JOB PURPOSE
To provide advice and support on health and safety principles within the University and provide a pro-active, professional health and safety service to departments in order to achieve the required positive culture, behaviours, and standards of health and safety performance as well as the supporting systems and processes expected of a leading University.
To act as the health and safety topic specialist within the University, covering Fire Safety and with a good knowledge of Facilities and Estates Safety.
To develop engagement and ownership of health and safety processes and practices with other experts, including academic, technical and health and safety personnel.
To provide line management support for a small team of Health and Safety Officers, ensuring that personal and team objectives are understood and met.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
1. To provide managers and supervisors with professional advice in relation to legal requirements and best practice and to influence the development of good health and safety practice (both in their own area of specialism and more widely across all areas of health and safety) in line with the framework of legislation, University policy and University Health and Safety strategy.
- Promote compliance to legislation and University policy and raise standards of health and safety practice via proactive means including safety sampling and inspection and generation of information for the University Health, Safety and Wellbeing webpages.
- Provide a professional health and safety advice and support service to managers, supervisors, and staff in designated departments, based on risk priority, departmental needs and technical knowledge and experience.
- Provide a professional health and safety advice and support service to the major incident team in emergency situations.
- Raise the awareness and skills of departmental staff, such that they themselves can identify, manage and record the risks connected to their work in written (or in data capture) format.
- Develop pro-active working with departments such that professional guidance can be provided prior to the introduction of high risk activities and equipment or before planning significant changes to their work environment and facilities.
- Interpret changes in relevant legislation (or case law) and communicate these, ensuring University policies and local arrangements, risk assessment and control measures reflect such changes.
- Drive the programme of risk assessment, providing professional health and safety input to managers where the risks warrant this approach and give advice to support the generation of local rules and safe systems of work, considering risk control measures for individuals at extra risk.
- Recognise and liaise with other experts, academic, technical and health and safety advisers to develop engagement and ownership of relevant safety processes and practices.
- Influence behaviours of staff at all levels by:
o Providing appropriate training for managers and supervisors in health and safety (in specialist area);
o Proposing and getting agreement on Departmental health & safety objectives and targets;
o Tackling issues as they arise and ensuring learning outcomes are shared across relevant disciplines.
2. To provide line management support for a small team of Health and Safety Officers, including:
- Support with departmental enquiries and activities, redeploying other team members (in agreement with the Senior Health and Safety Adviser) when necessary to help with workload and demands.
- Ensuring regular communication within the team, ensuring key messages are cascaded and escalated as necessary.
- Regularly reviewing progress against personal objectives and priorities, flagging any difficulties to the Senior Health and Safety Adviser.
- Approving workflow requests through SuccessFactors for leave/absence, ensuring that there is sufficient cover when team members are away from work.
- Support team member with their personal development, through training, coaching and supervision, flagging formal training needs as necessary to the Senior Health and Safety Adviser.
3. To deliver health and safety inspections within departments, providing reports containing clear recommendations for improvement to Heads of Department, and tracking the completion of actions thereafter.
4. To carry out investigations of relevant (specialist area) health and safety incidents ensuring that underlying causes are identified and necessary changes and actions are carried out and learning outcomes are shared.
- Work with Departments to ensure that local health and safety arrangements (including local emergency response arrangements for activities that are under their control) are documented and that staff and students have clear information about what is required and to whom responsibilities and authority have been devolved.
- Provide expert advice and planning for emergency situations as part of the University’s emergency response and business continuity planning and provide expert support in the event of an incident.
5. Engage with other University advisory services and external enforcement agencies as would be expected of the role, such as
- Liaise closely with Occupational Health on relevant matters relating to rehabilitation, ill health and work adjustments.
- Liaise with relevant enforcing authorities.
- Work as part of the health and safety team to contribute to the University’s health and safety strategy, undertaking project work as required and keeping the team informed of emerging issues that may have a significant impact on the University. Provide support for other Health and Safety Advisers who are leading on other areas of operational priority.
- Undertake / maintain appropriate benchmarking / information with other functions in the University and with external organisations in order to facilitate achievement of the highest practicable health and safety standards.
6. Provide professional input and support the development of health and safety policy, developing specific information and guidance ensuring that suitable papers are produced for relevant University Committees as and when required.
7. To monitor, through the use of SHE Assure, QuEMIS Hazards module and other sources, changes to the hazard profiles within their respective departments, including having up to date knowledge of critical activity hazards, and to work with departmental/building contacts to ensure that emergency contact information, floor plans and hazard information are maintained and up to date.
8. To stop work where health and safety standards could cause imminent danger whilst providing professional advice on what immediate improvements can be made to rectify the situation and to provide competent health and safety advice to improve standards of health and safety where standards are found to be poor and in need of prompt action, giving a timeframe in which specific improvements need to be made.
- To ensure that the University’s Simplify, Collaborate, Deliver agenda is promoted to ensure the efficient and effective management of buildings and activities within allocated
Personal Attributes
Able to persuade and influence a wide range of people, and to achieve changes in behaviour and culture. Able to build relationships based on trust and confidence in order to foster an environment of co-operation and collaboration.
