Facility Environmental, Health, & Safety Specialist

Job Description

Candidate(s) selected for the Associate Public Health Sanitarian position through this posting will be hired on a provisional basis. To be considered for permanent employment in this role, provisional employees will need to take and pass the next civil service examination for Associate Public Health Sanitarian and obtain a list number issued by the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services. Employees who do not take and pass the exam may not be able to continue in the provisional position.

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) enriches the environment and protects public health for all New Yorkers by providing 1.1 billion gallons of high quality drinking water, managing wastewater and stormwater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. DEP is the largest combined municipal water and wastewater utility in the country, with nearly 6,000 employees. DEP’s water supply system is comprised of 19 reservoirs and 3 controlled lakes throughout the system’s 2,000 square mile watershed that extends 125 miles north and west of the City.

The Bureau of Wastewater Treatment (BWT) is responsible for the operation and maintenance of all facilities related to the treatment of sewage within the five boroughs of the City. This includes 14 wastewater treatment plants, sludge dewatering facilities, collections facilities (pumping stations, combined sewer overflow retention facilities, regulators, tide gates, etc.), wastewater laboratories and harbor vessels.

The Bureau of Wastewater Treatment’s Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) directorate ensures that employees are knowledgeable of EHS regulations that affect them so that they can work in a safe and environmentally compliant operation.

• Ensuring assigned facility maintains environmental, health and safety (EHS) compliance in accordance with Agency policies, guidelines, bureau and division procedures and all applicable Federal, State and local regulations, laws and codes.
• Performing required environmental, health and safety inspections.
• Performing frequent general inspections of the facility to identify EHS non‑compliant issues.
• Documenting and reporting deficiencies to the EHS Section Chief, Facility Manager, Plant Chief (or designee) multiple times per week, or as directed.
• Immediately notifying the EHS Section Chief, Facility Manager, Plant Chief or their designee of any issue that poses an immediate danger to worker health and safety or the environment; attempting to resolve if capable and safe.
• Assisting auditors during programmatic audits.
• Assisting Bureau EHS and others in cyclical document review (monthly, quarterly, annual).
• Ensuring required EHS tasks performed by others are completed and documentation is prepared, maintained and reviewed on a regular basis.
• Maintaining current, all EHS related documentation (manuals, permits, registrations, bureau transmittals, etc.).
• Providing toolbox talks and training to facility workers.
• Assisting Facility Manager, Plant Chief or their designee with EHS issues regarding construction activities, as directed.
• Identifying hazards that may require assessments and reporting them to the EHS Section Chief, Facility Manager and Plant Chief and staff; assisting with assessment as directed.
• Maintaining confidentiality as it relates to employee records.
• Preparing and submitting complete, accurate, and legible work product.
• Performing incident/accident investigations and entering facts in the computer database.
• Communicating clearly with other.
• Performing any additional or special assignment assigned by the EHS Director or EHS Section Chief.

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college, including or supplemented by 30 semester credits in the physical and or biological sciences (e.g., biology, botany, chemistry, geology, physics, physiology, zoology); not more than 12 credit hours may be in the applied sciences; and at least two years of satisfactory full‑time experience performing inspections to assure compliance with laws, rules and regulations governing food, drugs and general environmental conditions.
• An associate degree from an accredited…