Environmental, Health & Safety Specialist

Environmental, Health & Safety Specialist

Our client is seeking an experienced Environmental, Health & Safety Specialist to support Environmental, Health & Safety programs at its Alexandria, Virginia facility. The organization is a leading global food manufacturing and culinary solutions company serving foodservice, retail, and commercial customers.

This is a hands-on, fully on-site position responsible for implementing, maintaining, and continuously improving EHS programs within a high-volume food manufacturing environment. The successful candidate will conduct workplace inspections and risk assessments, investigate incidents, support regulatory compliance, deliver employee safety training, monitor corrective actions, and work closely with site leadership to promote a strong safety culture.

Location: Alexandria, VA 22301

Job Type: Full-Time

Compensation: $70,000 – $75,000 per year

Key Responsibilities:

• EHS Program Management
• Implement, maintain, and continuously improve EHS policies, procedures, programs, and training materials.
• Conduct new-hire safety orientations and refresher safety training.
• Monitor OSHA, EPA, state, and local regulatory requirements.
• Evaluate workplace hazards and recommend engineering, administrative, and PPE controls.
• Track EHS metrics, trends, KPIs, and corrective actions.
• Prepare EHS reports and presentations for management.
• Maintain accurate, organized, and audit-ready EHS documentation.
• Safety Inspections & Risk Management
• Conduct routine safety inspections, audits, and workplace risk assessments.
• Inspect production areas, sanitation areas, warehouses, coolers/freezers, maintenance areas, loading docks, and chemical storage areas.
• Identify hazards associated with machinery, automated equipment, material handling, sanitation chemicals, thermal processes, refrigerated environments, and production activities.
• Identify unsafe conditions and behaviors and recommend corrective actions.
• Track corrective and preventive actions through verified closure.
• Partner with operational leaders to ensure safety controls are effective and sustainable.
• Incident Investigation & Injury Prevention
• Lead or support investigations involving workplace injuries, illnesses, near misses, and other incidents.
• Perform root-cause analysis and identify contributing factors.
• Develop corrective and preventive action plans.
• Monitor corrective actions through completion.
• Analyze incident trends and recommend proactive injury-prevention strategies.
• Maintain OSHA injury and illness records, including OSHA 300 logs and related documentation.
• Support workers' compensation-related safety activities when required.
• Communicate investigation findings and prevention recommendations to management and employees.
• Regulatory Compliance
• Support compliance with applicable OSHA, EPA, fire code, workers' compensation, state, local, and company requirements.
• Maintain documentation required for internal and external audits.
• Support regulatory inspections and documentation requests.
• Maintain records related to safety inspections, audits, employee training, workplace incidents, environmental activities, permits, chemical inventories, corrective actions, and regulatory compliance.
• Assist with environmental permits and regulatory reporting requirements.
• Safety Training
• Deliver safety training to employees, supervisors, contractors, and other personnel.
• Develop and update safety training materials.
• Provide training on PPE, Hazard Communication/HazCom, Lockout/Tagout (LOTO), Machine Guarding, Forklift and Pedestrian Safety, Chemical Handling, Emergency Response, Ergonomics, Slip/Trip/Fall Prevention, Confined Space Awareness, and General Workplace Safety.
• Coach supervisors and frontline leaders on hazard recognition and safe work practices.
• Promote employee participation in safety initiatives.
• Environmental Compliance
• Support environmental compliance programs and initiatives.
• Assist with waste management and waste reduction programs.
• Monitor wastewater-related activities.
• Support spill prevention and response programs.
• Assist with air and water permit requirements and documentation.
• Support chemical storage and hazardous-material management.
• Maintain environmental records and assist with regulatory reporting.
• Participate in sustainability and environmental improvement initiatives.
• Emergency Preparedness & Response
• Support site emergency preparedness and response programs.
• Maintain emergency response procedures and evacuation plans.
• Coordinate and participate in emergency drills.
• Support spill response preparedness.
• Assist with ammonia/refrigeration-related emergency response coordination, where applicable.
• Support first-aid and emergency response activities.
• Participate in incident response outside normal business hours when required.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Partner with Production, Sanitation, Maintenance, Quality Assurance, HR, and Site Leadership.
• Build strong relationships with frontline employees and supervisors.
• Promote accountability for safe work practices.
• Participate in continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives.
• Provide practical EHS guidance to management and operational teams.
• Support initiatives that improve employee safety and reduce environmental impact.

Required Skills & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Occupational Safety, Environmental Science, Industrial Hygiene, Engineering, Food Science, or a related discipline is preferred.
• Minimum 2 years of EHS/Safety experience, preferably in food manufacturing, food processing, industrial manufacturing, production, cold storage, or warehouse operations.
• Working knowledge of OSHA, EPA, and applicable state/local safety and environmental regulations.
• Hands-on experience with safety inspections and audits, incident investigations, root-cause analysis, risk assessments, corrective-action management, and employee safety training.
• Understanding of manufacturing and food-production hazards.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational, analytical, documentation, and problem-solving abilities.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Familiarity with EHS management systems, reporting platforms, or Learning Management Systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• OSHA 30-Hour General Industry
• Associate Safety Professional (ASP)
• Certified Safety Professional (CSP)
• Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM)
• HAZWOPER certification
• First Aid/CPR certification
• Forklift Trainer certification
• Ammonia refrigeration experience
• Process Safety Management (PSM) experience
• Experience supporting environmental permits or regulatory inspections
• Food manufacturing or food processing experience.

Work Environment & Physical Requirements:

This is a hands-on, fully on-site position requiring regular presence throughout the manufacturing facility. The EHS Specialist may work in:

• Office areas
• Food production areas
• Sanitation areas
• Warehouses
• Coolers and freezers
• Maintenance areas
• Loading docks
• Outdoor facility areas

The position requires the ability to walk and stand for extended periods, bend, climb stairs, and use ladders when necessary. The successful candidate must be able to enter production and facility areas to perform inspections and audits and respond to workplace incidents and emergency situations. The role may involve working around wet floors, temperature variations, refrigerated/freezer environments, heat, noise, moving equipment, forklifts, cleaning chemicals, and active food-production processes. Required PPE must be worn in production and operational areas. The position may also require responding to incidents, spills, regulatory visits, or emergencies outside normal business hours when required.

What We Are Looking For: