Safety Officer

Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation • Macon, GA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Safety Officer will manage and oversee portions of the Accreditation Environment of Care (TJC), and/or Physical Environment (DNV) Safety programs for multiple Advocate facilities. This role acts as a liaison for all chapters within the program, including Safety, Security, Hazardous Materials/Waste, Clinical Engineering, Fire Safety, and Utilities. The Safety Officer will coordinate and chair the Environment of Care or Physical Environment Committee, maintain agendas and minutes, and communicate safety updates. They will assist with Occupational Health and Safety (OSHA), Environmental Compliance (EPA), Construction Safety, and Operations activities to ensure constant readiness for surveys and inspections, serving as a safety point of contact during federal, state, local, and organizational surveys and inspections. The position supports regulatory agency personnel during compliance inspections and interfaces with Advocate Facility Administration and Department Leadership to oversee special projects. The Safety Officer will present safety programs, updates, and training to various stakeholders and discuss safety and risk assessment impacts on patient, teammate, and visitor safety. Responsibilities include initiating and disseminating PCRA, ICRA, and ILSM documentation for projects, acting as a liaison between facility administration, clinical departments, and construction teams, and generating/submitting various reports related to surveys and assessments. The role involves educating and coordinating corrective actions for deficiencies, managing internal inspections, performing safety rounds, and creating work orders. Additionally, the Safety Officer will assist with hazardous waste/materials management, respond to spills and emergencies, and act as a first responder for incidents, maintaining on-call readiness and serving in incident command roles. This position requires travel to other facilities and the ability to wear and function in a Level C protective suit for training and emergency response.

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.
• Must have the ability to clearly communicate verbally, in person, and in writing with patients, families/agencies and the health care team.
• Must 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.
• Operates all equipment necessary to perform the job.
• 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

• 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 are highly preferred.

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.
• Assist with, Occupational Health and Safety (OSHA), Environmental Compliance (EPA), Construction Safety, and Operations activities to maintain constant readiness for surveys and inspections.
• Serve as a safety point of contact during federal, state, local and organizational surveys, and inspections.
• Support regulatory agency personnel during compliance inspections.
• Interface with Advocate Facility Administration and Department Leadership to oversee special projects as directed by Safety Leadership and Facility Administration.
• Present 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.
• Manage and complete various internal inspections of the physical environment, perform safety rounds of departments and grounds, create 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.
• Work 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; maintain constant on-call response readiness and serve in multiple roles during incident command events at facility and corporate level.

Benefits

• 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

What This Job Offers

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