires operation of a personal computer.

Minimum Requirements

• High school diploma or GED
• 3-5 years full time Safety experience in a comparable industrial environment or equivalent work experience with progressive safety exposure
• Certified Occupational Safety Specialist (COSS), Certified Occupational Safety Manager (COSM), Occupational Health & Safety Technologist (OHST) or equivalent
• Must have valid state driver's license

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Safety and Health or related discipline
• Associate Safety Professional (ASP), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH)
• Previous power plant experience
• SGE (Special Government Employee) and VPP experience

Additional Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to work with minimum direct supervision.
• Strong working knowledge of regulatory requirements.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to run a functional safety committee/sub-committee with agendas, meeting minutes, and a charter.
• Basic understanding of occupational health and industrial hygiene principles.
• Ability to interact effectively in a team environment and with individuals at all levels of the organization.
• Must possess functional computer skills specifically in Microsoft Office software.
• Skilled in analyzing and interpreting data to identify trends
• An understanding of the factors that influence human behavior.
• Ability to conduct incident analyses using various tools such as TapRoot, Cause Mapping, Fishbone, Five Whys, etc.
• Ability to prioritize tasks within a fast-paced dynamic environment.

Physical Requirements

• Stand, walk, climb ladders, bend, kneel, crawl, pull/push and lift up to 50 pounds.
• Perform work both indoors and outdoors, occasionally in adverse conditions.
• Wear job related personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Occasionally work at heights and enter enclosed vessels or confined spaces.

NRG Energy is committed to a drug and alcohol-free workplace. To the extent permitted by law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement, employees are subject to periodic random drug testing, and post-accident and reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing. EOE AA M/F/Protected Veteran Status/Disability. Level, Title and/or Salary may be adjusted based on the applicant's experience or skills.

EEO is the Law Poster (The poster can be found at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf)