Safety Specialist

Department
:
Environment Health & Safety Salary
: $56,800-$64,600

Description
:

Conducts safety audits of laboratories and trade shops, providessafety training and maintains regulatory records. May also implement hazardous waste management program and developdepartmental policies and procedures. Pursuant to the State of Texas Executive Order No. GA-48, this position researches, workson, or has access to critical infrastructure and requires the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the University infrastructure. This position requires personnel be routinely reviewed to determine whether or not criminal history or continuous connections for the government or political apparatus of a foreign adversary might prevent the employee from being able to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure.

1. Audits campus for assigned safety areas, including biologicalsafety, chemical safety, general laboratory safety, hazardous wastematerial safety, laser safety, regulatory compliance activities,occupational safety, radiation safety, shop safety and X-raymachine safety.

2. Maintains records of safety programs, in compliance withstate and federal regulations; documents findings on EHS audit reports, and maintains applicable computer databases.

3. Evaluates work area and practices for proper safety control sand make requirement(s) to develop work practices that reduce the potential for accidents.

4. Implements safety programs in assigned area of specialization such as blood borne pathogen, radiation dosimetry, hazardous wasteor job safety analysis

5. Develops and trains faculty, staff and students in various safety programs, including biological safety, chemical safety,general laboratory safety, hazardous waste material safety, lasersafety, regulatory compliance activities, occupational safety,radiation safety, shop safety, x-ray machine safety and/orcustomized training for unique hazardous operations.

6. Collects, maintains and/or evaluates chemical inventoryrecords for each laboratory or shop location.

7. Provides assistance in managing campus waste streams. Thismay include collection and transportation of hazardous waste,creation or validation of associated profiles, along with documentsfor vendor and regulatory agencies. Other duties may also includebulking hazardous waste activities and review/revision of bulkingprocedures.

8. Maintains working knowledge of federal, state and local regulations requirement and ensures proper implementation.

9. Responds to, investigates and documents accidents, incidents and/or emergencies, including spills and potential overexposure to hazardous material as part of the emergency response team.

10. Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

MQ:
Requires a thorough understanding of both theoretical and practical aspects of an analytical, technical or professional discipline; or the basic knowledge of more than one professional discipline. Knowledge of the discipline is normally obtained through a formal, directly job-related 4 year degree from a collegeor university or an equivalent in-depth specialized training program that is directly related to the type of work being performed.

Requires a minimum of one (1) year of directly job-related experience. None. Preferred:
Technical certification or licensingdirectly related to the job.

• Must have a basic knowledge of biological hazards in the laboratory environment.
• Must be familiar with applicable biological safety regulations and guideline, including blood borne pathogens.
• Must communicate and work cooperatively with personnel in diversepositions, including professors, researchers, lab technicians,engineering and operations/facilities maintenance personnel, and administrators to apply regulatory requirements or guidelines tothe unique environment of the research or clinicallaboratory.
• Must be detail oriented.
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and be able to learnand use EHS databases.
• Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills.

All positions at the University of Houston-System are security sensitive and will require a criminal history check.

The University of Houston System and its universities are Equal Opportunity Institutions. Everyone is encouraged to apply.