Safety Engineer

LaBine and Associates • Bakersfield, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

This role supports safety across an established industrial processing operation in California. It combines technical analysis and administrative responsibilities with substantial field engagement in active industrial operating areas. The Safety Engineer works with operations, maintenance, contractors, and site leadership to identify exposure risks, strengthen safe work practices, investigate operational events, and improve systems that protect employees and surrounding communities. The position is intended for an experienced professional with practical experience in petroleum refining, petrochemical processing, chemical manufacturing, or comparable heavy industrial environments; it is not desk-based compliance work.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Safety Engineering, Occupational Safety, Environmental Health & Safety, or a closely related technical discipline.
• Approximately 5–10 years of progressive safety experience in industrial operations, preferably petroleum refining or chemical manufacturing.
• Knowledge of hazardous work controls, including lockout/tagout, confined space entry, hot work, and permit-to-work systems.
• Hands-on experience conducting incident investigations and developing effective corrective actions.
• Experience supporting operations and maintenance personnel in a unionized industrial environment.
• Familiarity with emergency response procedures and industrial fire brigade operations.
• Strong understanding of applicable workplace safety regulations and industrial risk management practices.
• Ability to interpret performance data, prepare technical reports, and communicate recommendations to management.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and electronic safety reporting or incident management systems.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).
• Comfort working outdoors in varying weather conditions, accessing elevated work areas, climbing ladders and stairs, and entering permitted confined spaces when required.

Nice To Haves

• Direct experience supporting refinery operations, petrochemical facilities, or other continuous-process manufacturing environments.
• Familiarity with ABS Causal Analysis, Triangle of Prevention (TOP), or comparable root-cause investigation methodologies.
• Participation in industrial emergency response or fire brigade activities.
• Experience providing safety oversight during large-scale turnarounds, shutdowns, or maintenance outages.
• Demonstrated success improving safety performance through workforce engagement and practical operational changes.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate hazardous work activities and identify ways to reduce employee exposure to operational risks.
• Strengthen procedures for hazardous energy control, confined space entry, hot work, work authorization, and contractor activities.
• Assess existing practices against OSHA, Cal/OSHA, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Partner with maintenance and operations teams to incorporate risk controls into daily work execution.
• Support safety planning and execution during plant shutdowns, turnarounds, and major maintenance projects.
• Coordinate investigations of workplace incidents, near misses, and potentially serious safety events.
• Use structured investigation techniques to identify organizational, procedural, and operational contributing factors.
• Facilitate corrective action development with responsible departments and monitor progress through completion.
• Identify recurring trends and recommend improvements addressing systemic risk.
• Communicate investigation findings and prevention strategies to plant leadership.
• Build working relationships with operations personnel, skilled trades, supervisors, and union-represented employees.
• Conduct field assessments of work practices, equipment access, hazardous activities, and contractor performance.
• Provide practical guidance to employees and supervisors on safety-critical tasks.
• Participate in operational reviews, safety discussions, and workforce engagement initiatives.
• Serve as a technical resource during nonroutine operations and elevated-risk activities.
• Evaluate operational safety performance using incident trends, leading indicators, field observations, and program assessments.
• Translate safety data into recommendations that improve work execution and reduce risk.
• Develop targeted training and technical guidance for employees and contractors.
• Coordinate with industrial hygiene and other technical specialists on workplace exposure concerns.
• Share lessons learned and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across multiple facilities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level