Health, Safety & Environmental Lead in Plymouth

The Health, Safety and Environmental Lead is a factory-based, hands-on role with the goal of making a real difference, supporting our teams with meeting their compliance obligations for Health, Safety and Environment, and driving best practice across all areas of the business.

Drawing on their experience of applying HSE solutions to deliver real change in a manufacturing environment, the role holder will have a passion for bringing people on a journey of growth, questioning current practices where necessary and driving a culture change process that both engages staff and embeds positive HSE practices into everything we do. The role holder will have a “can-do” attitude and work closely with management to promote the ownership of HSE by all staff members. Effective collaboration is critical to ensure the needs of stakeholders are understood, as is the ability to influence others to ‘buy into’ changes that improve HSE performance and compliance. Attention to detail and the ability to take the initiative and make sound judgments about the compliance of work activities must be carefully balanced with the need to understand and deliver operational goals, so a factual but pragmatic attitude to HSE management is essential.

Main Duties:

• Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) Management: Develop, implement, and maintain HSE policies and procedures. Monitor the company’s compliance with applicable legal and other requirements. Support the creation of risk assessments and aspect / impact assessments. Collaborate with the management team to ensure the implementation of risk control measures and corrective actions.
• Training and Awareness: Construct and deliver regular internal HSE training courses on a variety of topics. Support delivery of new starter and Contractor inductions. Coordinate the delivery / recording of external HSE-related training (e.g. First Aid). Promote HSE awareness and consultation via the HSE Reps and Committee.
• Incident Reporting and Investigation: Monitor the reporting of accidents, incidents and near misses. Investigate accidents, incidents, and near-miss events to determine root causes. Develop and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Ensure timely and accurate reporting of incidents to regulatory agencies (e.g. RIDDOR) and company management.
• Safety Inspections and Audits: Conduct regular workplace inspections to ensure adherence to safety standards. Conduct scheduled internal audits on our Integrated Management System (IMS). Prepare reports on findings and make recommendations for improvements.
• Emergency Preparedness: Develop and maintain the Site Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan and coordinate drills (e.g. fire evacuation, spill response) to check effectiveness. Ensure employees are trained on emergency procedures and that emergency equipment is well-maintained and accessible.
• Regulatory Compliance: Stay updated on applicable HSE legal and other compliance obligations. Ensure our operations meet or exceed best practice and legal requirements. Prepare and submit external reports as required by regulatory authorities.
• Environment and Sustainability: Maintain the register of significant environmental aspects and impacts. Support the management of our waste streams, including compliance with our ‘Duty of Care’. Investigate and deploy ideas to improve our energy efficiency. Research and develop improvements to our production processes, including raw material efficiency and waste minimisation. Lead initiatives to promote a greener workplace and reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

Qualifications & Experience:

• NEBOSH General Certificate / NVQ L5 (ideally working towards Diploma).
• IEMA Environmental Certificate (or equivalent).
• TechIOSH status (ideally CertIOSH or willing to work towards).
• Strong working knowledge of the application of ISO 45001 and ISO 14001.
• Internal Auditor qualification would be an advantage.
• Understanding of common Root Cause Analysis techniques (e.g. Fishbone/5 Whys/Domino Theory).
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in an HSE-related Coordinator role.
• Strong understanding of UK regulatory requirements relating to HSE.
• Experience of managing HSE in a busy manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrable experience in leading multiple HSE improvement projects.