About the role
Location: Guelph, Onsite
Reports To: Senior Director, Occupational Health Safety Environment
Employment Type: Full-Time
Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Manager with a minimum of 7-10 years of progressive experience in safety leadership. The successful candidate will be responsible for driving a proactive safety culture by implementing and sustaining both personal safety and process safety programs. This role requires strong leadership, technical expertise, and the ability to influence at all organizational levels to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company standards.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop, implement, and continuously improve HSE policies, programs, and procedures in alignment with regulatory requirements, corporate standards, and industry best practices.
- Lead initiatives that integrate personal safety (occupational safety, ergonomics, PPE use, incident prevention) with process safety management (PSM), ensuring a holistic approach to risk reduction.
- Provide subject matter expertise on ammonia systems, lockout/tagout (LOTO), machine guarding, industrial hygiene programs, and emergency management planning.
- Partner with operations, maintenance, and engineering teams to assess hazards, conduct risk assessments, and develop corrective and preventive action plans.
- Oversee incident reporting, root cause analysis, and the implementation of corrective measures to prevent recurrence.
- Coordinate and lead emergency response drills, ensuring readiness for potential incidents and other site emergencies.
- Manage occupational health and hygiene monitoring programs, including air sampling, noise assessments, and exposure control plans.
- Foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement by coaching employees, supervisors, and contractors on HSE practices.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, provincial/state, and local regulations, as well as company-specific standards (e.g., OHSA, CSA, TSSA, CEPA, IIAR, ASHRAE, NFPA).
- Maintain accurate safety performance metrics, prepare reports for senior leadership, and track progress toward safety goals.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
- Minimum of 7-10 years’ experience in health, safety, and environmental management, preferably in industrial, manufacturing, or processing environments.
- Proven experience in implementing both personal safety and process safety management systems.
- Strong working knowledge of ammonia systems, lockout/tagout (LOTO), machine guarding, industrial hygiene programs, and emergency management planning.
- Demonstrated experience with regulatory compliance (OHSA, CEPA, CSA, TSSA, provincial/state requirements, etc.).
- Effective leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence at all organizational levels.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on risk assessment and mitigation.
- Professional certifications (e.g., CRSP, CSP, CIH, CHMM, P.Eng, or equivalent) considered an asset.
Gay Lea Foods is a leading Canadian dairy co-operative renowned for producing high-quality, nutritious dairy products that Canadian families love and trust. From farm to table, our 1,200 farmer members in Ontario and Manitoba, and more than 1,200 employees across four provinces, work together to nourish communities through award-winning brands including Gay Lea, Nordica, Salerno, Bothwell Cheese, and more. As part of its deeply rooted, balanced commitment to people, profit, and planet, Gay Lea Foods proudly invests one percent of pre-tax earnings back into Canadian communities through a national food security partnership with Second Harvest, and the community-building efforts of the Gay Lea Foundation. To learn more, visit gayleafoods.com.
Gay Lea Foods is an equal-opportunity employer and values diversity in our workplace.
Reasonable accommodation is available upon request throughout our recruitment and selection process.
Thank you for your interest in Gay Lea Foods.
Wishing you all the best with your career search!
About Gay Lea Foods
With our roots on the farm, Gay Lea Foods has grown to become a leader in the Canadian dairy industry and the largest dairy co-operative in Ontario, with members on 1,300 dairy farms in Ontario and Manitoba, and more than 4,200 producer and investor stakeholders. Our dedication to innovation and the development of high quality products has allowed us to respond to consumers’ evolving tastes and grow the market for Canadian cow and, more recently, goat milk. We are a Canadian success story – and that story is far from over. Moving forward, Gay Lea Foods is poised to seize and create even more opportunities for sustainable, long-term growth in the Canadian dairy industry as we expand beyond our provincial borders, grow our foods and ingredients business, and continue to invest in innovative and industry-leading products.
As much as we evolve, however, we remain a dairy co-operative, owned by dairy farmers. From our farms and production facilities, to our distribution networks and employee ideologies, we embrace and act with co-operative-inspired values, understanding there is no shortcut to quality or success. It takes commitment, passion and collaboration.
Those are the things we’re made of and we’re proud to share our story.
Just like the milk that comes from our farms, so too are Gay Lea Foods’ products and values born on the farm.
