State of Maryland

An Industrial Hygienist, Lead is the lead level of work in the recognition, evaluation and control of occupational hazards affecting employees and of environmental factors affecting the general public.  Employees in this classification assign, review and approve the work of and train lower- level Industrial Hygienists.

Employees in this classification receive general supervision from an Industrial Hygienist Supervisor.  The work requires travel to work sites where working conditions may be noisy, dirty or uncomfortable.  The work may require lifting and carrying specialized instruments and the use of protective clothing and equipment.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the class specification.

The Industrial Hygienist, Lead is differentiated from the Industrial Hygienist III in that the Industrial Hygienist, Lead assigns, reviews and approves the work of and trains lower-level Industrial Hygienists and directs the work of others participating as members of the industrial hygienist team.  The Industrial Hygienist, Lead is differentiated from the Industrial Hygienist Supervisor in that the Industrial Hygienist Supervisor has supervisory responsibility for lower-level Industrial Hygienists.

Leads a team of Industrial Hygienists and other health and safety professionals during inspections that, because of size, complexity or sensitivity, require the work efforts of more than one professional;

Assigns specific duties to lower-level Industrial Hygienists and reviews and approves their work;

Provides on the job training to lower-level Industrial Hygienists or other workers and reviews their work;

Applies occupational safety and health or environmental health standards and identifies violations;

Inspects work places and public buildings for the purpose of identifying health hazards which may result from operations involving toxic substances, noise, heat, radiation, vibration and other physical and chemical factors;

Measures health hazards, using specialized sampling and testing equipment;

Meets with employers or public officials before and after inspections to cover matters such as the purpose and methods of the inspections, the results of the inspections, the applicable safety and health standards, areas of noncompliance, and possible remedial actions;

Prepares inspection reports which describe inspection findings and which may include regulatory citations and fines;

Suggests solutions designed to eliminate occupational/environmental safety and health hazards;

Calibrates and maintains sampling equipment such as air sampling pumps, noise monitoring instruments, air velocity and flow meters, and similar technical equipment;

Conducts research using reference books and publications in the field of industrial hygiene in order to identify potential hazards, establish the existence of natural hazards, and identify feasible methods of correction;

Testifies as an expert in administrative hearings and in court;

Provides training in the recognition of health hazards and in safety precautions for management and employees of private businesses or public agencies;

Conducts conferences with employers who have received citations and fines to attempt to resolve disputes and disagreements;

Prepares summary reports that include recommendations to modify citations and amounts of fines;

May monitor employees through an entire shift in order to measure workplace exposure to hazards;  

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of the basic principles of organic chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics;

Knowledge of State and federal health and safety standards and voluntary consensus standards relating to occupational safety and health and indoor air quality;

Ability to provide guidance and training to lower-level Industrial Hygienists and others participating as members of the industrial hygienists team;

Ability to participate in and oversee the most complex inspections of the largest industries in the State;

Ability to communicate technical and complex concepts;

Ability to identify and inspect those areas of work places and public buildings where exposures to health hazards could occur;

Ability to recognize actual and potential health hazards;

Ability to use specialized equipment to obtain exposure samples;

Ability to apply basic statistical techniques in the analysis of primary data;

Ability to interpret the results of laboratory tests on exposure samples;

Ability to draw conclusions based on inspections, sampling data, and test results;

Ability to interpret technical and legal standards for exposures to hazards and recognize violations of those standards;

Ability to prepare technical reports and analysis;

Ability to testify as an expert witness in legal proceedings.

Experience: Eight years of experience in the recognition, evaluation and control of occupational hazards and of environmental factors affecting employee health.

Notes:

1. Candidates may substitute the possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in industrial hygiene, engineering, physical science or life science including 12 credit hours in chemistry (to include organic chemistry), and 18 additional credit hours in any combination of: chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology or industrial hygiene and four years of experience in the recognition, evaluation and control of occupational hazards and of environmental factors affecting employee health for the required experience.

2. Candidates may substitute the possession of a Master’s degree in industrial hygiene from an accredited college or university for five years of the required experience.

3. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer in environmental/occupational health specialist  classification or environmental/ occupational health specialty codes in the environmental/ occupational health field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience.

Class specifications are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies. Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

This is a Skilled Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Skilled Service positions.  Some positions in Skilled Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is assigned to Bargaining Unit G- Engineering, Scientific and Administrative Professionals classes.  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

This classification is one level in a Non-Competitive Promotion (NCP) series.  NCP promotions are promotions by which employees may advance in grade and class level from trainee to full performance level in a classification series.  In order to be non-competitively promoted to the next level in a NCP series, an employee must: 1) perform the main purpose of the class, as defined by the Nature of Work section of the class specification; 2) receive the type of supervision defined in the class specification and 3) meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.