Safety Manager

Scope:

Hands on Senior Environmental, Health & Safety Manager leads the safety strategy and EHS programs for a multi-plant manufacturing campus and distribution center in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

This role has a strong emphasis on occupational safety, injury prevention, regulatory compliance, employee engagement, and operational risk reduction. The Senior EHS Manager will partner closely with plant leadership, operations, maintenance, warehouse/distribution, human resources, and employees at every level to build and sustain a proactive, safety-first culture.

The successful candidate combines strategic leadership with a highly visible floor presence, driving accountability, coaching leaders, conducting risk assessments, and ensuring effective implementation of EHS standards across all assigned facilities.

Essential Duties and Key Responsibilities:

Safety Leadership & Culture

• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of site-wide safety programs across multiple manufacturing plants and the distribution center.
• Champion a visible, engaged, and behavior-based safety culture that prioritizes prevention, employee ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Serve as the primary EHS advisor to site and plant leadership, providing practical guidance on safety risks, compliance obligations, and corrective actions.
• Establish clear safety expectations, performance measures, and accountability mechanisms for leaders, supervisors, and employees.
• Conduct frequent floor and warehouse presence, safety observations, audits, and employee engagement activities.
• Facilitate safety committees, toolbox talks, leadership safety meetings, and employee training initiatives.

Risk Management, Incident Prevention & Investigation

• Identify, assess, and mitigate workplace hazards in manufacturing, maintenance, warehouse, logistics, and office environments.
• Lead and support job hazard analyses, ergonomic assessments, machine safety reviews, lockout/tagout assessments, and other risk-reduction activities.
• Ensure injuries, near misses, property damage events, and other safety incidents are fully investigated with root causes and timely, sustainable corrective actions determined.
• Analyze safety trends and leading/lagging indicators to identify systemic risks and prioritize improvement opportunities.
• Develop and implement strategies to reduce recordable injuries, lost-time incidents, near misses, and workers’ compensation costs.
• Ensure thorough documentation, follow-up, and verification of corrective and preventive actions.

Regulatory Compliance & EHS Programs

• Maintain compliance with applicable federal, state, and local safety regulations, including OSHA requirements and relevant Indiana regulations.
• Manage and improve core safety programs, including but not limited to:
• Hazard communication and chemical safety
• Lockout/tagout and hazardous energy control
• Machine guarding
• Confined-space entry
• Fall protection
• Powered industrial truck/forklift safety
• Warehouse and distribution-center safety
• Contractor safety management
• Personal protective equipment
• Emergency action and evacuation planning
• Electrical safety
• Bloodborne pathogens and first aid
• Ergonomics and material-handling safety
• Coordinate and support OSHA inspections, regulatory inquiries, audits, and reporting requirements.
• Maintain accurate EHS records, training documentation, incident logs, permits, and compliance reports.

Environmental & Sustainability Responsibilities

• Oversee environmental compliance activities for assigned facilities, with safety remaining the primary focus of the role.
• Ensure compliance with applicable air, water, waste, stormwater, hazardous-material, and chemical-management requirements.
• Manage environmental permits, inspections, reporting, waste-disposal practices, and third-party environmental service providers as needed.
• Partner with operations and maintenance teams to identify opportunities for waste reduction, spill prevention, and improved environmental performance.
• Lead response and reporting activities related to environmental incidents, releases, or compliance concerns.

Environmental & Sustainability Responsibilities

• Oversee environmental compliance activities for assigned facilities, with safety remaining the primary focus of the role.
• Ensure compliance with applicable air, water, waste, stormwater, hazardous-material, and chemical-management requirements.
• Manage environmental permits, inspections, reporting, waste-disposal practices, and third-party environmental service providers as needed.
• Partner with operations and maintenance teams to identify opportunities for waste reduction, spill prevention, and improved environmental performance.
• Lead response and reporting activities related to environmental incidents, releases, or compliance concerns.

Training & Capability Building

• Develop, deliver, and coordinate effective EHS training for employees, supervisors, managers, contractors, and temporary workers.
• Ensure training is role-specific, understandable, documented, and reinforced through on-the-job coaching.
• Build safety leadership capability among frontline supervisors and managers.
• Maintain training matrices and ensure timely completion of required recurring training.
• Support onboarding programs to ensure new employees understand site safety expectations before beginning work.

Emergency Preparedness & Business Support

• Lead emergency-response preparedness, including evacuation plans, fire prevention, severe-weather procedures, spill response, and coordination with emergency services.
• Plan and facilitate emergency drills and evaluate opportunities to improve readiness.
• Support business continuity and crisis-response planning related to EHS events.
• Manage EHS-related vendors, consultants, and contractors, including service quality, compliance expectations, and budget oversight.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health & Safety, Occupational Safety, Industrial Hygiene, Engineering, Environmental Science, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• Seven or more years of progressive EHS experience in a manufacturing, food production, consumer packaged goods, industrial, or distribution environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading safety programs across multiple facilities, departments, or complex operations.
• Strong working knowledge of OSHA regulations and practical application of safety-management systems.
• Proven success reducing workplace injuries and improving safety performance through proactive programs and employee engagement.
• Experience conducting incident investigations, root-cause analysis, risk assessments, and corrective-action management.
• Strong knowledge of manufacturing and warehouse safety risks, including machine guarding, lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks, ergonomics, and contractor safety.
• Ability to influence leaders and employees at all levels while balancing operational needs with EHS requirements.
• Excellent communication, training, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work on the production floor, in warehouse environments, and in varying industrial conditions as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification such as Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Associate Safety Professional (ASP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM), or similar credential. 
• Experience in food manufacturing, beverage, packaging, consumer goods, or a high-speed production environment. 
• Experience with workers’ compensation, return-to-work programs, OSHA recordkeeping, and safety data analytics. 
• Experience managing environmental permits, waste programs, stormwater compliance, or chemical-management programs. 
• Lean, Six Sigma, continuous-improvement, or behavior-based safety experience. 

Key Competencies

• Safety-first leadership and personal accountability
• Operational credibility and strong floor presence
• Coaching, influencing, and employee engagement
• Sound judgment and practical risk management
• Root-cause problem solving and data-driven decision-making
• Regulatory knowledge and disciplined compliance execution
• Project management and ability to manage competing priorities
• Clear written and verbal communication
• Collaboration across manufacturing, maintenance, warehouse, logistics, and leadership teams

Physical Demands:

• Regular presence in manufacturing plants and distribution-center environments. 
• Ability to walk production and warehouse floors; climb stairs; wear required personal protective equipment; and work around noise, equipment, moving vehicles, varying temperatures: ability to lift 40 lbs.
• Ability to respond to urgent safety or environmental matters outside normal business hours when necessary. 
• Limited local travel may be required among assigned facilities or sites.