Careers

Description:

L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) administers the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) law Chapter 49.17 RCW by developing and enforcing rules that protect workers from hazardous job conditions. Our inspectors visit workplaces each year and cite businesses that violate health and safety rules. 

The Compliance Industrial Safety and Health Investigator (CISHI) positions are used to maintain Federal approval of the state plan occupational safety and health program that is necessarily authorized under statute, Chapter 49.17 RCW (WISHA), and have enforcement authority over all employers in the state of Washington. This includes private and public sector, state, county, and city authorities. The approved State program at the Department of Labor and Industries must be maintained as-effective-as the federal OSHA compliance program. The work is aimed at ensuring all employers comply with workplace safety and health laws and rules to prevent worker and public fatalities, injuries and illnesses, to include compliance enforcement through legal processes and procedures.

CISHI-3s are senior level industrial hygiene safety investigators that have attended a defined new hire course that includes over 360 classroom hours (provided upon hire). They conduct highly complex investigations and inspections of industrial hygiene hazards in all industries independently or in teams. This includes fatalities or accident investigations, resulting in hospitalizations, amputations, or loss of an eye.

Some of what you’ll do:

• Independently conduct thorough investigations to determine root cause and other contributing factors while taking field notes, photos, videos, or other appropriate documentation methods.
• Conduct highly complex industrial hygiene investigations of workplaces using independent judgment within established guidelines to determine the type and extent of suspected environmental and occupational safety hazards (e.g. manufacturing plants, construction projects, etc.).
• Enter physical worksites unannounced to conduct compliance investigations. 
• Investigate complaints and referrals to determine if the alleged hazards exist and employees are exposed to them.
• Determine employer compliance or non-compliance with WISHA Safety and Health Standards and write reports documenting employee exposure along with proposed citations and monetary penalties as appropriate.
• Organizes, writes, and edits comprehensive technical inspection and investigation reports which are the basis for industrial hygiene compliance actions. 
• Ensure abatement of hazards identified during inspection.
• Work with the Attorney General’s office and local prosecutors on highly complex and difficult cases.
• Testify on behalf of the Department as primary witness for all inspections conducted, and testify as witness to any other inspections participated in.  
• Perform evidence handling of highly complex cases.

Skills/Eligibility:

What we are looking for:

• A solid desire to ensure worker safety with a thorough understanding of safety and health rules and regulations and ability to identify safety related hazards in a variety of workplaces.
• Strong written, verbal and interpersonal communications skills with ability to write comprehensive and concise reports detailing identified hazards.
• Willing and able to work with hostile clients or customers (both internal and external).
• Knowledge of Safety and Health Rules and Regulations, the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) and the federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The ability to explain to customers what their businesses must do to comply with these regulations.
• Enforcing of governmental laws, rules and regulations, and initiates enforcement actions in such a way that the public perceives as fair, objective, and reasonable.
• Perform duties safely by modeling the behavior we expect to see.

 

Qualifications

 

REQUIRED:

• A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university in one of the following fields:
  Industrial Hygiene, Public Health, Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, or a closely related science-based discipline.

  • Degrees in other science-related areas may also be considered if they meet both of the following criteria:
    • Include at least 60 semester hours in science, mathematics, engineering, or science-based technology courses
    • Of those, at least 15 semester hours must be at the upper-divisionlevel (junior, senior, or graduate-level coursework)
      • If you meet this qualification, you must include a copy of your transcript with your application
• A minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in industrial hygiene is required after completing the qualifying degree.
  • A Master’s degree in Industrial Hygiene may substitute for one year of the required professional experience.
• A valid and unrestricted driver license.

 

DESIRED: 

• Bilingual preferred; persons of all languages are encouraged to apply. Bilingual jobs include a 5% salary increase for dual language responsibilities.