Skilled Labour | Coordinator, Occupational Safety & Health - FT

GENERAL STATEMENT

Under limited supervision of the Emergency Manager, the Coordinator, Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) is responsible for planning, developing, and coordinating related activities under the College’s Occupational Safety & Health mandate in compliance with existing federal, provincial, municipal legislation, regulations, standards, and college policies. The activities completed by the coordinator are in order to promote the safety of employees at work, minimize exposure to risk, and reduce costs associated with occupational accidents or illness. The primary guiding legislation is the Workers Compensation (WC) Act, and associated regulations.

This includes; researching, developing and updating occupational health and safety standards and procedures; assisting in the development and implementation of a variety of safety training program(s) to meet identified needs; and completing regular audits to ensure continual improvement.

TYPICAL DUTIES

• Acts as the occupational safety & health subject matter expert for the College and its schools, divisions and departments, as appropriate, in planning, developing, coordinating and implementing current, comprehensive occupational safety and health standards and practices that meets statutory and regulatory requirements, in particular part 3 of the WC Act;
• Establishes, implements and maintains a properly document Occupational Health and Safety management system in accordance with CSA-Z1000-06 Standard;
• Researches, drafts and recommends procedures, standards, guidelines, safe work practices, and other enabling documents for the College;
• Provides technical support and subject matter expertise to the College’s Joint Occupational Safety and Health (JOSH) committee, including reviewing and providing recommendations to the College in response to WC Act’s. 133 ’21 day’ letters;
• Monitors the system for conducting workplace inspections, acts as a lead inspector for inspections, carried out by members of the JOSH committee, acts as technical advisor for department supervisors and workers conducting workplace inspections to meet OSH regulation;
• Liaises with federal, provincial and local regulatory agencies, including WorksafeBC, to ensure compliance with requirements;
• Monitors and advises on WHMIS (that all hazardous products are properly labelled, that SDSs are readily available to workers, that workplace labelling as necessary is done);
• Conducts audits on a regular basis to ensure applicable standards and practices are complete, up-to-date, and is being adhered to, including all necessary documentation;
• Is the lead investigator for investigations relating to occupational safety and health accidents and incidents as the ‘employer’s representative’ under Division 10 of the WC Act; including preliminary and full investigations; determining causative unsafe conditions, acts or procedures; identifying corrective actions which must be implement by the College;
• Provides notifications to WorksafeBC under s. 172 and ensures scene preservation for all reportable events with the scope of the WC Act;
• Administers the College’s and Student Accident Insurance program claims, maintaining confidentiality of parties involved;
• Develops a framework of methods to identify hazards, eliminate hazards, and analyse the risk associated with hazards that cannot be eliminated;
• Ensures adequate first aid coverage on all campuses; Provides functional supervision of and advises designated college Occupational First Aid (OFA) responders in the course of their duties; maintains records of the OFA responders, including certification/renewals, and arranges for training and upgrading as required
• Conducts ergonomic evaluations of office workstations, presenting options for reconfiguring and providing recommendations for improvement to employees. Identifies and prioritizes college-wide ergonomic needs for capital budget submission;
• Ensures the coordination and inventory control for the safe storage and eventual disposal of hazardous waste materials in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Plans, develops, coordinates and ensures implementation of diverse occupational safety and health education and training programs for employees (on topics such as proper operation of PPE, WHMIS-spill response training, hazardous waste storage and disposal, Emergency Response Training, ergonomics);
• Represents and outlines the function of OS&H at the new employee welcome sessions;
• Ensures measurement and monitoring of workplace environmental issues (including air quality and similar issues) is performed as required to meet legislated and regulated standards;
• Generates annual statistical report of accidents/incidents, with analysis for preventative measures recommendations;
• Acts as a resource person for gathering and disseminating information to employees on occupational health and/or seriously contagious diseases;
• Ensures hearing conservation tests required by regulations are carried out as necessary
• Under Management of Change protocols, reviews and approves purchases of new equipment or materials for occupational safety and health implications; in addition, works with workplace leaders following staff changes to ensure necessary training has been completed;
• Liaises with departments on occupational safety and health matters, including attending meetings of various committees and departments as practicable;
• Designs and develops, or seeks out, occupational health information booklets, pamphlets, online resources and/or notices as needed for appropriate distribution;
• General office duties including composes and replies to correspondence and questions; creates and maintains relevant files; and monitors the occupational safety & health budget;
• Performs other related duties similar in scope and complexity.

QUALIFICATIONS

A diploma in Occupational Health and Safety or a related field and 8 years related experience in developing and coordinating health and safety programs, conducting accident investigations and ergonomic assessments, and developing and delivering formal health and safety training; and of which 3 years at a supervisory level, a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) certificate or eligibility to obtain the designation or must be willing to obtain the designation or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Must possess comprehensive knowledge of, and experience in, interpreting and working with the BC Occupational Health & Safety Regulation and BC Workers Compensation Act and other related legislation;
• Excellent analytical, investigative, and problem-solving skills, including knowledge of effective workplace safety audit techniques;
• Advanced communication and interpersonal skills;
• Ability to work with minimal direction, self-manage competing priorities and workloads and function effectively as a member of a team;
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.