Job Description Job Description
Safety Manager
The Role
As Safety Manager, you will help protect the people who build and improve Northeast Ohio's roads, bridges, and essential infrastructure. This is a hands-on, field-focused leadership role. You will partner with superintendents, foremen, project managers, and craft workers to turn safety expectations into practical jobsite habits, and build a culture where employees speak up, look out for one another, and take ownership of safe work. The goal is simple and meaningful: every crew member gets home safely while important infrastructure gets built.
Key Responsibilities
Safety Program Leadership
Develop, implement, and continuously improve company-wide safety and health program in line with OSHA (29 CFR 1926), ODOT, and owner/client requirements.
Maintain written safety policies, procedures, and site-specific safety plans for each project.
Prepare safety submittals, prequalification documents, and safety plans required for public bids and contracts.
Field Safety and Jobsite Oversight
Conduct regular jobsite inspections and audits on highway, bridge, paving, sitework, and underground utility projects; document findings and drive timely corrective action.
Provide hands-on guidance on high-hazard work, including excavation and trenching, work zone and maintenance of traffic, work at heights and fall protection, cranes and rigging, heavy equipment operation, confined spaces, silica exposure, and work near live traffic and utilities.
Review Job Hazard Analyses (JHAs) and pre-task plans with crews before work begins.
Have the authority to stop work when conditions are unsafe.
Training and Culture
Lead new-hire safety orientation and ongoing training (toolbox talks, OSHA 10/30, competent person, fall protection, excavation, work zone safety, first aid/CPR).
Coach foremen and superintendents to lead safety conversations with their crews.
Build trust with union craft workers and encourage near-miss reporting and open communication.
Recognize and reinforce safe behaviors across the field.
Incident Management and Reporting
Lead incident, injury, and near-miss investigations; identify root causes and implement preventive measures.
Maintain OSHA 300/300A/301 logs and required recordkeeping.
Manage Ohio BWC workers' compensation claims in coordination with HR, including return-to-work and transitional duty programs.
Track and report safety metrics (TRIR, DART, EMR, leading indicators) to leadership.
Compliance and Coordination
Serve as the primary point of contact for OSHA, ODOT, owner representatives, and general contractor safety staff.
Ensure subcontractor safety compliance on projects where the company serves as prime contractor.
Oversee safety at the company's maintenance facility, yard, and welding/fabrication shop.
Manage PPE, safety equipment, and first aid supply inventory.
Support drug and alcohol testing programs and fit-for-duty requirements.
Qualifications
Required
5+ years of construction safety experience, preferably in heavy/highway, bridge, paving, or underground utility construction.
OSHA 500 (Construction) authorized trainer, or OSHA 30-Hour Construction with willingness to obtain OSHA 500.
Strong working knowledge of OSHA 1926 standards, especially Subparts P (Excavations), M (Fall Protection), CC (Cranes), and work zone/MUTCD requirements.
Experience conducting incident investigations and maintaining OSHA recordkeeping.
Ability to communicate credibly with craft workers, foremen, and executives alike.
Valid driver's license and ability to travel daily to jobsites across Northeast Ohio.
Ability to work outdoors in all weather conditions and to occasionally work early mornings, nights, or weekends as project schedules require.
Key Competencies
Field presence: comfortable spending most of the week on jobsites, not behind a desk.
Relationship builder: earns trust and influences behavior through coaching, not just enforcement.
Practical problem-solver: finds workable solutions that keep crews safe and projects moving.
Organized and detail-oriented: keeps documentation, training records, and reports accurate and current.
Steady under pressure: responds calmly and decisively to incidents and emergencies.
