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Texas Department of State Health Services · 11 hours ago

Safety Office Team Leader

Austin, TX

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level

$5,797.66/mo - $7,653/mo

5+ years exp

Texas Department of State Health Services is committed to hiring skilled and dedicated individuals who share a passion for public health. The Safety Office Team Leader will lead a comprehensive safety compliance program for the Public Health Laboratory Division, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and developing safety procedures.

Health Care

No H1B

Responsibilities

Oversees, evaluates, and monitors a highly advanced and comprehensive safety and compliance program for laboratory staff

Establishes goals and objectives for the safety program

Maintains an exposure control plan, chemical hygiene plan and radiation safety program based upon the duties performed in each area of the laboratory and provides personnel protective equipment and immunizations

Coordinates and assists with first aid and post exposure follow up procedures for employees who have been injured or potentially exposed to hazardous materials

Directs and ensures adequate investigation, reporting and analysis of accidents to prevent recurrence

Leads, prepares, coordinates, and participates in the activities of the Laboratory Safety Coordinators

Monitors laboratory workers compensation records

Maintains safety related contracts, solicitation, and scope of work for purchase requests

Develops safety procedures, rules, and standards to ensure quality and consistency

Performs risk assessments to evaluate, identify and prioritize high risk to low risk of both chemical hazards and infectious substances in a laboratory area

Performs respiratory fit testing on laboratory staff to ensure Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (29 CFR 1910.134) requirement is met prior to respirator use in the workplace

Directs, plans, and monitors safety training and evaluates the competency of a team of safety officers

Ensures safety officers are thoroughly trained in the safety and compliance of their program areas according to local, state and federal regulations

Assigns tasks and establishes deadlines

Maintains infectious and chemical waste

Serves as a liaison between local, state, and federal agencies

Ensures compliance with state and federal and local regulations governing the treatment and disposal or recycling of various waste streams

Evaluates the waste streams and establishes procedures for in-house management of waste

Provides training to laboratory staff

Maintains the contract for offsite treatment and disposal of infectious and chemical waste and ensures compliance with the City of Austin pretreatment requirements for acid waste

Responds to incidents involving infectious agents, hazardous chemicals, and radioactive materials

Creates reports as required and maintains records

Acts as the backup contact for the Laboratory Building Coordinator during laboratory building emergencies such as power outages, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), electrical or plumbing issues and security issues to ensure compliance is met with National Fire Protection Association 101 Life Safety Code

May be required to respond to emergencies during non-business hours, weekends, and holidays

Other duties as assigned include but are not limited to: actively participating and/or serving in a supporting role to meet the agency's obligations for disaster response and/or recovery or Continuity of Operations (COOP) activation

Qualification

Laboratory safety complianceRisk assessmentPublic health experiencePolicy developmentTeam leadershipCommunication skillsDecision-makingMentoringCollaboration

Required

Have an earned bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in a chemical, physical, biological or clinical laboratory science, or medical technology from an accredited institution and have at least one year of high complexity laboratory experience; or have an earned associate's degree in a chemical, physical, biological or clinical laboratory science, or medical laboratory technology from an accredited institution and have at least two years of high complexity laboratory experience, required. Experience and education may be substituted as defined by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988, required

A minimum of 5 years public health laboratory or hospital experience, required

Experience interpreting and applying federal and state laws applicable to public health and/or safety, required

Experience in writing, developing, implementing and monitoring policies and procedures, required

Experience in mentoring, coaching and/or counseling employees and/or teams, required

Preferred

Experience in laboratory/hospital safety programs, protocols, risk management and/or administrative aspects of safety in the workplace, preferred

Experience in shipping hazardous materials, 49 Code of Federal Regulations, preferred

Benefits

Insurance coverage and other benefits available through the State of Texas Group Benefits Plan administered by the Employee Retirement System of Texas (ERS)