Facilities Environmental Safety Specialist - Atrium Health's Carolina Medical Center FT Days

Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation•Charlotte, NC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This Facilities Environmental Safety Specialist role at Atrium Health's Carolina Medical Center involves managing and overseeing portions of the Accreditation Environment of Care (TJC) and/or Physical Environment (DNV) Safety programs across multiple Advocate facilities. The specialist acts as a key liaison for various safety-related chapters, including Safety, Security, Hazardous Materials/Waste, Clinical Engineering, Fire Safety, and Utilities. Responsibilities include coordinating and chairing relevant committees, maintaining agendas and minutes, and communicating safety updates. The position supports Occupational Health and Safety (OSHA), Environmental Compliance (EPA), Construction Safety, and Operations activities to ensure constant readiness for surveys and inspections, serving as a primary safety contact during such events. The specialist will also support regulatory agency personnel, interface with facility administration and department leadership on special projects, and deliver safety programs and training. A critical aspect of the role is discussing safety and risk assessment impacts on operational changes affecting patient, teammate, visitor, and life safety. The specialist initiates and disseminates Pre-Construction Risk Assessment (PCRA), Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA), and Interim Life Safety Measures (ILSM) documentation for projects, acting as a liaison between various departments and construction teams to ensure environmental safety. Further duties include generating and submitting physical environment and safety reports, risk assessments, and corrective action plans from regulatory surveys, as well as educating on and coordinating corrective actions for identified deficiencies. The role also involves conducting internal inspections, performing safety rounds, creating work orders for deficiencies, assisting with hazardous waste/materials management, responding to spills, and collaborating on initiatives impacting patient and teammate safety. The specialist is expected to act as a first responder for incidents, maintaining constant on-call readiness, and serving in multiple roles during incident command events at both facility and corporate levels.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience.
2-4 years or more of experience in safety and/or facilities management that includes experience in emergency management, environmental safety, and life safety.
Ability to clearly communicate verbally, in person, and in writing with patients, families/agencies and the health care team.
Possess a sense of urgency and make sound decisions.
Responsible for setting a strong example of safety by working safely and utilizing personal protective equipment (PPE) appropriately.
Critical thinking and independent decision making and is solution oriented.
Ability to operate computer and computer software programs.
Must be able to sit, stand, walk, lift, squat, bend, reach above shoulders, and twist frequently throughout the workday.
Must have functional speech, vision, smell, touch and hearing.
Must be able to lift up to 10 lbs. regularly and up to 50 lbs. occasionally.
Must be physically able to wear and function in a Level C protective suit for training, simulation and actual responses to decontamination needs.

Nice To Haves

Hospital experience preferred.
Health Care Environmental Manager (HEM) certification issued by the ECRI, Institute's Center for Healthcare Environmental Management (CHEM).
Certified Healthcare Safety Professional (CHSP).
Certified Safety Professional (CSP).
Certified Industrial Hygiene (CIH).
Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) or other related industry certifications.

Responsibilities

Manage and oversee portions of the Accreditation Environment of Care (TJC), and/or Physical Environment (DNV) Safety programs for multiple Advocate facilities.
Act as liaison for all chapters (Safety, Security, Hazardous Materials/Waste, Clinical Engineering, Fire Safety and Utilities) within the program.
Coordinate and chair the Environment of Care or Physical Environment Committee, maintain committee agendas and minutes, communicate safety updates to committee.
Assists with, Occupational Health and Safety (OSHA), Environmental Compliance (EPA), Construction Safety, and Operations activities to maintain constant readiness for surveys and inspections.
Serves as a safety point of contact during federal, state, local and organizational surveys, and inspections.
Supports regulatory agency personnel during compliance inspections.
Interfaces with Advocate Facility Administration and Department Leadership to oversee special projects as directed by Safety Leadership and Facility Administration.
Presents safety programs, safety updates, and/or training to leadership, physicians, vendors/contractors, and teammates.
Discuss safety and risk assessment impacts to operational changes that has effect on patient safety, teammate safety, visitor safety, and life safety.
Initiate and disseminate PCRA (Pre-Construction Risk Assessment), ICRA (Infection Control Risk Assessment) and ILSM (Interim Life Safety Measures) documentation for projects at multiple facilities.
Act as liaison between Advocate Facility Administration, Clinical Departments, and Planning Designing Construction teams, providing communication to ensure overall safety of the environment for patients, teammates, visitors, vendors, and contractors.
Generate and submit physical environment reports, safety reports, risk assessments, and any corrective action plans from regulatory and Accreditation surveys (Joint Commission, DNV, DHSR, CMS, CARF, CAP, CLIA) to Leadership and appropriate departments.
Educate and coordinate corrective actions for any deficiencies identified during surveys, inspections, and assessments.
Manages and completes various internal inspections of the physical environment, performs safety rounds of departments and grounds, creates work orders and purchase orders to address deficiencies and corrective actions.
Assist with proper handling, storage, documenting, inspecting, and transportation of hazardous waste/materials within facilities.
Respond to hazardous material spills and emergencies.
Works collaboratively with other service lines to accomplish initiatives impacting patient care, patient safety, teammates, contractors, and visitor safety.
Act as first responder for incidents at facility; maintains constant on-call response readiness and serve in multiple roles during incident command events at facility and corporate level.

Benefits

Comprehensive suite of Total Rewards: benefits and well-being programs
Competitive compensation
Generous retirement offerings
Programs that invest in your career development
Paid Time Off programs
Health and welfare benefits such as medical, dental, vision, life, and Short- and Long-Term Disability
Flexible Spending Accounts for eligible health care and dependent care expenses
Family benefits such as adoption assistance and paid parental leave
Defined contribution retirement plans with employer match and other financial wellness programs
Educational Assistance Program
Premium pay such as shift, on call, and more based on a teammate's job
Incentive pay for select positions
Opportunity for annual increases based on performance