Principal Engineer, Occupational Safety & Industrial Hygiene

The Celanese Narrows site, a continuously operating manufacturing facility with 1000 employees is located beside the New River and the Appalachian Trial, situated in the mountain playground of Giles County, and just a short drive from Blacksburg, VA. Our plant has been in continuous operation since 1939 based on the belief that Our People Make the Difference and we are looking for an individual with a growth mindset to help us manage risk by investing in our people and programs. 

The Industrial Hygiene Program Owner focuses on site compliance efforts with respect to Industrial Hygiene (Health) Management systems and support of the safety and environmental compliance and training systems. Typical activities are the execution of the Industrial Hygiene program, routinely collaborating with production units to ensure effective training is in place to achieve safety and environmental compliance, effectively communicating through multiple channels, observing organizational performance and identifying potential areas for improvement, conducting and participating in incident investigation and follow up, assessing and analyzing potential impacts of changes on the work environment, and auditing various Stewardship Systems.

• Ownership of Industrial Hygiene policies and training programs for the site by ensuring that policies follow corporate requirements and working with unit training resources to ensure that employees are adequately trained on an ongoing and timely basis.
• Ownership of workplace hazard risk reduction programs for Fatigue Management, Ergonomics, and Heat / Cold Stress
• Ownership of personnel hazard risk reduction programs for Respiratory Protection, Hearing Conservation, Radiation, and Personnel Protective Equipment
• Ownership of site Hazard Communication, Chemical Exposure Assessment, and personnel monitoring programs
• Oversight of site programs for lead and asbestos management and mitigation (10%)
• Oversight of site EHS Training Matrix to ensure ongoing regulatory and corporate training is completed in an effective manner
• Works with production unit leadership to ensure that IH requirements are included in unit SQRE (Safety, Quality, Reliability, and Engagement) plans and that required elements are completed per schedule.
• Conduct observations on organizational performance, life critical audits, and employee engagement activities to ensure compliance to unit SQRE requirements around safety and environmental compliance.
• Review of site Management of Change requests and Capital Project Scopes to evaluate potential safety, health, and environmental impacts and ensure risks are mitigated before change is approved for start-up
• Serves as an auditor in Self-Assessment program for Safety, Health, and Environmental programs, both on-site and at other Celanese facilities.
• Investigate and follow up on incidents.

• Bachelor’s Degree in safety engineering, Industrial Hygiene or related or equivalent years of experience
• Minimum 5 years of relevant manufacturing experience working in a similar production environment.
• Preferred experience working in chemical manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of industrial health and safety practices and policies
• ACGIH Credentialing is a plus – will train
• Strong background with development and implementation of industrial hygiene compliance programs and systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational culture change through influence
• Must be able to work with and communicate effectively with all levels in the organization, resolve safety issues and problems, and be able to exhibit a high degree of teamwork and cooperation