Safety Engineer

First Quality; State College (Centre County); On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Bonus opportunities

Paid time off

Medical, dental and vision

401(k) with employer match

Paid parental leave

Child and family care assistance

Tuition assistance

Wellness program

Job summary

First Quality is seeking an experienced Safety Engineer for its Lewistown, PA facility. You will develop and support EHS policies, lead incident investigations, and ensure regulatory compliance across local, state, and federal requirements.

A collaborative, learning-focused environment helps you advance safety programs and protect workers. The ideal candidate has a Bachelor’s degree in a technical field and 0–3 years of EHS experience, plus knowledge of Safety Management Systems and OSHA/EPA

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; 0–3 years in EHS field preferred.
• Familiarity with Safety Management Systems and regulatory standards.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Promote a world-class EHS culture and lead incident investigations.
• Develop and implement Environmental, Health, and Safety policies.
• Coordinate training and maintain EHS records and compliance.
• Support hazard analysis, risk reduction, and regulatory alignment.
• Perform inspections, audits, and walk-throughs to identify hazards.

Skills

EHS knowledge

Risk assessment

Regulatory compliance

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering/science or related

0-3 years EHS experience

Tools

MSDS Online

GHS labeling knowledge

Job description

Founded over 35 years ago, First Quality is a family-owned company that has grown from a small business in McElhattan, Pennsylvania into a group of companies, employing over 5,000 team members, while maintaining our family values and entrepreneurial spirit. With corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania and 8 manufacturing campuses across the U.S. and Canada, the companies within the First Quality group produce high-quality personal care and household products for large retailers and healthcare organizations. Our personal care and household product portfolio includes baby diapers, wipes, feminine pads, paper towels, bath tissue, adult incontinence products, laundry detergents, fabric finishers, and dishwash solutions. In addition, we manufacture certain raw materials and components used in the manufacturing of these products, including flexible print and packaging solutions.

Guided by our values of humility, unity, and integrity, we leverage advanced technology and innovation to drive growth and create new opportunities. At First Quality, you’ll find a collaborative environment focused on continuous learning, professional development, and our mission to Make Things Better®.

We are seeking an experienced Safety Engineer for our First Quality Retail Services facility located in Lewistown, PA.

This position provides technical skills in the development, operation and support of Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) policies/programs/procedures to instill and sustain an incident-free work environment while ensuring full compliance with all applicable regulatory agency requirements.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Promote an action-oriented approach, instilling and exemplifying a strong EHS mindset for all team members resulting in the elements required to achieve and maintain a world class EHS culture.
• Active facilitation or participation in EHS related meetings and training sessions
• Develops, manages, and implements Environmental, Health, and Safety policies and procedures in compliance with company, local, State, and Federal rules and regulations
• Serve as an innovative, flexible EHS resource supporting the company/site/location. Participating in decisions on technical, regulatory, and cultural issues related to Environmental, Health, and Safety.
• Participate in continuous improvement in EHS policies, programs, and procedures.
• Build and maintain positive working relationships with all team members, vendors and customers
• Participate in and/or lead incident investigations to effectively identify root cause/contributing factors, and ensure proper implementation of all corrective actions
• Ensure required EHS training is complete for all employees, newly hired and/or existing, and maintain training records
• Provide technical support in the design and owner acceptance approval processes of controls for hazardous working conditions and unsafe activities, ensuring compliance with applicable EHS requirements.
• Be present and engaged with the workforce in their activities to establish and strengthen two-way communication, trust and confidence in your ability to lead them.
• Facilitate communication of company EHS policies, procedures and standards with all visitors, including contractors and vendors.
• Basic level of experience with planning, performing and/or coordinating industrial hygiene sampling, analysis and interpretation of results in compliance with all applicable requirements for the exposure(s) identified
• Maintaining professional knowledge up-to-date with existing and proposed changes in applicable federal, state and local EHS regulations and standards.
• Participate in the development, implementation, and maintaining of the Safety Management System
• Assist in Worker’s Compensation claims administration and coordination of the Return-to-Work program for injured team members.
• Accurate interpretation and application of Environmental, Health, and Safety codes, standards and related professional references (e.g., OSHA, EPA, NFPA, ANSI, ADA, CCOHS, DOT/IATA, etc.)
• Carry out all administrative responsibilities associated with EHS compliance and program administration.
• Conduct regular walk through EHS inspections to identify hazards, document findings, recommend corrective actions that work within given constraints and verification of completed corrective actions and their effectiveness
• Understand and administer reasonable suspicion and impairment programs used to conduct drug and alcohol testing, and other applicable standards as they may apply
• Assist in establishing risk management processes aimed at hazard condition control and injury prevention through studying incidents, observed and potential hazard conditions in various completed and planned work environments.
• Display consistent measure of integrity and company culture in all business-related activities.
• Track and trend incident data in Safety Management System
• Responsible for the use and maintenance of all applicable company related data systems, software, peripherals, etc. to complete tasks as assigned.
• Ability to perform multiple tasks and meet deadlines
• Maintain safety data sheets in MSDS Online and physical binders and keep GHS label stations stocked
• Perform other duties as assigned

The ideal candidate should possess the following:

• Bachelor’s degree in related technical, scientific, or engineering discipline preferred
• and / or equivalent experience.
• 0-3 year experience in Environmental, Health and/or Safety field in Engineer/Specialist/Generalist role preferred
• Basic experience with developing and implementing Safety Management Systems
• (BSI 18001 / ISO 45001) preferred
• Knowledge in Worker’s Comp and Return-to-Work practices.
• Knowledge in ADA and HIPAA legal compliance
• Ability to recognize hazardous situations and recommend corrective actions

What We Offer You

We believe that by continuously improving the quality of our benefits, we can help to raise the quality of life for our team members and their families. At First Quality you will receive:

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities
• Paid time off (three-week minimum)
• Medical, dental and vision starting day one
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid parental leave
• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500)
• Bundle of joy benefit (years’ worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)
• Tuition assistance
• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums
• ...and more!

First Quality is committed to protecting information under the care of First Quality Enterprises commensurate with leading industry standards and applicable regulations. As such, First Quality provides at least annual training regarding data privacy and security to employees who, as a result of their role specifications, may come in to contact with sensitive data.

First Quality is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, or protected Veteran status.