08th Jan, 2021 Read time 7 minutes

Professional Services Health and Safety Manager and Training Lead

Application URL: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/
Location: London
Last Updated: 8th February 2021

The Health & Safety Directorate is a central professional service providing advice and support to all Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) areas. The team comprises of health & safety and fire safety specialists and reports directly into the Office of the Principal. The post holder will line manage the professional services Health & Safety Adviser and Fire Safety Manager

The role of the Professional Services Health & Safety Manager / Training Lead is to provide professional health and safety guidance to professional services directorates and oversee the development & delivery of health & safety training at Queen Mary University of London. As such the individual must have a range of highly developed technical and management competencies and must be capable of exercising this expert professional judgement in decision making on a day to day basis, referring back to the Director of Health and Safety only when necessary.

The role requires communicating the essentials of good safety practice, record management, planning and monitoring in connection with the wide range of hazards existing in Professional Services to all grades of staff. The post holder is also responsible for leading on Health and Safety Training at QMUL and should be able to promote compliance with legislative requirements by means of standard setting, developing training courses, programmes and recognised accreditation for courses. The individual must be capable of engaging senior academic and administrative staff at the highest levels in order to encourage them to take a proactive leadership role in safety management in QMUL.

The post holder will report to the Director of Health and Safety and be responsible for the development of service delivery and compliance with current and future QMUL objectives, professional standards, best practice and national codes.

Job purpose

The post holder will facilitate Professional Services control of safety and occupational health risks by advising and supporting them in the implementation & maintenance of a health and safety management system. The post holder will have responsibility for promoting compliance with legislative health & safety requirements and work closely with the Estates Directorate to ensure full compliance to mandatory tests and inspections under PSSR, LOLER etc. Thus helping to ensure conformity to the University’s Health & Safety Policy Statement and Framework and promoting a positive safety culture at QMUL.

The post holder will be the health & safety training lead for the university and as such will help identify training needs across the university to improve health & safety competence and behaviour. They will have responsibility for overseeing the development and delivery of health & safety courses to QMUL staff, post graduate students and external delegates as well as acting as the nominated lead for IOSH accredited courses.

The post holder will advise on suitable and sufficient risk assessment and risk control of PS activities, especially relating to the control of risks arising from estates and facilities operations, and will undertake PS inspections, audits and health and safety monitoring when required. They will ensure appropriate investigation of reported incidents and near misses/dangerous occurrences in Professional Services, helping to derive corrective actions and monitor their progress.

Main duties and responsibilities
• Advise on H&S Management, risk assessment and the control of risk in Professional Services and assist in ensuring employees participate in the maintenance of a proactive safety culture.
• Work closely with the Estates Directorate (and the Director of H&S Estates) to monitor compliance with legislative health & safety requirements within the built environment. Carry out inspections and audits in these areas when deemed necessary to offer evidence of the status of compliance for the Director of Health & Safety and the university senior leadership team.
• Keep changes to legislation and codes of practice under review to ensure that the University policy and standards comply with legal requirements as a minimum.
• Support and work with the Health and Safety Coordinators in the PS Directorate and accompany them during formal health and safety inspections.
• Be the training lead within the Health and Safety Directorate. Lead on the identification of training needs and developing and delivering health and safety training and sourcing, liaising with and overseeing external training contractors.
• Assist with the investigation of significant incidents in the PS Directorate, advising on any follow-up actions that may arise and monitoring their implementation.
• Liaise with the regulators of health and safety, concerning incidents, inspections, investigations and recommendations.
• Research aspects of health and safety, prepare written / verbal reports and present recommendations
• Play a major role in the delivery of the University’s Health and Safety Management System, and in collaboration with colleagues in the team take responsibility for specific projects and lead formal working groups.
• Represent the HSD in projects, meetings etc. with other QMUL Schools, Institutes and Directorates and take lead responsibility for specific topics as agreed with the Director of Service.
• Develop and maintain constructive and collaborative working relationships with colleagues in other support services.
• Assist in the formulation of an Emergency Response and Business Continuity Plan specifically for the HSD, in line with QMUL emergency response procedures.
• Manage the Fire Safety Manager and Health and Safety Adviser, to include allocating and monitoring workloads, carrying out appraisals and monitoring continued professional development.
• Deputise for Director of Health & Safety when required.
• Attend and provide advice and reports to the University Health and Safety Advisory Group and other Safety Groups as required.
• Represent the University at relevant meetings of Professional Associations and maintain contacts with health and safety colleagues within the HE sector.
• Support the principles of equality and diversity of colleagues and students in accordance with QMUL policies and procedures.
• Take care of own health and safety and work in a safe manner at all times, not putting other colleagues, staff, students or visitors to QMUL at risk from any work being undertaken, as stated in QMUL policy.
• Participate in a plan of personal continuous professional development to sustain or improve on expertise in the areas under the control of the post holder.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties as specified by the Director of Health and Safety.

The above list of responsibilities is not exhaustive and the jobholder may be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the level of the role, as reasonably requested by their line manager.

This job description accurately reflects the duties and responsibilities of the role at the time the job description was written. These duties and responsibilities may change over time without significantly impacting on the character of the role, the overall level of responsibility, or its grade.

Depending on strategic or operational needs, the jobholder may in the future be required to work for another existing or new organisational unit and/or at a different site within Queen Mary. This may be on a temporary or indefinite basis and may involve a change in line management and / or regularly working at more than one site.

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