Health & Safety Specialist

About our organization:

Balcan Innovations is a leading North American manufacturer of flexible packaging and reflective products based out of Montreal, Quebec. With a revenue of over CAD $0.7 Billion, our renowned brands include Balcan Packaging, Plastixx FFS Technologies, Nelmar Security Packaging Systems, rFoil, & Reflectix. We operate from 8 facilities with 1000+ employees and combined footprint of 1,000,000 sq ft of manufacturing with clients across North America.

Founded in 1967, our values are Inspire, nurture, & grow our talent, Meet and exceed customers expectations, and Achieve & exceed our growth target.

About the division we are hiring for:

Our Reflective Products Division is an innovative manufacturer of high-quality reflective insulation and radiant barrier products for commercial and residential applications designed to reduce energy consumption. We are the market leaders in North America in the niche segment reflective insulation business. You will find our products in the building material aisles of Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, and other big home hardware retailers.

There’s additional information about us on (Canada) and (USA).

What to expect in the role:

The Health & Safety Specialist is responsible for overseeing all aspects of health, safety, and environmental (HSE) compliance and initiatives for our manufacturing operations in Ontario, Canada & Indiana, USA. This role is crucial in ensuring a safe and compliant workplace for approximately 100 employees based in Ontario, Canada and 100 employees based in Indiana, USA. The ideal candidate will also possess working knowledge of HSE laws and regulations in Indiana, USA, to support occasional cross-border compliance or consulting requirements.

Key focus areas for this role:

• With support from our corporate team, based in Montreal, develop, implement, and maintain company-wide health and safety policies, programs, and procedures in accordance with applicable provincial and federal legislation (e.g., Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, WSIB).
• Ensure compliance with U.S.
  
  HSE regulations, particularly in Indiana, for any operations or collaborations that involve cross-border considerations.
• Conduct risk assessments, hazard analyses, incident investigations, and root cause analyses; track corrective actions to closure.
• Lead workplace inspections, audits, emergency preparedness drills, and joint health & safety committee meetings.
• Monitor and report monthly HSE Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); prepare presentations using MS PowerPoint and Excel to share findings and recommendations with senior management.
• Coordinate training sessions related to HSE including WHMIS, first aid, PPE usage, and safe machine operation.
• Stay up to date with legal requirements, best practices, and emerging trends in occupational health and safety in both Canada and Indiana, U.S.
• Manage WSIB claims, modified work programs, and return-to-work planning as needed.
• Collaborate with HR and Operations teams to support a culture of safety and continuous improvement.

Preferred skill sets in this role:

• Post-secondary education in Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Science, or related field with about 3-5 years of experience in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
• CRSP, CHSC, or similar HSE certification preferred.
• Knowledge of Ontario HSE legislation is essential; working knowledge of Indiana (USA) OSHA standards and regulations is strongly preferred.
• Strong planning, organization, and analytical skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (especially Excel and PowerPoint) for data analysis, reporting, and presentations.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a cross-functional team.

Work Conditions:

• This is an on-site role requiring presence on the shop floor with a “sleeves-up” approach.
• Some travel may be required for training, audits, or cross-border coordination.
• Standard hours with flexibility to respond to incidents or urgent matters as needed.

Reporting structure:

This role currently reports into the Vice President – Operations at our Toronto site.

Compensation for the role:

The anticipated annual compensation for this role would be in the range of CAD $90,000 to CAD $95,000 depending on the relevance of your experience and the proficiency level of the expected skillsets required for the role. Under our current guidelines, this role would also be eligible for an annual Short-Term Incentive Plan (STIP) of 5% of your annual base pay. The annual STIP is a cash bonus intended to provide an incentive to achieve annual targeted results by rewarding for individual and the corporation’s performance over a calendar/performance year.

Bonuses are awarded at the Company’s discretion on an individual basis.

Benefits:

• Competitive Group Insurance Benefits (life, disability, medical, dental and vision) for the employee and their eligible dependents from day one.
• Canada-based employees will be eligible to participate in the RPDB (employer contribution match towards your company RRSP) after 90 days. Current guidelines match up to 5% of the employer’s share.
• Three weeks of vacation & five personal days (Personal Paid Holidays). In addition, this role would be eligible for ten days of statutory holidays each year based on current guidelines.
• Wellbeing plans include EAP and discounted membership with Goodlife Fitness.

What would the interview process look like?

• Our recruitment process at Balcan Innovations typically consists of two to four rounds of interviews that may include the Manager (N), N+1, cross-functional peers or others with whom this role is likely to interact.
• While the interview generally runs about 60 minutes long, the process itself can range between 1-2 weeks.
• We may also invite you to take our personality test to help us understand you better.
• At Balcan Innovations, our purpose and values are very important to us.
  
  We strongly encourage you to take some time to read this job description and explore our website to learn more about us.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We will be considering applicants as they apply, so please don’t delay submitting your application.

Balcan Innovations is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. We welcome qualified applicants to bring their diverse and unique experiences because of their education, perspectives, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs. If you are selected to participate in the recruitment process, please inform Human Resources of any accommodations you may require.

Balcan Innovations will work with you to ensure that you are able to fully participate fairly in the process.

We will be considering applicants as they apply, so please don’t delay submitting your application.