Environment of Care and Safety Officer

• Area of Interest: Support Services
• FTE/Hours per pay period: 1.0
• Department: General Svcs Admin/Support
• Shift: Monday-Friday, Days
• Job ID: 181835

Overview

This position is responsible for the coordination and delivery of St. Lukes Safety, Accreditation, and Environment of Care (EOC) programs throughout the hospital. The position requires work with senior leadership, departmental staff throughout the hospital and occasionally external resources in the area of regulation compliance to assure development of comprehensive programs and services. As the dedicated Safety Officer for the hospital, this position will maintain the safest possible physical environment for patients, staff, visitors, and students by organizing and conducting drills, inspections and training required by federal, state, and local authorities having jurisdiction throughout the facilities. Includes responsible for documentation of these activities and follow-up on any concerns or safety issues encountered. In addition, the incumbent assists in the maintaining the records required by all authorities having jurisdiction as well as ensures UPH compliance with all emergency management, life safety, and environment of care standards of DNV and equivalent Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) conditions of participation. Incumbent is responsible for the regulatory compliance, accreditation, and continuous survey readiness at the hospital and hospital ambulatory sites, and business sites related to Environment of Care and Life Safety chapters. This position is responsible for establishing and maintaining necessary compliance mechanisms, training, inspections, documentation and activities. The incumbent is responsible for supporting facility specific management and department managers on safety as well as the institution's compliance with federal, state and local laws and accreditation standards. Incumbent makes timely report of any safety incidents or events.

Why UnityPoint Health?

At UnityPoint Health, you matter. We're proud to be recognized as a Top Place to Work in Healthcare by Beckers Healthcare several years in a row for our commitment to our team members.

Our competitive Total Rewards program offers benefits options focused on your needs and priorities, no matter what life stage you're in. Here are just a few:

• Expect paid time off, parental leave, 401K matching and an employee recognition program.
• Dental, health and vision insurance, paid holidays, short and long-term disability and more. We even offer pet insurance for your four-legged family members.
• Early access to earned wages with Daily Pay, tuition reimbursement to help further your career and adoption assistance to help you grow your family.

With a collective goal to champion a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and respected, we honor the ways people are unique and embrace what brings us together.

And, we believe equipping you with support and development opportunities is a vital part of delivering an exceptional employment experience.

Join our team of experts and make a difference with UnityPoint Health.

Responsibilities

Safety Officer

• Coordinates management plans, meetings, sub-committees and consulting activities, working with Director of Facilities and Support Operations, Service Director of Quality Management, Coordinator Performance Improvement, Plant Operations Manager, sub-committee chairs and other hospital staff. Actively seeks opportunities to advance hospital safety and associate knowledge of safety policy and procedures.
• Collaborates with Safety, Employee Health, and Infection Control departments on program revisions and updates.
• Manages hospital process to assure ongoing evaluation and correction of environmental risk and safety evaluation. Working with hospital management staff, manages processes to regularly evaluate conditions throughout the organization related to risk, code and general safety are being conducted, documented, measured and actively followed up on.
• Monitor major construction and renovation projects from a life/fire safety, risk management perspective using ICRA training. Provide advice and assists with project problem solving to keep projects in compliance with code.

Environment of Care Coordination

• Develop and implement policies and procedures that guide and support compliance with DNV Standards or other regulatory agencies. Monitor service and staff performance in relation to those standards, policies and procedures. Develop standards of accountability and reporting.

Provides oversight of DNV statement of conditions report. Works with Director Facilities and Support Operations and Manager of Plant Operations to assure projects are actively managed, funded and corrected.

• Leads EOC rounds on a regular basis to assess physical environment, detect code violations, hazards and inappropriate work processes and procedures. Reviews event reports and investigations and makes recommendations to maintain a hazard free environment.
• Assesses and conducts risk assessments that proactively evaluate the impact of buildings, grounds, utilities/water, equipment, occupants, and internal physical systems on patient and public safety. Makes effective recommendations for action and correction.
• Prepare annual evaluations of EOC management plans for report to EOC committee and administration. Annual evaluations of EOC are reported to the board.
• Participate on hospital or medical staff committees as assigned or required identifying service requirements and staffing needs. Plan for and implement strategies to determine long range plans for programs, facilities, equipment, and human resources as well as the continuous assessment, improvement and maintenance of the quality of services provided.
• Works directly with Support Service Managers in identifying, collecting, reporting, and monitoring of key compliance indicators in support of EOC requirements. Assist with improvement initiatives, action planning, and implementation communication.
• Maintain hospital compliance with all assigned regulatory/accreditation requirements. Develop and implement policies and procedures that direct and support the provision of services within regulatory guidelines.
• Supports hospital sustainability efforts through review of hospital operations, collaboration with hospital leaders, and identification of industry-leading efforts and research.
• Perform other duties as needed or assigned as work is expected to vary with changing needs and priorities.
• Purposefully conducts all aspects of the job in an ethical manner in support of the hospital's commitment to ethical behavior in all areas of personal and professional activity.

Qualifications

• Three (3) years relevant experience, including one (1) year of progressively responsible experience within safety, including leadership and program management. Work experience in a related industry may substitute.
• Communication-written & verbal. Must be able to communicate and work effectively with a wide range of hospital, health system, and vendor personnel including executives, clinicians, and staff.
• Relationship management
• Project management
• Knowledge required to recognize environmental factors, stresses associated with complex work operations and to ascertain their effects on the health and well-being of employees
• Excellent organizational and planning skills.