Senior Health & Safety Specialist

Senior Health

Safety Specialist

Location:

Graniteville, SC Position Type:

Full-Time, Permanent

Work Arrangement:

Onsite

Salary:

$90,000 – $120,000 per year Relocation:

Eligible Sponsorship:

Not Available Industry:

Manufacturing / Mechanical

About the Organization

The organization is a large-scale manufacturing company with a strong focus on operational excellence, workplace safety, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement. The facility supports a workforce of 500+ employees and operates in a highly regulated production environment where employee safety, risk reduction, and operational efficiency are critical priorities.

The organization is committed to maintaining a strong safety culture through proactive hazard identification, employee engagement, compliance programs, continuous training, and data-driven safety initiatives.

Position Overview

The organization is seeking an experienced Senior Health Safety Specialist to lead and continuously improve health and safety programs at a large manufacturing facility in Graniteville, South Carolina.

This position will partner closely with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Human Resources, Plant Leadership, contractors, and other stakeholders to identify workplace hazards, reduce risk, ensure regulatory compliance, and strengthen the overall safety culture.

The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience in a manufacturing, industrial, automotive, chemical, tire, paper, or heavy-production environment and a demonstrated ability to influence teams and drive measurable safety improvements.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and continuously improve health and safety programs, policies, procedures, and standards.
• Partner with manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, and leadership teams to identify, assess, and mitigate workplace hazards and occupational health risks.
• Conduct safety audits, risk assessments, job hazard analyses, and workplace inspections.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA and other applicable regulatory requirements.
• Lead incident investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective action planning.
• Monitor injury trends, near misses, workers compensation data, and other safety metrics to identify improvement opportunities.
• Manage OSHA recordkeeping, injury and illness reporting, and regulatory documentation.
• Coordinate regulatory inspections and serve as a liaison with regulatory agencies and external stakeholders.
• Develop and deliver safety training for employees, contractors, supervisors, and leadership.
• Support emergency preparedness, emergency response planning, and crisis management activities.
• Facilitate safety committees and employee engagement initiatives.
• Lead programs involving LOTO, machine guarding, confined space, hot work, fall protection, contractor safety, and other critical safety areas.
• Support industrial ergonomics and workplace hazard reduction initiatives.
• Lead safety improvement projects and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Develop and maintain safety dashboards and reports using key performance indicators.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders through effective communication, collaboration, and influence.
• Respond to off-shift safety incidents, emergencies, audits, and other critical safety matters as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Occupational Safety, Environmental Health
• Safety, Industrial Hygiene, Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum of
• 5 years of progressive health and safety experience .
• Experience in a
• manufacturing, industrial, or heavy-production environment .
• Strong knowledge of OSHA regulations and workplace safety compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated experience conducting incident investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.
• Experience leading safety audits, risk assessments, inspections, and hazard identification programs.
• Strong knowledge of:
• Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)
• Machine guarding
• Confined space
• Hot work
• Fall protection
• Contractor safety
• Emergency response
• Industrial ergonomics
• Experience developing and delivering safety training to employees at all organizational levels.
• Experience managing OSHA recordkeeping, injury and illness reporting, and regulatory documentation.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Strong analytical, communication, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to influence and collaborate effectively with employees, leaders, contractors, and regulatory agencies.
• Ability to work effectively in a manufacturing environment and respond to safety incidents or emergencies outside standard working hours when required.

Preferred Certifications

• Certified Safety Professional (CSP)
• Associate Safety Professional (ASP)
• Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH)
• Occupational Health and Safety Technologist (OHST)
• First Aid/CPR/AED Instructor Certification

First 90–120 Day Goals

Safety Leadership

Site Assessment

• Complete a comprehensive review of health and safety programs, procedures, and regulatory compliance requirements within the first 60 days.
• Conduct safety assessments and walkthroughs across all production, maintenance, warehouse, and support areas within the first 90 days.
• Present a prioritized safety improvement plan to plant leadership by Day 120.

Compliance

Risk Reduction

• Review OSHA-required programs and identify compliance gaps within the first 60 days.
• Complete audits of major safety programs, including LOTO, machine guarding, confined space, fall protection, contractor safety, and emergency response.
• Establish corrective action tracking and drive closure of at least 80% of identified high-risk items by Day 120.

Incident Management

• Review the previous 24 months of injury, illness, near-miss, and workers compensation data.
• Ensure timely and complete documentation of recordable injuries and high-potential near misses.
• Develop recommendations addressing the facilitys top injury trends.

Safety Culture

Engagement

• Establish strong working relationships with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, HR, and Plant Leadership.
• Participate in safety meetings across departments and shifts.
• Launch at least one safety engagement initiative focused on increasing employee participation in hazard identification and reporting.

Training

Awareness

• Evaluate current safety training programs.
• Identify training gaps and develop an action plan to address them.
• Deliver or coordinate targeted training on high-risk safety areas.

Metrics

Reporting

Establish a standardized safety dashboard tracking metrics such as:

• Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR)
• Near-Miss Reporting
• Safety Observations
• Corrective Action Completion
• Training Compliance
• Workers Compensation Trends
• Provide regular safety performance updates and recommendations to plant leadership.