Contractor Safety & Health Mgr

The Contractor Safety Program Manager leads the AEP Texas contractor safety management program and provides end-to-end oversight of contractor qualification, approval, assurance, performance, and continuous improvement. The position partners with Operations, Safety and Health, Procurement, Legal, Emergency Management, and contractor leadership to verify contractors are qualified for the work assigned and that documented safety programs are consistently executed in the field.

The role manages the relationship with VERO, supports contractor risk classification and approval decisions, conducts contractor safety audits and field effectiveness reviews, oversees contractor incident investigations and corrective action closure, facilitates contractor safety governance, and uses performance data to strengthen contractor selection and strategic alignment.

Serve as the AEP Texas program owner and primary relationship manager for VERO, including contractor enrollment, qualification status, renewals, documentation quality, system issues, and performance reporting.

Partner with Operations and Procurement to assign contractor risk tiers based on the scope and hazards of the work before contractor enrollment or contract execution.

Verify medium-risk and high-risk prime contractors and subcontractors meet applicable qualification, insurance, safety program, and approval requirements before they perform work.

Maintain accurate contractor records, approval status, approved work types, deficiencies, conditional approvals, renewal dates, and supporting documentation.

Monitor pending submissions, pending reviews, expired information, renewals, conditional approvals, and other contractor status exceptions and drive timely resolution.

Conduct risk-based desktop reviews of contractor submissions, including safety programs, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) records, Experience Modification Rate (EMR) information, citations, training systems, incident investigation processes, emergency procedures, and supporting evidence.

Lead structured contractor office audits to evaluate leadership commitment, safety governance, staffing, competency management, training, subcontractor controls, incident learning, and the contractor’s ability to support the proposed scope of work.

Conduct field effectiveness reviews to verify written programs, procedures, training, and risk controls are understood and consistently applied by contractor supervisors and workers.

Interview contractor employees in the field to test hazard recognition, pre-job planning, stop-work authority, critical control understanding, emergency expectations, and supervisor follow-through.

Document audit findings, classify deficiencies by risk, establish required corrective actions, assign owners and due dates, and verify effective closure rather than accepting documentary closure alone.

Develop and maintain a risk-based contractor audit schedule based on work risk, contractor performance, incident history, workforce exposure, work volume, prior findings, and changes in scope.

Develop and maintain contractor scorecards that combine exposure-normalized lagging indicators with leading indicators, including Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) exposures, preventable vehicle accidents, high-energy events, good catches, field verification results, repeat findings, action closure, supervisor engagement, training and qualification gaps, and reporting timeliness.

Review contractor performance trends by contractor, work function, district, geography, project, crew type, and risk exposure to identify emerging risks and systemic weaknesses.

Establish routine performance reviews with contractor leadership and AEP Texas operational sponsors based on contractor risk and performance.

Identify repeat deficiencies and determine when enhanced oversight, performance improvement, suspension, restricted work scope, or disqualification should be considered.

Evaluate contractor concentration, duplication, and fragmentation and recommend opportunities to reduce administrative burden and improve safety and operational consistency through strategic alignment.

Review contractors within defined work functions and recommend a preferred group of top-performing contractors based on safety capability, field execution, capacity, operational performance, geographic coverage, storm…