Employee/Labor Health & Safety Engineering - Manager

Watkins Wellness; Santa Ana (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Watkins Wellness in Santa Ana, CA is seeking an experienced EHS Manager to lead safety, environmental compliance, ergonomics, and incident prevention across the Santa Ana plants. You will implement programs, drive regulatory readiness, and coordinate with HR, Operations and Maintenance to build a proactive safety culture.

The role requires a Bachelor’s degree in a related field and 5+ years of EHS experience in manufacturing, plus strong Cal/OSHA knowledge.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Environmental, Safety, Occupational Health, Engineering, or a related field is required.
• Five or more years of progressive EHS experience in manufacturing or industrial environments is required.
• Experience supervising or leading EHS teams or staff is required.
• Professional certification (CSP, CIH, CHMM, or similar) is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead, implement, and continuously improve EHS programs across the Santa Ana plants, including safety, environmental compliance, ergonomics, and incident investigation.
• Ensure California-specific safety program compliance (IIPP, heat illness prevention, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, etc.).
• Collaborate with site leadership, HR, Operations, and maintenance to foster a proactive safety culture and engage employees in hazard identification.
• Supervise one direct report, set priorities, and ensure timely inspections, training, and recordkeeping.
• Coordinate workers’ compensation activities, incident tracking, and regulatory reporting.

Skills

EHS leadership

Regulatory compliance

Incident investigation

Training and coaching

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Environmental, Safety, Occupational Health, Engineering, or related field

Master’s degree (preferred)

Job description

## Employee/Labor Health & Safety Engineering - ManagerApply: US - California - Santa Ana: Full time: Posted Yesterday: REQ54827Purpose:The Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Manager is responsible for leading occupational safety, environmental compliance, ergonomics, incident prevention, injury and illness management, regulatory readiness, and site security coordination for the Santa Ana plants. This role ensures compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements, including Cal/OSHA, EPA, CalEPA, DTSC, CUPA, local fire authority, air district, wastewater authority, and other applicable agencies. The EHS Manager reports to the Site Director with dotted line reporting into corporate EHSS and supervises one direct report. **Responsibilities**:* Lead, implement, and continuously improve EHS programs across the Santa Ana plants, including occupational safety, environmental compliance, ergonomics, fire prevention/protection, industrial hygiene, workplace injury and illness prevention, incident investigation, workers’ compensation coordination, workplace medical/health support, and site security coordination.* Maintain and support compliance with California-specific safety programs, including the Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, heat illness prevention requirements, emergency action planning, hazard communication, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, confined space, powered industrial trucks, and other applicable Cal/OSHA standards.* Partners with site leadership, HR, Operations, Maintenance, and employees to build a proactive safety culture, strengthen employee engagement in hazard identification, and drive continuous improvement in EHS performance.* Supervise, coach, and develop one direct report; assign priorities, monitor performance, and ensure timely execution of inspections, training, recordkeeping, corrective actions, environmental tasks, and compliance activities.* Evaluate new and changing federal, California, and local environmental, health, and safety regulations and implement required program, training, reporting, and operational changes.* Conduct and oversee workplace inspections, job hazard assessments, ergonomic evaluations, incident investigations, root cause analysis, corrective action tracking, and trend reporting to reduce risk and prevent recurrence.* In collaboration with HR, coordinate workers’ compensation activities, workplace injury management, return-to-work support, OSHA recordkeeping, and related documentation for the facility.* Serve as the primary site contact for regulatory agencies and local authorities, including Cal/OSHA, EPA, CalEPA, DTSC, CUPA, local fire authority, air district, wastewater authority, and other applicable agencies for inspections, permitting, reporting, audits, and compliance matters.* Manage environmental compliance programs, including hazardous materials, hazardous waste, waste characterization, accumulation area inspections, manifests, spill prevention and response, stormwater, wastewater, air permitting/reporting, and sustainability data, as applicable to site operations.* Monitor, direct, and represent the facility regarding permit requests, renewals, reporting, inspections, and compliance obligations related to operations, construction, equipment changes, and capital projects.* Negotiate and manage contracts and vendor relationships for hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal, environmental services, industrial hygiene, emergency response, training support, and plant security, as applicable.* Lead emergency preparedness activities, including emergency action plans, evacuation drills, fire prevention, spill response, first aid/medical response coordination, and coordination with local emergency responders.* Oversee contractor safety, pre-job safety reviews, management of change activities, and EHS reviews for new equipment, chemicals, processes, and facility modifications.* Provide weekly and monthly EHS performance summaries, including incidents, near misses, corrective actions, training completion, audit results, environmental metrics, sustainability data, and key risk reduction initiatives.* Maintain accurate EHS records, permits, training documentation, inspection logs, injury and illness records, environmental reports, waste records, and other compliance documentation.* Travel nationally up to 10%, as needed. **Education & Experience:*** Bachelor’s degree in Environmental, Safety, Occupational Health, Engineering, or a related field is required.* Five or more years of progressive EHS experience in a manufacturing, industrial, or similar operational environment is required.* Prior experience supervising, coaching, or leading direct reports or EHS support staff is required.* Working knowledge of Cal/OSHA, EPA, CalEPA, DTSC, DOT, CUPA, local fire authority, air district, wastewater authority, and other applicable federal, California, and local EHS requirements is required.* Experience managing core safety programs, including IIPP, incident investigations, hazard assessments, emergency action planning, heat illness prevention, workplace violence prevention, lockout/tagout, machine guarding, hazard communication, confined space, ergonomics, and powered industrial trucks.* Experience with environmental compliance programs, including hazardous materials, hazardous waste, stormwater, wastewater, air permitting/reporting, spill response, and regulatory inspections is preferred.* Strong problem-solving, communication, training, influencing, and interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively with all levels of the organization.* Demonstrated ability to partner with operations leaders and employees to identify risk, implement practical solutions, and sustain a culture of safety and compliance.* High degree of integrity, sound judgment, ethical conduct, confidentiality, and leadership capability.* Active listening and relationship-building skills, with the ability to coach leaders and employees on safe work practices and regulatory expectations.* Master’s degree in Environmental, Safety, Engineering, Occupational Health, or a related field is preferred.* Professional certification in the environmental or safety field, such as CSP, ASP, CHMM, CIH, or similar certification, is strongly preferred.* California wastewater, stormwater, hazardous materials, hazardous waste, or other applicable environmental certifications are preferred, based on site permit requirements.* Bilingual English/Spanish skills are preferred.**Work Environment & Physical Requirements:*** Regular presence on the manufacturing floor is required, including walking production areas, observing work practices, conducting inspections, and responding to incidents.* Must be able to wear required personal protective equipment and work around manufacturing equipment, chemicals, noise, forklifts, and other industrial conditions.* May be required to support off-shift incidents, audits, regulatory inspections, emergency response activities, or urgent operational needs.