L&I DOSH Occupational Safety and Health Compliance Investigator (CISHI3) Reg 5

State of Washington•Kennewick, WA

52d•Hybrid

About The Position

L&I's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) administers the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) law Chapter 49.17 RCW by developing and enforcing rules that protect workers from hazardous job conditions. Our inspectors visit about 5,000 workplaces each year and cite businesses that violate health and safety rules. The Compliance Industrial Safety and Health Investigator (CISHI) positions are used to maintain Federal approval of the state plan occupational safety and health program that is necessarily authorized under statute, Chapter 49.17 RCW (WISHA), and have enforcement authority over all employers in the state of Washington. This includes private and public sector, state, county, and city authorities. The approved State program at the Department of Labor and Industries must be maintained as-effective-as the federal OSHA compliance program. The work is aimed at ensuring all employers comply with workplace safety and health laws and rules to prevent worker and public fatalities, injuries and illnesses, to include compliance enforcement through legal processes and procedures. CISHI-3s are senior level safety and health investigators that have attended a defined new hire course that includes over 360 classroom hours (provided upon hire). They conduct highly complex investigations and inspections of safety and health hazards in all industries independently or in teams. This includes fatalities or accident investigations, resulting in hospitalizations, amputations, or loss of an eye. All of this work is crucial to the safety and health of the workers of the State of Washington, and directly impacts and supports the Department's mission, "Keep Washington Safe and Working". For this position, telework is permitted on occasion dependent upon business needs and supervisor approval. The assigned duty station for this position will be : Kennewick, WA. Driving is required as part of this job. When a position has a driving requirement, the incumbent must drive in order to perform the duties of their position. In fact, driving is a duty mentioned in their position description, such as an L&I inspector who drives throughout the workday to get from one location to another. Therefore, they must use a state-issued vehicle, motor pool vehicle, or personally owned vehicle (POV) in order to perform the duties and responsibilities of their position. Use of a POV will be reimbursed with the current mileage reimbursement rate. Must be physically capable to walk through a variety of workplaces such as large manufacturing plants with metal stairways, catwalks, ladders, and walk through rough terrain. Must also be able to be exposed to weather (wearing appropriate weather gear) for long durations.

Requirements

A strong desire to ensure worker safety with a thorough understanding of safety and health rules and regulations and ability to identify safety related hazards in a variety of workplaces.
Strong written, verbal and interpersonal communications skills with ability to write comprehensive and concise reports detailing identified hazards.
Willing and able to work with hostile clients or customers (both internal and external).
Knowledge of Safety and Health Rules and Regulations, the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) and the federal government's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The ability to explain to customers what their businesses must do to comply with these regulations.
Enforcing Laws, Rules and Regulations--Enforces governmental laws, rules and regulations, and initiates enforcement actions in such a way that the public perceives as fair, objective and reasonable.
Perform duties safely; model the behavior we expect to see.
A valid and unrestricted driver license.
Five years' experience as a DOSH Compliance Industrial Safety and Health Investigator (CISHI/CHSO), or equivalent experience as a Federal OSHA or other state plan journey-level safety and health specialist or industrial hygienist.
OR Certified Safety Professional (CSP).
OR Five years of full-time professional experience as an employer's safety director or manager, industrial hygienist, safety and health specialist, etc.
OR Seven years of full-time journey level occupational/industrial safety experience in one or more of the following industries: Government, military, public health or related safety and health field.
OR A Bachelor of Science degree from a regionally accredited university in occupational safety and health, industrial hygiene or similar AND five years of occupational/industrial safety professional experience.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual preferred; persons of all languages are encouraged to apply. Bilingual jobs include a 5% salary increase for dual language responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Independently conduct thorough investigations to determine root cause and other contributing factors involving fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, or loss of an eye while taking field notes, photos, videos, or other appropriate documentation methods.
Conduct highly complex safety investigations of workplaces using independent judgment within established guidelines to determine the type and extent of suspected environmental and occupational safety hazards (e.g. manufacturing plants, construction projects, etc.).
Conduct pre-investigation research including any necessary review of electronic files and relevant references that may require hours of sitting or standing.
Enter physical worksites unannounced to conduct compliance investigations.
Assist CISHI-6 engineers on more complex investigations, such as catastrophic events where multiple fatalities and/or hospitalizations have occurred.
Investigate complaints and referrals to determine if the alleged hazards exist and employees are exposed to them.
Determine employer compliance or non-compliance with WISHA Safety and Health Standards and write reports documenting employee exposure along with proposed citations and monetary penalties as appropriate.
Ensure abatement of hazards identified during inspection and contact employers when abatement is nearing its due date, send official letters on non-abatement compliance, and notify their supervisor that they have completed the above steps and the employer has not complied so a follow-up inspection can be assigned.
Work with the Attorney General's office and local prosecutors on highly complex and difficult cases.
Testify on behalf of the Department as primary witness for all inspections conducted, and testify as witness to any other inspections participated in.
Perform evidence handling of highly complex cases.