An innovative thinker with a proactive approach to issues and problems and a proven track record of arriving at creative solutions to problems.
Able to analyse problems, identify underlying issues, interpret data and communicate the issues and implications to others presenting information in a professional format such that it is understandable.
Able to work in a team, sharing and demonstrating good practice.
Able to adapt approach and level of advice dependent on the nature of query and the knowledge and experience of the person that they are communicating with.
Able to work on own initiative, to identify relevant priorities, and to deliver necessary changes.
Consultative and facilitative style of service delivery with strength of character to ensure that breaches of legislation and / or University policy are challenged and resolved.
Tact, diplomacy, and political sensitivity while maintaining their own professional integrity.
In addition to this the post-holder must have:
- Excellent numeracy, ICT and literacy skills
- Knowledge of relevant codes of practice and legislation
- Ability to work professionally, maintaining confidentiality
- Ability to work to deadlines and work calmly under pressure
- Commitment to continual professional development.
Dimensions
Financial - No direct financial responsibility but will advise senior managers on the need for risk control measures which could have significant cost benefit implications.
Operational - The post holder will be the required to engage with, and provide advice to, a large cross-section of the University community in order to fulfil the role, including:
- Heads of Department and Senior Administrators
- Chairs and Secretaries of relevant health and safety committees
- Technical and Facilities Services Managers
- Maintenance Managers
- Researchers
- Students (postgraduate and undergraduate)
- Occupational Health
- Director of Health and Safety and others within the Health and Safety Department.
In addition, there will be a requirement for the post-holder to liaise with a variety of external agencies for a range of reasons, including the obtaining or revoking of specialist licences/permits, for the handling of enforcement action, for advice/guidance, for routine inspection visits concerning the relevant discipline area.
Staffing – Supervision Given Health and Safety Advisers will be expected to provide direct line management/supervision for up to three Health and Safety Officers.
Health and Safety Advisers will be expected to train, coach and mentor Health and Safety Officers and departmental staff on particular aspects of health and safety as and when required.
Staffing – Supervision Received Health and safety Advisers will need to operate with a high degree of autonomy, and supervision will be provided by one of the Senior Health and Safety Advisors at least monthly, and, on occasion, by the Director of Health and Safety.
Planning and Organising
The post-holder will be expected to prioritise and manage their own workload on a day by day basis based on objectives set and agreed on annually and reviewed on a monthly basis.
The post-holder will be expected to develop their own annual programme of work such that there are routine inspections and audits planned for the departments where there are relevant hazards present on a risk priority basis.
To influence University and Departmental strategy, such that significant changes to legislation or University policy relating to the relevant health and safety discipline are considered and addressed at a local and University level as appropriate.
Communication
The post-holder must have excellent verbal and written communication skills to be able to influence a range of internal stakeholders, including but not limited to:
Heads of Department and Senior Administrators; Chairs of relevant departmental Health and Safety Committees; Technical and Facilities Services Managers; Maintenance Managers; Commercial Managers; Researchers; Students (postgraduate and undergraduate); Occupational Health, Security personnel
Decision Making
Typical – Respond from a professional perspective to general enquiries relating to the health and safety discipline. Interpret health and safety legislation and put it into context with the relevant environment, whether research or commercial.
Complex – Provide academics and/or senior managers with professional support to enable research or to enable a new commercial enterprise, to provide guidance on the design of new facilities, to examine the complexities of the research or proposed venture and provide an opinion as to whether the risk management approach is suitable and sufficient or whether other controls may be more appropriate, tackling critical risk situations immediately with relevant staff or students as necessary. This could require ongoing monitoring of the situation and support whilst something new gets up and running and review of the sufficiency of arrangements, with regular input required when new issues emerge.
In addition to internal stakeholders, the post-holder will be required to engage with external regulatory and enforcement authorities concerning relevant health and safety matters (including the Health and Safety Executive, Environmental Health Officers, Fire and Rescue Service, the Home Office and DEFRA).
Decision Making
Please provide an example of a typical decision made in this job, and of the most complex.
Typical – Respond from a professional perspective to general enquiries relating to the health and safety discipline. Interpret health and safety legislation and put it into context with the relevant environment, whether research or commercial.
Complex – Provide academics and/or senior managers with professional support to enable research or to enable a new commercial enterprise, to provide guidance on the design of new facilities, to examine the complexities of the research or proposed venture and provide an opinion as to whether the risk management approach is suitable and sufficient or whether other controls may be more appropriate, tackling critical risk situations immediately with relevant staff or students as necessary. This could require ongoing monitoring of the situation and support whilst something new gets up and running and review of the sufficiency of arrangements, with regular input required when new issues emerge.
Supplementary information - The post-holder will be expected to provide professional technical support in the event of a related health and safety incident, which may occur outside of ‘normal’ operational hours.
Special circumstances - May need to have dialogue with enforcement agencies when enforcement activity is likely to be initiated and must share such information with the Director of Health and Safety and Senior Officers promptly.