COMAH Compliance & Safety Manager in Rochester

Play a key role in protecting Britain’s energy security by joining Grain LNG as COMAH Compliance & Safety Manager at our upper-tier COMAH terminal.

In this critical role, you will lead the delivery of safe, compliant and reliable operations across a nationally significant infrastructure site, balancing major accident hazard management with strong occupational health and safety leadership.

This is a highly visible and influential position, with responsibility for leading COMAH compliance, safety assurance, occupational safety performance and ongoing regulatory management.

Working closely with the Competent Authority (HSE & EA), you will help maintain the highest standards of process safety and workplace safety, ensure the site remains inspection-ready, and support continued alignment with regulatory expectations.

• Key Accountabilities
• Lead the management and continuous improvement of COMAH compliance arrangements, ensuring safety reports, management systems and supporting evidence remain robust, current and effective.
• Lead occupational health and safety arrangements across site activities, setting clear expectations for workplace risk control, safe systems of work, incident prevention, learning from events and the consistent promotion of safe behaviours; this includes leading on the site’s ISO45001 certification activities.
• Play a leading role in engagement with the Competent Authority, providing clear leadership during and in preparation for inspections, interventions and regulatory discussions.
• Oversee the site monitoring and assurance programme of contractor and operational activities, identifying emerging shortfalls and driving improvement in both occupational and process safety performance.
• Embed and sustain a strong COMAH management culture aligned with ‘All Measures Necessary’ and Safety Report Assessment Manual (SRAM) principles, supporting effective risk management across the terminal.
• Work collaboratively with engineering and construction, maintenance and operations teams to identify, prioritise and deliver risk reduction opportunities that support safe and reliable asset performance.
• Lead and support hazard studies and process safety activities, including HAZOP, LOPA, bow-tie analysis and safety-critical task reviews, ensuring outputs are effectively managed through to completion.
• Support emergency preparedness and response arrangements, including undertaking Site Response Controller responsibilities when required.
• Knowledge, Experience and Technical Know How

You will be a credible, proactive and technically competent safety professional with proven experience of leading in a high-hazard environment.

You will bring strong knowledge of COMAH, process safety, occupational health and safety, and regulatory compliance, together with the confidence to engage effectively with regulators, senior leaders, contractors and operational teams.

You will demonstrate clear ownership of process and occupational safety and compliance, with the capability to move beyond meeting minimum requirements and drive continual improvement in both major accident hazard control and day-to-day workplace safety performance.

Calm and decisive under pressure, you will be able to assess complex situations, influence positive outcomes and build trusted relationships across internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

Essential

• Extensive experience leading COMAH compliance and safety management within an upper-tier COMAH site or comparable high-hazard oil, gas or petrochemical environment.
• Proven experience engaging with the Competent Authority, including the effective management of inspections, interventions and regulatory discussions.
• Demonstrable capability in maintaining and improving COMAH, process and occupational safety management arrangements to support ongoing compliance and continual improvement.
• Strong working knowledge of relevant legislation and regulatory frameworks.
• Proven ability to lead occupational health and safety management arrangements, including workplace risk control, contractor safety, incident investigation, behavioural safety and continual improvement of occupational safety performance.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build credibility across internal teams, senior leaders, regulators and external partners.
• Ability to make sound, timely and proportionate decisions in high-pressure operational or emergency situations.

Desirable

• IOSH Managing Safely (or equivalent)
• Engineering qualification (HNC or above - or equivalent)
• Incorporated Engineer status (or working towards)
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