Shop Safety Coordinator
Department: Safety
Reports to: QC Manager
Location: Steelworks of the Carolinas
The Shop Safety & Training Coordinator develops safe, capable, and confident team members through practical training, coaching, and accountability. This position leads shop-safety orientation for new employees, conducts overhead-crane training and operator evaluations, provides electrical and arc-flash awareness, and reinforces OSHA requirements applicable to steel fabrication.
The coordinator spends most of the workday in the shop, building relationships, observing work, correcting unsafe behavior, and helping employees understand not only what the rules are, but why they matter.
- Essential Responsibilities
- New-Employee Safety Training
- Conduct shop-safety orientation before a new employee begins production work.
- Provide a guided shop tour identifying emergency exits, evacuation routes, shelters, eyewash stations, fire extinguishers, first-aid supplies, AEDs, SDS access, and restricted areas.
- Train employees on required PPE and verify correct fit and use.
- Explain hazard reporting, near-miss reporting, stop-work authority, and injury-reporting expectations.
- Review emergency procedures, alarms, assembly points, and incident-response expectations.
- Provide training in a manner employees can understand, including Spanish-language or translated materials when needed.
- Maintain completed quizzes, demonstrations, evaluations, and employee acknowledgments.
- Coordinate job-specific training with department supervisors.
- Follow up with new employees during their first week, 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days.
- Overhead Crane and Rigging Training
- Deliver classroom and hands-on overhead-crane instruction.
- Teach operators to identify crane capacity and never exceed rated loads.
- Train employees to perform and document pre-use inspections.
- Cover pendant controls, emergency stops, limit devices, brakes, hooks, wire ropes, chains, and visible defects.
- Teach proper load control, center-of-gravity recognition, balanced lifting, tag-line use, and safe travel paths.
- Train employees to keep people clear of suspended loads and never carry loads over employees.
- Teach safe use and inspection of slings, shackles, hooks, spreader beams, clamps, and lifting devices.
- Explain sling angles and how decreasing the angle increases tension.
- Conduct practical operator evaluations using Steelworks equipment and typical loads.
- Issue internal authorization only after the employee demonstrates competency.
- Maintain an approved-operator list and schedule refresher training.
- Immediately suspend operating authorization when serious unsafe behavior or lack of competency is observed.
- Coordinate equipment repairs and formal inspections with maintenance and qualified outside providers.
- Shop-Floor Safety Leadership
- Spend approximately 80 % of work time in production areas.
- Conduct daily safety walks and document hazards and corrective actions.
- Coach employees respectfully when unsafe behavior is observed.
- Recognize employees who demonstrate strong safety leadership.
- Conduct weekly toolbox talks and short hands-on demonstrations.
- Participate in incident and near-miss investigations.
- Help supervisors identify root causes and sustainable corrective actions.
- Verify that corrective actions are completed.
- Monitor housekeeping, PPE, lifting practices, machine guarding, and restricted areas.
- Support monthly inspections and safety-committee meetings.
- Recommend improvements to workstations, traffic flow, signage, guarding, and training.
- Exercise stop-work authority when an immediate serious hazard exists.
- Minimum Qualifications
o Three or more years of fabrication, manufacturing, construction, industrial maintenance, or occupational-safety experience.
o Demonstrated knowledge of overhead-crane and rigging safety.
o Strong ability to teach hands-on skills to employees with different experience levels.
o Ability to read and explain safety procedures, equipment manuals, and basic OSHA standards.
o Comfortable correcting unsafe behavior professionally and consistently.
o Basic computer skills for training records, inspections, and reports.
o Ability to walk and stand throughout the shift and work in an active fabrication environment.
o Ability to work periodically across both shifts.
o OSHA 30-Hour General Industry.
o Qualified overhead-crane and rigging trainer experience.
o First Aid, CPR, and AED instructor certification.
o OSHA 511 or equivalent general-industry safety education.
o Experience with welding, structural-steel fabrication, or heavy manufacturing.
o Incident-investigation and root-cause-analysis experience.
o Bilingual English/Spanish communication ability.
o BCSP certification such as STS, STSC, ASP, or CHST.
100% of new employees complete required orientation before entering production work.
100% of crane operators receive documented training and practical evaluation before authorization.
Reduction in crane, rigging, PPE, housekeeping, and material-handling violations.
Reduction in first-90-day injuries and near misses.
Increased employee participation in hazard and near-miss reporting.
Weekly toolbox talks completed across both shifts.
Pay: $24.00 - $28.00 per hour
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Profit sharing
- Referral program
- Vision insurance
Experience:
- Fabrication: 3 years (Required)
- Shop Safety : 4 years (Required)
Work Location: In person
