Health & Safety Specialist

WHY THIS ROLE IS VALUABLE 

The Health and Safety Specialist supports the implementation and ongoing practice of Ornua’s Health and Safety (H&S) programs across Ornua Ingredients North America (OINA) facilities in pursuit of a best-in-class safety culture and incident-free work environment. This role plays a vital part in ensuring compliance with safety regulations, promoting a safe and healthy work environment, and supporting sustainability initiatives. The Specialist actively engages employees at all levels—collaborating with site teams and leadership—to build ownership of safety practices and foster a culture of shared responsibility, continuous improvement, and proactive participation in safety efforts. 

Reporting directly to Plant Manager for Ornua Ingredients North America, this position will support manufacturing facilities located in Hillsboro, WI and Byron, MN and will collaborate closely H&S colleagues at the company’s Hilbert and Whitehall, WI manufacturing facilities. 

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY: 

• Executes health, safety, and sustainability programs and initiatives across assigned manufacturing facilities, ensuring alignment with company standards and federal, state and local regulatory bodies. 

• Serves as a subject matter expert to provide guidance and technical support to site teams and facility leaders to identify opportunities for employee engagement and continuous improvement in workplace safety. 

• Conducts post-incident investigations, prepares reports, and supports the development and follow-through of corrective action plans with the applicable key stakeholders. 

• Conducts proactive, routine inspections and audits in the plants and warehouses to identify hazards and recommend corrective or preventive measures to mitigate risk. 

• Serves as point of contact for third-party Workers’ compensation administrators and takes ownership of workers’ compensation case management, including leave tracking, return-to-work activities, and liaising with employee – working in collaboration with operations, human resources and site teams.  

• Maintains employee medical records and all recordkeeping for safety and health activities. 

• Coordinates and/or conduct safety training including but not limited to lockout/tagout, machine guarding, chemical safety, hazard communication, personal protective equipment, bloodborne pathogens, confined space entry, power industrial trucks, fall protection, and emergency response. Facilitates safety training during new hire on-boarding experience. 

• Contributes to tracking and reporting progress on key performance metrics including but not limited to incident reports, OSHA 300 Log, energy use, water conservation, and waste reduction. 

• Maintains accurate data in global health and safety systems and ensures timely reporting of safety metrics. 

• Acts as a point of contact for regulatory agencies, assisting with documentation, audits, reporting and related compliance activities. 

• Coordinates local safety and health activities including fire and tornado drills. 

• Administers forklift certification training to ensure compliance with internal and external regulations. 

• Assists with organizing employee town hall meetings, employee appreciation events, cookouts, wellness events and other employee activities. 

KEY REQUIREMENTS: 

Education & Experience 

• Associate degree in industrial hygiene, safety, management, environmental science/engineering or related field or equivalent work experience is required  

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in an industrial safety role within a manufacturing environment 

• 10-hour/30-hour OSHA General Industry certification highly preferred 

• ASP or CSP certification preferred or desire to accomplish 

Core Competencies 

• Knowledge of OSHA regulations and state Workers’ Compensation laws 

• Certified or able to be certified in CPR and First Aid 

• Proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook 

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including ability to write professional reports and presentations 

• Strong organizational skills 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills 

• Ability to collaborate across a matrix organization and drive alignment to safety programs  

• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions and act upon them 

• Ability to manage multiple priorities reliably and with high attention to detail  

• Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive information with disciplined document management 

• Knowledge of Minnesota - A Workplace Accident and Injury Reduction (AWAIR) Program and Ergonomics Statute is preferred 

Work Environment 

• Requires on-site work both in office and production floor settings 

• Includes work in refrigerated and temperature-controlled food manufacturing facility 

• Requires adherence to strict hygiene and safety protocols 

• Requires ability to operate motor vehicle; routine travel across manufacturing locations required