EH&S Director - Chemical, Environmental & Lab Safety; CELS

The EH&S Director of Chemical, Environmental Management & Lab Safety (CELS) is responsible for leading all aspects of UMass Chan Medical School's Chemical & Lab Safety, and Environmental Management Programs, including development, management, and implementation of programs, regulatory compliance, and providing hands-on support as well as strong leadership and mentoring in the EH&S CELS Team.

The primary purpose of this position is to oversee and direct the CELS Team in providing services directly to research and clinical laboratories through field consultations, technical guidance, inspections, training, data collection and analysis. This includes administering continual design, development, management, and improvement of chemical & lab safety programs, and environmental management programs for all research and clinical laboratories at UMass Chan, managing complex assessments of risks pertaining to people, property, and the environment to protect from potentially detrimental exposures and releases to a broad range of hazardous chemicals, hazardous materials, and hazardous wastes, and actively promoting a culture of safety to minimize risk while enhancing compliance.

The EH&S Director of Chemical, Environmental Management & Lab Safety provides technical, regulatory, and administrative support to UMass Chan Medical School's research and clinical laboratory community and Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC). The incumbent ensures ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements and sets the CELS Team's strategic direction to meet emerging chemical, environmental management & lab safety needs while maintaining close and productive relationships with principal investigators (PIs), researchers and regulators.

The incumbent is part of a multidisciplinary EH&S Management Team acting as the leading subject matter expert within Chemical, Environmental Management and Lab Safety, by coordinating closely with staff to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, enhance the culture of safety, and reduce risk in research settings.

• Define the overall activities of the EH&S Chemical, Environmental Management & Laboratory Safety Team to achieve objectives including development and direction of related policies, guidelines, processes, and procedures
• Design, develop, oversee, and direct programs and services that relate to the implementation of handling, storage and disposal of complex chemical, hazardous materials and laboratory safety programs, laboratory safety, hazardous materials, chemical waste, chemical safety, chemical management and inventories, environmental compliance, wastewater management, storm water management, environmental contingency planning, spill prevention
• Serve as the primary CELS liaison for plans review, construction and commissioning of laboratory research facilities
• Serve as the primary liaison for compliance with operation and development of facilities and waste storage rooms
• Develop, manage and maintain Laboratory & Facility Safety training programs to ensure compliance for staff education and new hire orientation regarding hazardous materials and waste handling, storage and disposal, lab safety, hazardous communication, Right to Know and Controlled Substances information and communications so that training program requirements are met
• Develop, direct and manage the dissemination of program content and strategies to stakeholders and researchers to ensure plans (e.g., Chemical Hygiene Plan, Integrated Contingency Plan) are current, comprehensive, and accessible
• Manage and direct emergency response support and investigation of research-related incidents, exposures and spills
• Conduct comprehensive reviews of chemical, environmental and laboratory programs to implement continuous improvements in processes, design, procedures, and operating equipment to minimize exposure to chemicals
• Review Principal Investigator grant/funding applications for compliance with regulatory agencies requirements for hazardous material use or certifications of environmental compliance including IACUC protocols and USAMRDC Environmental Compliance Assurance
• Direct and manage the review and approval of purchasing requisitions for chemical containers in laboratories through UMass Chan's purchasing system to maintain building code compliance with storage of hazardous materials
• Use data and formulate metrics to recommend corrective and preventative practices and procedures related to chemical and laboratory safety, measure program value and performance, and develop and implement plans to drive program improvement
• Responds to urgent and emergent calls, including as a member of the EH&S off hour, night, weekend and holiday on-call system

• Represent UMass Chan as the Responsible Official and primary liaison with regulatory agencies having jurisdiction as related to environmental management and health & safety requirements, including DEP, EPA, DHS, MDLS, and others for all areas of chemical,…