Health and Safety Advisor in Guildford

If you are looking to join a dynamic company with ambitious growth plans over the next ten years, look no further. This is a rewarding and challenging role in our partnership, and you will have the opportunity to shape your career within an organisation where talent is recognised and where we will empower you to learn and develop. Our team here at Healthcare Partners know that everything they do makes a difference to patients' lives. This isn't just a job – it's a real career, a way of making a difference every single day. We are a true team of diverse, incredible people, all pulling together to fulfil our vision of enabling our clinicians to provide the ultimate care – using the latest innovations to achieve the best outcome for their patients.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will provide specialist professional advice on all aspects of health, safety and fire safety throughout the Trust.
• The department is responsible for supporting in the systematic identification, recording and evaluation of risks arising from non-compliance with statutory legislation relating to the management of Health & Safety within the organisation and to minimise the exposure to those risks.
• Working autonomously, the post holder will support the Trust in complying with statutory legislation, Health Technical Memoranda (HTMs), NHS guidance and Trust policies by undertaking inspections, audits, investigations, fire risk assessments and delivering training.
• You will support the Health and Safety Team in providing an effective, professional H&S service across the Trust, working in both clinical and nonclinical settings.

Working for our organisation

Established in 2018, Healthcare Partners Ltd (HPL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust. We offer a consultative, collaborative approach — based on a genuine desire to make healthcare provision outstanding, and respecting the opinions and skills of our fellow clinical professionals to produce exceptional outcomes. We are a substantial company in our own right, with an annual turnover of around £50m and over 80 staff. We partner with other healthcare providers throughout the UK in both the public and private sectors, reinvesting our profits and savings back into the NHS. At Healthcare Partners Ltd, the patient is at the heart of all we do. We're proud to be part of the NHS, helping to make healthcare better.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To advise and support managers to enable them to ensure that the Trust meets its statutory obligations in respect of all health and safety matters and to assist in ensuring that risks and hazards are eliminated or reduced to a minimum.
• To advise on aspects of Health and Safety legislation, Codes of Practice and EU Directives, ensuring accurate interpretation of the law and its application to the Trust.
• To assist with the review of Health and Safety related policies, procedures and practices, ensuring that they are updated with all relevant changes and new developments.
• To establish links and work collaboratively with all departments to ensure an integrated approach to providing a safe working environment throughout the Trust's premises.
• To be proactive, in conjunction with the Health and Safety, Fire Manager in raising awareness of health and safety by:
• Staff training
• Provision of positive support to managers in fulfilling their responsibilities for health and safety management, by providing literature, information and guidance.
• To assist in the design and implementation of training material as required.
• To contribute towards the development of the risk assessment process. This will encompass specific areas of focus such as COSHH.
• To advise managers in ensuring regular inspections of the workplace are conducted.
• To assist with safety audits and inspections of Trust sites.
• In conjunction with the Estates and Facilities Department, advise on health and safety requirements for capital projects and refurbishments.
• To assist in maintaining a library of Health and Safety literature and guidance.
• To be a competent health and safety person for the Trust and act as a named contact for the HSE and work with the Head of Health & Safety, Fire over any incidents which meet the requirements for reporting under RIDDOR and ensuring that reports are made to the HSE within the correct time frame.
• May check to ensure construction and maintenance work is being completed safely, to a satisfactory standard, and on budget.
• To be consulted on any other relevant issue that may have a bearing on health and safety, providing appropriate advice as necessary, especially in relation to third parties attending and working on any Trust site.
• You will undertake audits, inspections, investigations, and monitoring activities relating to H&S management.
• You will support the reporting functions of the team, to include use of Microsoft Office packages, Datix and the Trust intranet. This will include writing reports based on Trust H&S data sources.
• You will undertake a wide range of tasks in support of the H&S Team's work, which will include visits to clinical and non-clinical workplaces across the Trust and community sites.
• You will function at a competency level in line with the requirements of the post and achieve and maintain both mandatory and statutory training requirements associated with the role.
• You will exercise strong analytical and judgement skills during incident investigations, in appraising complex work activities with a view to assessing compliance with legal duties and best practice, in producing robust statistical reports on trends in incident records, and in translating current and emerging health and safety legislation, guidance and research into Trust practice.
• You will undertake other duties in support of the H&S Team's work, which may include practical tasks and/or administrative work in both clinical and non-clinical workplaces across the Trust.
• You will provide specialist advice to managers and staff on a wide range of health and safety matters, as required. This may be in response to requests for assistance or following audits/inspections/incident investigations that highlight problems requiring improvement.
• You will evaluate work environments and working practices during complex risk assessment exercises.
• Where external specialist advice is required, you will assist managers in sourcing and appointing such advisers, and in interpreting the advice offered with a view to reducing risks to staff and others.
• You will evaluate the safety of equipment throughout the Trust, conducting appropriate tests and inspections (sometimes under hazardous conditions) and within a wide variety of workplaces in order to ensure suitability and safety for users.
• You will monitor compliance with health and safety-related legal duties and best practice within the Trust by means of audits, inspections, and investigations. These will typically lead to written and verbal reports on levels of compliance and to working with managers to reduce risks to staff and others.
• You will support managers in improving non-compliant areas, environments or working practices.
• Under the direction of the Head of Health and Safety and Fire, you will draft or review Trust policies and procedures on health and safety matters within your own competence.
• You will lead on the implementation of Trust policies as directed by the Health and Safety Team Manager and support managers in the development of their own local health and safety policies and procedures.
• You will design, develop, deliver, and evaluate a range of specialist training interventions to all levels of staff within the organisation on matters associated with health and safety.

Person specification

• Education to degree level or equivalent experience plus additional specialist Health and Safety qualification/training e.g. NEBOSH General Certificate.
• Fire Safety qualification (e.g. NEBOSH Fire Certificate or equivalent).
• Health and safety advisory experience.
• Experience in delivering training programmes.
• A good knowledge of health and safety legislation.
• Experience in data collation and analysis.
• Experience of report writing.
• Experience of advising on health and safety matters e.g. risk assessments, incident reporting and audit experience.
• Understanding of health and safety issues in the NHS.
• Experience of working in an acute setting.
• Experience of working in the NHS.
• Fire risk assessments and Fire safety management.