Safety Specialist

IFab Corporation • Gastonia, NC

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Safety Specialist supports IFAB Corp.'s workplace safety, compliance, and environmental efforts at its single-location manufacturing operation in Gastonia, North Carolina. IFAB operates a metal fabrication business that includes press brakes, stamping, laser cutting, welding, coating, tube bending and cutting, machining, and assembly, so the role emphasizes practical manufacturing safety leadership.

The position partners with production, maintenance, quality, and leadership to maintain a safe work environment, reduce injuries, support workers’ compensation follow-up, and strengthen day-to-day safety engagement on the production floor. The Safety Specialist leads safety committees and safety champions and contributes to facility environmental compliance activities. This is a first-shift position and reports to the Safety Manager.

Requirements

• Associate degree or bachelor's degree in occupational safety, environmental health and safety, industrial technology, human resources, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Three to five years of safety experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Working knowledge of OSHA requirements and general manufacturing safety practices.
• Experience with incident investigation, corrective actions, and safety training.
• Experience supporting workers’ compensation follow-up and injury case management.
• Strong communication, organization, and follow-through skills.
• Ability to build relationships with employees, supervisors, and plant leadership.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to work on the production floor and wear required personal protective equipment.
• Bilingual English/Spanish.
• Ability to stand, walk, climb stairs, and move throughout the manufacturing facility for extended periods.
• Ability to work in an industrial environment with exposure to noise, heat, machinery, forklifts, welding operations, and metal fabrication processes.

Nice To Haves

• OSHA 30 certification.
• First Aid and CPR certification.
• Experience in metal fabrication, welding, machining, stamping, coating, or similar industrial operations.
• Experience participating in safety committees, employee engagement efforts, or safety-culture initiatives.
• Exposure to environmental compliance activities within a manufacturing setting.
• Experience with workers’ compensation, return-to-work, and medical providers.

Responsibilities

• Support administration and continuous improvement of safety programs, policies, procedures, and training processes.
• Conduct routine safety inspections, floor audits, hazard assessments, and follow-up activities across the facility.
• Identify unsafe conditions and behaviors and work with supervisors and employees to implement corrective actions.
• Assist with incident investigations, near-miss reviews, root-cause analysis, and corrective action tracking.
• Manage workers’ compensation follow-up, including injury-reporting support, return-to-work coordination, and communication with internal stakeholders.
• Maintain safety records, training documentation, incident logs, inspection reports, and other compliance-related files.
• Help coordinate OSHA compliance activities and support required recordkeeping and reporting.
• Lead safety committees and engage designated safety champions to improve employee involvement and accountability.
• Deliver or coordinate new-hire safety orientation, refresher training, toolbox talks, and topic-specific safety communication.
• Support manufacturing safety programs such as lockout/tagout, machine guarding, PPE, hazard communication, forklift safety, ergonomics, hot work, and emergency response.
• Participate in audits of equipment, work areas, and processes involving fabrication, welding, material handling, coating, and assembly operations.
• Work with operations and maintenance to promote safe practices involving presses, laser cutting equipment, welding areas, powered industrial trucks, and other plant machinery.
• Contribute to environmental activities such as chemical-management support, waste-handling practices, spill-response readiness, and related compliance tasks as assigned.
• Track corrective actions to closure and report progress to the Safety Manager.
• Support special projects and other duties related to employee safety, compliance, and environmental stewardship.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree