EHS Specialist - Carthage, TN

Position Summary

The EHS Specialist is responsible for developing, implementing, and sustaining a comprehensive environmental, health, and safety (EHS) program within our manufacturing facility. This role ensures compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations while driving a proactive safety culture that prioritizes hazard prevention, behavioral safety, and continuous improvement. The EHS Specialist partners closely with operations leaders, supervisors, and employees at all levels to maintain a safe, healthy, and compliant workplace.

Key Responsibilities

• Safety Program Leadership
  • Develop, implement, and manage facility-wide safety programs, policies, and procedures.
  • Lead the transition from compliance-based safety to a culture of proactive safety ownership.
  • Serve as the facility’s subject matter expert for OSHA, EPA, NFPA, DOT and other regulatory frameworks.
  • Drive continuous improvement through audits, corrective actions, and risk assessments.
  • Champion environmental initiatives that will help to reduce process and personal waste.
• Hazard Identification & Risk Reduction
  • Conduct regular workplace inspections, job hazard analyses (JHAs), and risk assessments.
  • Lead incident investigations, root-cause analysis, and development of corrective actions.
  • Track and analyze safety metrics (TRCR, DART, near misses) to identify trends and implement preventive measures.
  • Assists with Safety Data Sheet (SDS) authoring, and maintains the SDS database
• Training & Engagement
  • Develop and deliver safety training programs including onboarding, annual requirements, and task-specific training.
  • Facilitate safety committees, toolbox talks, and employee engagement initiatives.
  • Champion safety awareness campaigns and behavioral safety programs.
  • Lead the site level safety team
• Regulatory Compliance
  • Maintain full compliance with OSHA standards, environmental regulations, hazardous materials requirements, and permit obligations.
  • Prepare regulatory reporting & documentation (e.g. REACH, RoHS, SARA, OSHA 300 etc...)
  • Manage workers’ compensation reporting, return-to-work programs, and case management.
  • Maintain all safety documentation, records, and required regulatory filings.
• Emergency Preparedness
  • Lead emergency response planning, including evacuations, chemical spill response, fire safety, and crisis management.
  • Conduct drills and ensure equipment (e.g., extinguishers, AEDs, alarms) remains in compliance.
•  Collaboration & Leadership
  • Partner with operations, maintenance, quality, and HR to embed safety into daily activities.
  • Serve as a role model for safe personal practices.
  • Influence at all levels of the organization to build accountability and reinforce safety behaviors.
  • Support capital projects and process changes through safety review and risk analysis.
  • Assists in timely creation and submission of corporate reports and KPIs.

Qualifications

• Education
  • Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety, Environmental Health, Engineering, or related field
  • OSHA 30 certification
• Experience
  • Minimum 1-3 years of experience in a manufacturing environment
• Skills:
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • Proficiency in Excel and experience with planning tools (e.g., SAP IBP, Oracle, Kinaxis).
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Minimum 1-3 years of safety experience in a manufacturing, industrial, or production environment.
• Experience with Lean Manufacturing, 5S, or continuous improvement methodologies
• SAP experience
• ISO certification as a Lead or Internal Auditor (14001 preferred)
• Demonstrated success in building safety culture beyond compliance.

Key Competencies

• Maintains a Customer Focus – Demonstrating exceptional service to both internal and external customers giving high priority to understanding and satisfying the customer.
• Takes Ownership – Demonstrates a continuous drive to achieve superior results and takes responsibility for those results.
• Team Player – Has the ability to collaborate effectively with others to achieve common goals. Recognizes situations in which team members need to work together to solve work tasks at hand.
• Uses Sound Judgment / Integrity – Takes action that is well-reasoned for the best interest of the business.
• Achieves Quality Results – Executes on objectives to ensure the long- term success of the organization.

Key Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Qualities Required

• Team Player – Has the ability to collaborate effectively with others to achieve common goals. Recognizes situations in which team members need to work together to solve work tasks at hand.
• Language Skills – Ability to write procedures with input from subject matter experts. Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from regulatory agencies or members of the business community. Ability to write speeches and articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format. Effective presentation skills. Ability to assist in the completion of regulatory forms for submittal.                 
• Mathematical Skills – Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as proportions and percentages.  Ability to calculate conversions of standard and metric measurements.  
• Reasoning Ability – Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.
• Other Qualities – Pleasant, self-motivated, high energy, and reliable with an eye for detail.  Ability to work under pressure. Strong organizational skills. Able to prioritize tasks and work independently. Ability to occasionally work alternate shifts if need arises. 
• Personality - A pleasant, self-motivated, high energy, reliable focused person with an eye for detail.  Ability to work under pressure and deliver results in a timely manner and professionally
• Appearance - Maintain a professional appearance that reflects positively on HPG while dealing with outside contacts and other HPG personnel
• Work Environment – While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to wet and/or hot humid conditions, oily conditions. The noise level in the work environment can be very loud at times
• Physical Demands: See Physical Demands Document
• Reasonable Accommodation - The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required for the position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.