About the role
Location: Guelph, Onsite
Reports To: Senior Director, Occupational Health Safety Environment
Employment Type: Full-Time
Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Manager with a minimum of 7-10 years of progressive experience in safety leadership. The successful candidate will be responsible for driving a proactive safety culture by implementing and sustaining both personal safety and process safety programs. This role requires strong leadership, technical expertise, and the ability to influence at all organizational levels to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company standards.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop, implement, and continuously improve HSE policies, programs, and procedures in alignment with regulatory requirements, corporate standards, and industry best practices.
- Lead initiatives that integrate personal safety (occupational safety, ergonomics, PPE use, incident prevention) with process safety management (PSM), ensuring a holistic approach to risk reduction.
- Provide subject matter expertise on ammonia systems, lockout/tagout (LOTO), machine guarding, industrial hygiene programs, and emergency management planning.
- Partner with operations, maintenance, and engineering teams to assess hazards, conduct risk assessments, and develop corrective and preventive action plans.
- Oversee incident reporting, root cause analysis, and the implementation of corrective measures to prevent recurrence.
- Coordinate and lead emergency response drills, ensuring readiness for potential incidents and other site emergencies.
- Manage occupational health and hygiene monitoring programs, including air sampling, noise assessments, and exposure control plans.
- Foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement by coaching employees, supervisors, and contractors on HSE practices.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, provincial/state, and local regulations, as well as company-specific standards (e.g., OHSA, CSA, TSSA, CEPA, IIAR, ASHRAE, NFPA).
- Maintain accurate safety performance metrics, prepare reports for senior leadership, and track progress toward safety goals.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Health & Safety, Environmental Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
- Minimum of 7-10 years’ experience in health, safety, and environmental management, preferably in industrial, manufacturing, or processing environments.
- Proven experience in implementing both personal safety and process safety management systems.
- Strong working knowledge of ammonia systems, lockout/tagout (LOTO), machine guarding, industrial hygiene programs, and emergency management planning.
- Demonstrated experience with regulatory compliance (OHSA, CEPA, CSA, TSSA, provincial/state requirements, etc.).
- Effective leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence at all organizational levels.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on risk assessment and mitigation.
- Professional certifications (e.g., CRSP, CSP, CIH, CHMM, P.Eng, or equivalent) considered an asset.
Gay Lea Foods is a leading Canadian dairy co-operative renowned for producing high-quality, nutritious dairy products that Canadian families love and trust. From farm to table, our 1,200 farmer members in Ontario and Manitoba, and more than 1,200 employees across four provinces, work together to nourish communities through award-winning brands including Gay Lea, Nordica, Salerno, Bothwell Cheese, and more. As part of its deeply rooted, balanced commitment to people, profit, and planet, Gay Lea Foods proudly invests one percent of pre-tax earnings back into Canadian communities through a national food security partnership with Second Harvest, and the community-building efforts of the Gay Lea Foundation. To learn more, visit gayleafoods.com.
Gay Lea Foods is an equal-opportunity employer and values diversity in our workplace.
Reasonable accommodation is available upon request throughout our recruitment and selection process.
Thank you for your interest in Gay Lea Foods.
Wishing you all the best with your career search!
About Gay Lea Foods
With our roots on the farm, Gay Lea Foods has grown to become a leader in the Canadian dairy industry and the largest dairy co-operative in Ontario, with members on 1,300 dairy farms in Ontario and Manitoba, and more than 4,200 producer and investor stakeholders. Our dedication to innovation and the development of high quality products has allowed us to respond to consumers’ evolving tastes and grow the market for Canadian cow and, more recently, goat milk. We are a Canadian success story – and that story is far from over. Moving forward, Gay Lea Foods is poised to seize and create even more opportunities for sustainable, long-term growth in the Canadian dairy industry as we expand beyond our provincial borders, grow our foods and ingredients business, and continue to invest in innovative and industry-leading products.
As much as we evolve, however, we remain a dairy co-operative, owned by dairy farmers. From our farms and production facilities, to our distribution networks and employee ideologies, we embrace and act with co-operative-inspired values, understanding there is no shortcut to quality or success. It takes commitment, passion and collaboration.
Those are the things we’re made of and we’re proud to share our story.
Just like the milk that comes from our farms, so too are Gay Lea Foods’ products and values born on the farm.