Environmental , Health & Safety Specialist

CUISINE SOLUTIONS

Environmental, Health & Safety Specialist

Location:

Sterling, VA

Reports To:

VP, Environmental Health & Safety

Department:

Safety

Schedule:

Full-time; on-site, with flexibility to support multiple shifts and off-hours incident response

Position Summary

The Environmental, Health & Safety Specialist is responsible for implementing and maintaining programs that ensure a safe, healthy, and compliant production environment. This role develops and monitors EHS programs within a food manufacturing setting, conducts inspections and audits, delivers employee training, investigates incidents, and supports compliance with applicable OSHA, EPA, state, local, and company requirements.

The Specialist partners closely with production, sanitation, maintenance, quality assurance, human resources, and site leadership to promote a strong safety culture, reduce workplace risk, and maintain continuous improvement across the facility.

Key Responsibilities

EHS Program Management

• Develop, implement, and maintain EHS policies, procedures, programs, and training materials for a food production environment, including new hire orientation and annual refresher content.
• Stay current on regulatory changes, food manufacturing safety best practices, and emerging workplace hazards; communicate implications to site leadership.
• Track EHS performance metrics and KPIs; analyze trends and prepare reports for management review.

Inspections, Audits & Risk Management

• Conduct regular inspections, audits, and risk assessments in production rooms, sanitation areas, maintenance shops, warehouses, coolers, freezers, and chemical storage areas.
• Evaluate equipment, production processes, sanitation chemicals, thermal processing areas, refrigerated environments, and material handling practices to confirm appropriate safety controls are in place.
• Recommend and track corrective actions through to verified closure.

Incident Investigation & Prevention

• Lead or support incident investigations, near-miss reviews, root cause analysis, corrective action tracking, and prevention strategies.
• Maintain OSHA 300 logs and all required injury and illness recordkeeping.

Regulatory Compliance

• Monitor and support compliance with OSHA, EPA, fire code, workers' compensation, and applicable state, local, and company requirements.
• Maintain accurate records related to safety inspections, training, incidents, environmental reports, permits, chemical inventories, and regulatory documentation in audit-ready condition.

Training & Development

• Deliver safety training to employees, supervisors, and contractors, including: PPE, hazard communication, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, forklift and pedestrian safety, confined space awareness, emergency response, chemical handling, ergonomics, and slip/trip/fall prevention.
• Coach frontline supervisors on hazard recognition, safe work behaviors, and accountability.

Environmental Programs

• Assist with environmental compliance activities, including waste management, wastewater coordination, spill prevention, air and water permit requirements, chemical storage, and sustainability initiatives.

Emergency Preparedness

• Support emergency preparedness activities including evacuation plans, drills, spill response procedures, ammonia/refrigeration-related response coordination where applicable, and first aid coordination.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with production, sanitation, maintenance, and QA leaders to address safety concerns, promote accountability, and reinforce safe work behaviors.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve safety performance and reduce environmental impact.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Occupational Safety, Environmental Science, Industrial Hygiene, Engineering, Food Science, or a related field; equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
• 2-4 years of EHS experience, preferably in food manufacturing, food processing, cold storage, warehouse, or industrial production environments.
• Working knowledge of OSHA, EPA, and applicable state and local safety and environmental requirements.
• Experience conducting safety audits, incident investigations, risk assessments, corrective action follow-up, and employee training.
• Knowledge of food production hazards including wet floors, hot surfaces, sharp tools, automated equipment, sanitation chemicals, forklifts, refrigerated areas, repetitive motion, and LOTO requirements.
• Strong communication, documentation, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and familiarity with safety management systems, EHS reporting tools, or learning management systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• OSHA 30-Hour General Industry certificate.
• ASP, CSP, or CHMM certification.
• HAZWOPER, First Aid/CPR, or Forklift Trainer certification.
• Experience with ammonia refrigeration and PSM.

Work Environment & Physical Requirements

• Work may be performed in office, food production, sanitation, warehouse, cooler, freezer, loading dock, and outdoor environments.
• May require walking, standing, bending, climbing stairs or ladders, and entering production or facility areas for inspections, audits, and incident response.
• May be exposed to wet floors, temperature variations (refrigerated/freezer and high-heat areas), noise, moving equipment, forklifts, cleaning chemicals, and food production processes.
• Must be available to respond to incidents, spills, regulatory visits, or emergencies outside of normal business hours when needed.