Quality & Safety Manager

POSITION SUMMARY

The Quality & Safety Manager leads the facility’s quality, safety, health, and environmental programs. This position is responsible for maintaining regulatory and customer compliance, overseeing the Quality Management System, reducing workplace hazards and product defects, and driving continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on, floor-oriented leader who enjoys working with employees and managers to build a strong culture of safety, quality, and accountability.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the facility’s quality, safety, health, and environmental programs in compliance with OSHA, EPA, state, local, company, customer, ISO, and AIB requirements.
• Develop, maintain, and enforce policies and procedures related to workplace safety, product quality, environmental compliance, and continuous improvement.
• Maintain a visible presence on the production floor, identify unsafe conditions or quality concerns, and work with management to implement timely corrective actions.
• Manage safety programs including Lockout/Tagout, Personal Protective Equipment, Powered Industrial Trucks, Hazard Communication, Machine Guarding, emergency preparedness, and incident reporting.
• Conduct facility inspections, compliance audits, job-hazard assessments, safety meetings, and employee training, including new-hire orientation and required refresher training.
• Lead investigations of injuries, near misses, property damage, customer complaints, and product-quality issues; complete root-cause analyses and verify corrective and preventive actions.
• Maintain required records, including OSHA logs, training documentation, inspection reports, incident files, Safety Data Sheets, calibration records, and quality documentation.
• Oversee the Quality Management System, including internal and external audits, document control, first-piece and in-process inspections, Certificates of Analysis, change orders, nonconforming materials, and hold-and-release processes.
• Monitor manufacturing processes and performance trends to reduce defects, waste, rework, customer complaints, injuries, and operational interruptions.
• Respond to customer-quality concerns and coordinate with operations, customer service, and other departments to provide timely, effective resolutions.
• Monitor supplier performance, communicate quality deficiencies, coordinate corrective actions, and conduct supplier audits when necessary.
• Establish and report quality and safety performance measures, communicate results to leadership, and recommend the resources necessary to achieve facility goals.
• Supervise, train, and develop quality and safety personnel, as applicable, while promoting employee involvement and accountability at all levels.
• Coordinate workers’ compensation and injury case management with Human Resources and support regulatory, customer, certification, and insurance inspections.
• Perform other duties as assigned based on operational and business needs.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Safety, Environmental Health, Quality Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field preferred. Equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• At least five years of progressively responsible quality, safety, or environmental experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Leadership or supervisory experience preferred.
• Experience in corrugated packaging, printing, displays, paper converting, or a related manufacturing industry strongly preferred.
• Experience with Quality Management Systems, ISO, AIB, food-safety standards, regulatory audits, incident investigations, and corrective-action processes.
• OSHA 30-hour certification or the ability to obtain it within an established period preferred.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Strong knowledge of OSHA requirements, manufacturing safety practices, quality systems, process controls, and continuous-improvement methods.
• Ability to interpret regulations, customer specifications, audit standards, and technical documentation.
• Strong leadership, communication, organization, problem-solving, and root-cause analysis skills.
• Ability to influence employees and managers, lead change, and hold others accountable without relying solely on formal authority.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and the ability to learn company systems used for reporting, training, and document control.
• Ability to handle confidential information and respond outside the regular schedule when serious safety, environmental, or customer-quality issues arise.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• The employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit, talk, and hear and may frequently reach, push, pull, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, or climb. The position requires the ability to move throughout an active manufacturing facility and inspect equipment and work areas.
• Specific vision requirements include close, distance, color, peripheral, and depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodations may be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities.
• WORK ENVIRONMENT
• This position works in both office and manufacturing environments. The employee may be exposed to moving machinery, elevated noise levels, heat, humidity, fumes, airborne particles, vibration, and elevated work areas. All required safety procedures and personal protective equipment must be followed.