Jake Ward

About Jake Ward

Jake Ward, an experienced occupational health professional, leads the Worldwide Occupational Health team at Amazon, serves as Vice President, Workplace Health Without Borders - US, and is AIHA\'s Representative to the IOHA Board. He also is a member of the OHTA Advisory Committee and AIHA Emerging Economies Microgrants Advisory Group. He started with Amazon in July 2019 as a Regional EHS Manager in Global Special Fulfillment, joined the COVID response team in March 2020, promoted to Principal in October 2021, and promoted to his current position as Senior Manager in January 2025. He was awarded the Fulbright Specialist designation in December 2022 and completed his Fulbright Fellowship at Thammasat University in Thailand in February 2025. Jake has built strong relationships in the BUs to drive change through customer obsession, strategic planning, and bias for action to deliver results. He is well-traveled and offers a diverse global background that includes creation, implementation, and use of EHS Management Systems, Root Cause Analysis, Six Sigma, Lean, PDCA, Continuous Improvement, 5S, Failure Analysis, and multi-site global coordination for strategic action planning, performance goal deployment, and project management.Jake excelled in pre-professional biology/chemistry at Indiana University. He quickly followed his undergraduate work with a Master of Public Health (Environmental Health/Industrial Hygiene) and later completed a Master of Business Administration in International Business, both at USC-Columbia. He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional. After starting his career with OSHA and working the World Trade Center Ground Zero disaster cleanup, he worked in the petrochemical industry at IMTT in New York harbor as Manager of Occupational Health. After returning to Charlotte, he joined Gerdau in 2003 and progressed through several positions including site-level Health & Safety Manager, SAP Implementation Team Leader in São Paulo, Brazil, and Corporate Manager, Health & Safety. Jake promoted to Director of Environmental, Health, and Safety Americas at Vossloh in May 2015 where his team focused on proactive efforts and increased compliance rates, reduced accident rates, and lowered worker’s compensation dollars in all BUs. He has also served on a non-profit board, has volunteered for trade organization committees, speaks some Portuguese, and has basic knowledge of German and Spanish.Specialties: EHS Systems, Multi-site Project Management, Strategic Planning, Quality Tools, Ergonomics, Employee Health, Budgeting.

Experience

1. Senior Manager, Worldwide Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene

   Amazon

   Jan 2025 — Present · Charlotte, NC, US

   I lead the Worldwide Occupational Health / Industrial Hygiene team covering all Amazon businesses with the exception of AWS and Offices. My team ensures associates are protected from health hazards at work. We maintain compliance with global regulations and exist to reduce adverse health outcomes from workplace exposures to chemical, physical, and biological hazards.

Education

• University of South Carolina

  MPH, Master of Public Health - Industrial Hygiene

  1998 — 2000

• University of South Carolina

  MBA, Master of Business Administration, International Business

  2010 — 2013

• Indiana University Bloomington

  BA, Biology / Chemistry

  1993 — 1997

Skills

• Safety Leadership
• Factory
• Environmental Management Systems
• Metallurgy
• Construction Safety
• Root Cause Analysis
• 5s
• Safety Management
• Occupational Health
• Msds
• Safety Audits
• Workplace Safety
• Environmental Compliance
• Iso
• Business Process Improvement
• Maintenance Management
• Tqm
• Industrial Safety
• Mining
• Hazwoper
• Training
• Safety Management Systems
• Auditing
• Process Improvement
• Environment, Health, and Safety (Ehs)
• Hazardous Materials
• Inspection
• Risk Management
• Indoor Air Quality
• Environmental Awareness
• Behavior Based Safety
• Accident Investigation
• Iso 14001
• Environmental Health
• Six Sigma
• Hazardous Waste Management
• Management
• Hazard Analysis
• Ergonomics
• Ehs