Senior Laboratory Safety Specialist III

Job Posting Title:

Senior Laboratory Safety Specialist III

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Hiring Department:

Environmental Health and Safety

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Non-Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue Until Oct 01, 2023

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Location:

AUSTIN, TX

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Job Details:

General Notes

Environmental Health and Safety Services provides healthy and safe operations on campus, to protect students, faculty, staff and visitors, and to ensure protection of the environment.

Your skills will make a difference.

You’ll be working for a university that is internationally recognized for our academic programs and research. Your work will contribute to operational excellence and enhance the student experience. If you’re the type of person that wants to know your work has meaning and impact, you’ll like working in our department and for UT Austin. UT Austin provides an outstanding benefits package including but not limited to:

• Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%, family premiums at 50%)
• Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options
• Generous paid vacation, sick time, and holidays
• Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a defined benefit retirement plan, with 8% employer matching funds
• Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b)
• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses
• Robust free training access through LinkedIn Learning plus professional conference opportunities.
• Tuition assistance
• Expansive employee discount program including athletic tickets
• Free access to UT Austin’s libraries and museums with staff ID card
• Free rides on all UT shuttle and Austin CapMetro buses with staff ID card
• For more details, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards .

For more information on Environmental Health and Safety, Visit the Environmental Health and Safety Website

Must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis for any employee without sponsorship.

Security sensitive; Criminal background check conducted on selected applicant. Hiring decision is contingent on applicant clearing check. This job class may contain positions that are security sensitive and thereby subject to the provisions of Texas Education Code §51.215. Applications will be reviewed online by the hiring department.

Purpose

Play a key role in UT Austin's "What starts here changes the world" facilitating safe research, influencing faculty, staff, and students. Work within the varied and multifaceted EHS Group where no two days are alike. Utilize knowledge of laboratory practices, chemistry, and safety principles to be an ambassador for environmental health and safety in high hazard laboratories. Build relationships with Principal Investigators and their lab staff to become an asset for changing safety culture.  Be a significant contributor during incident investigations or emergency responses (which involve chemicals) and key in mitigation of hazardous materials risks.  Assist with inspections of laboratories including all classified as high hazard and other special projects.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional knowledge and expertise in the operation and support of safety programs and ensure compliance with regulatory agency guidelines and institutional policies. Responsible for the coordination and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. Coordinates and oversees inspections and monitors and evaluates health and safety issues. Evaluates and interprets results to advise management regarding necessary corrective actions. Enters data into the EHSA database, updates inspection and training records. Performs semi-annual follow-up visits of Lab Hazard Level 3 labs. Manages the EHS-LabSafety email account.  
• Performs incident response and accident investigations and completes necessary reports. Meets with lab personnel to provide recommendations to prevent re-occurrence of incidents. Provides expertise for other safety specialists on hazardous chemical incidents.
• Consults directly with faculty, committee members, contractors, and regulatory agencies to interpret and to ensure compliance with safety regulations and institutional policies and procedures.
• Provides expertise for highly specialized problems such as facility design, handling procedures for extremely hazardous materials, waste disposal, life safety codes, and occupational exposure issues. Reviews grant proposals and experimental details for researchers.
• Develops and conducts educational programs relating to safety issues, as required. Maintains current knowledge of policies, guidelines, and regulations from governmental agencies. Performs related duties as assigned. May attend seminars and workshops to maintain knowledge of current safety techniques and standards. May develop standard operating procedures and other written guidelines.
• Perform other job related duties as assigned. Contributes as a team member to EHS with competent performance, demonstrates leadership and respects other employees. Provides exceptional customer service and conducts work safely. Drive University vehicles. Maintain acceptable driver rating as established in Policy: UTS157 Section 2.5.4.

Required Qualifications

PhD in Chemistry. At least 2 years of experience with environmental health and safety or related experience.  At least 4 years of working within a laboratory including working with highly hazardous materials and/or specialized equipment and techniques.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

PhD in Chemistry. 5+ years of working within a laboratory including working with highly hazardous materials and specialized equipment and techniques.

Driving Required

This job requires a class "C" operator's driver's license. The applicant selected must provide a current three-year driving record from the current state of residence. If not currently a Texas resident, a Texas driver's license must be obtained within 30 days of becoming a Texas resident.

Salary Range

$65,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions
Environmental Demands:

• Uniforms and/or personal protection equipment (furnished)
• May work in all weather conditions
• May work in extreme temperatures
• May work around chemical fumes
• May work around standard office conditions
• May work around biohazards
• May work around chemicals
• May work around electrical and mechanical hazards

Physical Tasks:

• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation
• Use of manual dexterity
• Climbing of stairs
• Climbing of ladders
• Lifting and moving

Additional Working Conditions:

• May be required to work in confined spaces, manholes, tunnels, elevated work, extended shifts including nights, weekends, and holidays.
• Considerable walking, standing, squatting, stooping, and moving of heavy materials and equipment in all weather conditions.
• More than average exposure to hazardous material or equipment.
• Must wear respiratory/personal protective equipment (PPE) while performing duties. May require tuberculosis screening and occasional use of a respirator.
• May be required to lift up to 50lbs. Often required to twist, grasp, push, pull and bend.
• Participate in on-call program.

Work Shift

• 40 Hour Work Week Schedule; 8 hours per day; Monday-Friday (and as needed)

Required Materials

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.  Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.

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Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

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Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

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Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer , complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

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Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

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E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English) [PDF]
• E-Verify Poster (Spanish) [PDF]
• Right To Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right To Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

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Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031 .

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.