Career Center

Scheduled Hours

40

Position Summary

This is a full time position in the Department of Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) at Washington University (WU) in St. Louis, Missouri. This position assists the Environmental Health and Safety Department in providing a safe work environment, fostering a safety culture among University staff and helps to maintain the institutionâ™s compliance with federal, state and local environmental regulations. This position is expected to collect, classify (according to EPA, DNR, DOT and WAP regulations), package, store, manifest, and ship unwanted chemicals and hazardous waste on the Danforth and School of Medicine campuses and biological waste on the School of Medicine campus. This position also collects and manages universal waste, equipment, electronic waste and infectious waste. Assignments may include picking up and transporting radiation survey instruments; receiving and pickup of radioactive materials and wastes; making radiation measurements using survey instruments, gamma counters and liquid scintillation counters, recording and tabulating data on paper forms, and entering data into a computer data system. Serves on hazardous materials emergency spill response team. Must be able to work independently without direct supervision and also in team situations.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

Chemical Waste/Unwanted Material Management

• Collects, classifies, packages and manifests hazardous waste, and unwanted chemicals throughout the Danforth and School of Medicine campuses.
• Assists in the processing of of corrosive characteristic chemical waste through elementary neutralization exclusion.
• Responsible for EPA/DOT/DNR/local compliance during collection and storage of hazardous waste or unwanted chemicals. 
• Responsible for making hazardous waste determinations, utilizing appropriate DOT containers and packaging waste for shipment in a manner that mitigates safety and environmental risk. 
• Maintains inventory and records including data entry and chemical waste database management.
• Identifies and reports environmental compliance deficiencies when picking up items for disposal (as time allows) during walk-throughs of laboratory and other areas.
• Creates iForm reports.
• Provides hands on assistance/education to laboratories and HAZCOM area to explain proper chemical waste/unwanted material segregation, labeling and regulatory requirements.
• Organizes shipments of hazardous materials from university sites including Tyson Research, Cortex, West Campus and Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators in clinics.
• Transports unwanted chemicals and hazardous waste to Environmental Management Facilities.

Biological Waste Management

• Collects, weighs and aggregates biological/infectious waste for pickup by biological waste vendor.
• Performs compliance reviews of biological waste packaging and works with laboratories to correct deficiencies.
• Trains laboratory occupants in decision making for autoclave or incineration disposal. 
• Enters chargeback information into EHS Assist and works with laboratory occupants to correct any inaccurate billing information. 
• Trained to sign biological/infectious waste manifests. 
• Organizes shipments with biological waste vendor.  
• Manages return vendor manifests after disposal to ensure regulatory requirements are met.

Other Regulated Waste/Material Management

• Collects, regulated electronic waste/Universal Waste and equipment containing hazardous materials for recycling/disposal. 
• Aggregates and transports to designated location for vendor pickup. 
• Ensures accurate labeling is applied and assists in deciding appropriate recycling/end site disposal method. 
• Trained to sign shipping documents.

Radioactive Waste Collection

• Check and accept radioactive wastes brought to pickup points by users.
• Document wastes received and transfer papers.
• Transport radioactive waste to the radioactive waste facility.
• Radiation survey measurements of work areas, vehicles, equipment and other items.

Maintains regulatory requirements (to include inspections, scheduling repair and record keeping) for Environmental Compliance Division (ECD) trucks.

Serves as a member of the WU Hazardous Materials Spill Response Team (HAZWOPER). 

Working Conditions

• Potential exposure to chemicals, radioactive materials, and potentially infectious materials in a laboratory and hazardous waste facility environment. 
• Will need to carry an on-call (24/7) phone for spill response approximately once a quarter. 
• Need to wear personal protective equipment during inspections, spill remediation, routine hazardous waste operations, and biological safety laboratory disinfection procedures, including encapsulating suits, gloves and boots, powered air purifying respirators, full face respirators, and self contained breathing apparatus.
• Must be able to pass pre-employment physical which includes an Essential Function Test.
• Frequent moderate to occasional heavy lifting and pushing up to and including 50 pounds, but typically 25 pounds or less.  
• Moving of equipment and drums greater than 50 pounds, some weighing approximately 500 pounds, using lifting equipment including but not limited to carts, bins, flat beds, drum carts, lift and roll dollies, appliance hand trucks, lifting tables, powered and manual pallet jacks.   
• Use of specialized equipment (mercury vacuum, SCBA, air monitoring equipment, etc.).  
• Will be required to wear radiation dosimeters, and bioassay may be required using radiation monitoring measurements and analysis of bioassay samples. 
• Work involves exposure to ionizing radiation and requires individual commitment to maintaining doses to self and others at levels that are as low as reasonably achievable.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to obtain CHMM strongly preferred.
• OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPER certification and research laboratory experience. 
• Basic knowledge of RCRA and DOT are required and knowledge of Missouri DNR regulations. 
• Commercial Driverâ™s License (CDL) with Hazmat (H) endorsement or ability to obtain CDL with H endorsement within three months of hire. 
• Chemical spill remediation experience. 
• Oral and written (business and technical) communication skills, ability to make sound judgments and familiarity with Microsoft Office applications are essential skills. 
• Individual must be physically able to wear personal protective equipment and lift and move while wearing self-contained breathing apparatus and fully encapsulated suits. 
• Knowledge and ability to prepare hazardous waste manifests and shipping documents. 
• General knowledge of aspects of environmental health & safety.  
• Working knowledge of the procedures for pickup and securing radioactive waste. 
• Understanding of routine radiation measurement techniques (various hand-held survey instruments). 
• Ability to communicate effectively across multiple levels of University faculty, staff and students.

Required Qualifications

• More than one year experience with a B.S. with coursework in chemistry or related field.
• Associates in Science with more than five years directly related job experience.

Grade

G11-H

Salary Range

$25.90 - $41.46 / Hourly

The salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University. Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one's qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.

Accommodation

If you are unable to use our online application system and would like an accommodation, please email CandidateQuestions@wustl.edu or call the dedicated accommodation inquiry number at 314-935-1149 and leave a voicemail with the nature of your request.

Pre-Employment Screening

All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position. The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.

Benefits Statement

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to providing a comprehensive and competitive benefits package to our employees. Benefits eligibility is subject to employment status, full-time equivalent (FTE) workload, and weekly standard hours. Please visit our website at https://hr.wustl.edu/benefits/ to view a summary of benefits.

EEO/AA Statement

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity and especially encourages applications by those from underrepresented groups. It is the Universityâ™s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.

Diversity Statement

Washington University is dedicated to building a diverse community of individuals who are committed to contributing to an inclusive environment â“ fostering respect for all and welcoming individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Individuals with a commitment to these values are encouraged to apply.

Applicant Instructions

When you are ready to apply, creating an account only takes a minute. Your account creates a candidate home page which we will use to communicate with you and allows you to apply for jobs and view your application statuses. The first page of the application offers two âœQuick Apply❠options. Quick Apply allows you to either use a previous application or create a new application using a resume to populate the work experience and education sections of your job application. If using a resume to populate your application, check to ensure the application fields populated accurately. You may skip the âœQuick Apply❠page by clicking âœNext❠at the bottom of the page. Documents may be uploaded in the My Experience section of the application. You also have the option to apply with a LinkedIn feature, which allows you to apply by using your LinkedIn profile to populate some of the job application fields.

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