Health and Safety Program Manager

Salary Under Review

Reporting to the Manager Health, Safety and Wellness, the Health & Safety Program Manager is responsible for developing and managing the implementation of the corporate health and safety programs, policies, procedures and guidelines. This role provides advice and leadership to all levels of management and corporate health and safety staff members with the objective of ensuring legislative compliance, minimizing the risk of occupational injuries/illnesses and championing the corporate health and safety culture.

Education

• Post-secondary degree in Occupational Health & Safety, Human Resources or a related field/discipline.

• An equivalent combination of education, experience and qualifications may be considered.

• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in Health & Safety including: health and safety policy, procedure and program development, workplace inspections and accident investigation in a unionized work environment, responding to Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) inquiries, inspections, and consulting or advising multi-site Joint Health and Safety Committees, including at least 2 years at a supervisory level.

• Experience in a large multi-faceted unionized work environment and/or in a large municipal/ public sector is preferred.

• Excellent knowledge of and ability to interpret and apply the Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) and Regulations, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, Ontario Human Rights Code, collective agreements and related legislation.

• Must obtain Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) certification within 18 months of commencing employment.

• Parts 1 and 2 of Joint Health & Safety Committee Certification training is an asset.

• Valid Standard First Aid and CPR Level A or C, and AED Certificate.

• Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) is preferred.

• Additional formal training and/or experience with the prevention of psychological and musculoskeletal injuries and illnesses and/or ergonomics is preferred.

• The following designations/memberships are deemed an asset: Health & Safety Consultant (CHSC) designation, Canadian Registered Safety Technician (CRST) or member of the Ontario Municipal Health and Safety Professionals Association.

• Experience as a WSIB Schedule 2 employer is preferred.

• Experience with Disability Management Software i.e. Parklane system is preferred.

• Plays a key leadership role in ensuring the organization is compliant with all applicable regulations made under the Occupational Health & Safety Act, Industry Standards and best practices regarding health and safety.

• Develops Health and Safety program goals and priorities, ensuring alignment with the strategic direction set by the Manager Health, Safety and Wellness, monitoring changing priorities, trends and emerging issues, identifying areas of potential impact to operations and/or the delivery of health and safety programs and providing recommendations on addressing issues.

• Leads the development of the education, communication, and implementation plans for health and safety programs to assist in the understanding and application of health & safety requirements and mitigate risk across the organization.

• Leads the development and implementation of initiatives to prevent occupational injury and illness, including but not limited to the safety audits, ergonomics in the workplace, program and assists with developed to identify and mitigate risks.

• Leads the yearly review and ongoing maintenance of established Health and Safety policies, procedures and guidelines.

• Supports the review and update of Emergency Response Procedures as necessary, and collaborates with Construction, Energy and Facilities Management to ensure the procedures remain relevant to activities in the workplace and align with Niagara Region security procedures.

• Monitors compliance of corporate health and safety programs, policies and procedures with changes in legislation and internal policy/practice deficiencies, consulting on strategies to address issues, update programs and guidelines and ensure all staff are informed.

• Monitors and evaluates the safety performance of the organization and reports performance metrics.

• Identifies opportunities for process and program improvements, identifying issues and gaps in effectiveness of services, researching best practices, and developing and implementing improvement initiatives.

• Analyzes Health and Safety trends in the municipal sector.

• Identifies, plans, and executes process improvements to Health, Safety & wellness programs and services, making recommendations to management.

• Liaises with the Ministry of Labour Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD), Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and various health and safety organizations to keep informed of developments to new and current regulations and standards, and current workplace issues that may impact the organization.

• Keeps abreast of government changes to anticipate compliance gaps in order to develop strategies, programs, and training opportunities to meet requirements and due diligence.

• Provides support to employees and management on the promotion of health and wellness in support of the integrated health, safety and wellness programs.

• Works collaboratively with external vendors that provide contracted health related services to the Region to ensure needs are met.

• Liaises with independent consultants, suppliers and other levels of government regarding policy and program design.

• Participates in multidisciplinary case management meetings.

• Collaborates with senior leadership and other internal interested parties, to gather information specific to the operations as it pertains to health and safety and solicits feedback relating to new and changes to existing policies, procedures, guidelines, and programs.

• Provides consultation, advice and leadership to all levels of management on issues related to occupational workplace safety and industry best practices.

• Responds in the absence of the Corporate Health and Safety Advisor, or as a point of escalation to safety related inquiries, investigations, inspections and ensuing orders from the Ministry of Labour Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD).

• Consults with decisions regarding Provincial orders, visits, critical injury investigations and reporting.

• Provides advice and counsel relating to corporate health and safety policies, procedures and programs, as well as other occupational health and safety topics and practices.

• Advises on consistent application of policies and procedures to reduce liability/risks.

• Acts as a resource in clarifying standards for external parties.

• Provides advice to leadership to help anticipate potential future health and safety needs to proactively identify and implement mitigation programs and strategies.

• Provides support and guidance to the Region’s Multi-Site Joint Health & Safety Committees and attend meetings as required as a subject matter expert.

• Provides guidance in the development and/or improvement of safe work.

• Acts as a health and safety subject matter expert on committees as assigned.

Supervises staff, coordinating and planning work, providing work direction, assigning tasks and projects, determining methods and procedures to be used, monitoring quality of work, resolving problems and ensuring assigned results are achieved. (10% of time)

• Enables results with the organization’s human capital strategy to foster employee engagement.

• In conjunction with the Manager provides training and development, coaching and discipline when necessary, and manages staff recruitment.

• Ensures focus is service excellence, communication/transparency, innovation, and data integrity and work flow integration.

• Ensures staff has the information and resources to make successful plans and decisions.

• Ensures all people related issues, including recruitment, grievances and labour relations issues, are aligned to HR and Corporate standards and practices.

• Helps to break down barriers to employee success, ensuring collaboration and cooperation with other teams within their division and department

• Ensures Occupational Health & Safety policies, programs and practices are implemented, and maintained. This includes workplace inspections, monitoring, accident reporting and investigations, and ensuring any observed hazards or lapses in the functioning of OH&S processes, and other OH&S concerns are responded to promptly.

• Ensures all individuals under supervision have been informed of hazards and instructed on the necessary risk control and emergency response measures;

Manages and administers annual and multi-year Capital and Operating budgets for which they are delegated authority ensuring support of Council’s objectives, financial transparency and accountability, monitoring budget adherence, identifying and explaining variances, and financial reporting is effectively managed in compliance with corporate financial policies. Administer and approve the acquisition of goods and services for their direct reports in accordance with the procurement policy. (10% of time)

Performs other related duties and responsibilities as assigned or required.

• In accordance with the Corporate Criminal Record Check Policy, the position requires the incumbent to undergo a Criminal Records Check and submit a Canadian Police Clearance Certificate.

• Must maintain ability to travel in a timely manner to other offices, work locations or sites as authorized by the Corporation for business reasons.

• Regional staff strive to enable the strategic priorities of council and the organization through the completion of their work. Staff carry out their work by demonstrating the corporate values.