Safety Officer - Accident Prevention and Investigation (9069)

OVERALL DESCRIPTION

The Safety Officer will coordinate and cooperate with all levels of Authority management and collective bargaining unit employees to provide expert assistance toward identifying, assessing, and prioritizing line management’s prevention of safety, health, and environmental hazards. The Safety Officer must be able to satisfy rigorous and demanding work schedules, which include non-traditional working hours (nights and weekends), and short-term deadlines.

The Safety Officer’s work effort will be concentrated in one of the five (5) primary specialty areas; Operational Safety, Occupational Safety and Health, Construction Safety, Accident Prevention and Investigation, and/or Safety Regulatory Compliance. To maintain a diverse and broad level of subject matter expertise that is needed to perform all the Division’s responsibilities, the required expertise and responsibilities will vary for each hire and be based on the current status of vacancies and needs of the division.
Based on the vacancies and needs of the Division. The Safety Officer will be required to be experienced in one of these five (5) areas and would be expected to perform functions based on the specific responsibilities selected for the position at that time and identified in the job posting. The Chief Safety Officer, Deputy Chief Safety Officer, System Safety and/or the Department Director will make this determination of what responsibilities are required based on the current staffing needs at the time of posting.

DISCIPLINE RESPONSIBILITIES

Accident Prevention & Investigation

• Investigates significant accidents and injuries with the cooperation of labor and management. Uses specialized equipment and knowledge to reconstruct and analyze accidents and other occurrences. Prepares final reports and makes recommendations where required.
• Analyzes equipment conditions and vehicle response; evaluates human factors and fatigue related issues and its relativity to crash avoidance.
• Provides Director, Accident Prevention and Investigation and/or the Chief Safety & Deputy Chief Safety Officer, System Safety with 24-hour synopsis of investigated accidents or incidents.
• Provides 24/7 on-call coverage for all Authority operations and activities when notified about covered accident, incident, injury, or other loss causing event. Immediately responds to and investigates those incidents based on the severity and significance of the received incident report. Assures that all regulatory notifications are made in a timely manner.
• Documents evidence and generates chain of custody as required by department procedures.
• Develops, updates, and assesses SEPTA’s Accident/Incident Investigation Program. Provides training to managers and conducts periodic audits to ensure compliance.
• Audits other departments’ accident and injury reports to assure adequacy of investigation and action taken to prevent recurrence. Prepares trend analysis and other special reports based on these accidents. Assures that proposed remedial action is implemented and is effective.
• Reviews accident and incident statistics to identify trends and develops programs with the various departments to reduce, if not eliminate, accidents and incidents.
• Interfaces and coordinates with various Authorities Having Jurisdiction including, but not limited to, Federal Transit Administration, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation State Safety Oversight Agency (PA DOT SSOA), Federal Railroad Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Public Utilities Commission with regard to Authority accidents and incidents.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• B. S. Degree plus five (5) to seven (7) years’ experience in safety or safety engineering field required.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience (two (2) years of related experience equating to one year of post high school education) may be considered in lieu of the degree requirement.
• Strong knowledge of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and PennDOT and applicable, local, state and federal regulations required.
• Must demonstrate the ability to pursue/perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Must have a strong understanding of union and management environment and demonstrate the ability to address health and safety matters directly to union employees.
• Must be able to review and analyze accident data and participate in the development of corrective action plans to resolve complex safety and health issues.
• Must be able to satisfy rigorous and demanding work schedules, which include non-traditional working hours, and short-term deadlines.
• Must have valid driver’s license.
• Must have excellent verbal and technical writing skills with experience writing quality technical reports and Standard Operating Procedures.