Overview

Location: Oxford | Salary: £45-59K + 14.5% employer pension contribution + 24 days holiday + 6 shutdown days + bank holiday + benefits

Our client is on a mission to lead the world in research and education, benefiting society in the UK and globally. Their researchers collaborate with academic, commercial, and cultural partners worldwide to stimulate high-quality research and drive innovation, resulting in a broad spectrum of social, policy, and economic impacts.

They have an opportunity for a Health & Safety Manager (known as Departmental Safety Officer) to lead a small team, working closely with a range of stakeholders to deliver safety advice and guidance across a wide range of research and development projects.

Overview:

  • Collaboration: Work with the Divisional Safety Officer to support, advise, and train on health and safety.
  • Audience: Provide guidance to the Head of Department, Head of Finance & Administration, staff, and other stakeholders.
  • Objective: Ensure departmental activities comply with policies and legal requirements, maintaining safety and cost-effectiveness.
  • Scope: Oversee safety across multiple sites with 1200 people working in diverse engineering fields.
  • Emergency response: Attend the department during significant emergencies, although no formal out-of-hours work is required.

Key responsibilities:

Advice and guidance:

    • Update departmental policies in line with new health and safety regulations.
    • Advise on risk assessment processes and provide expert advice on various safety areas, including mechanical systems, PUWER, high-pressure gases, DSEAR, cryogenics, radiation, battery systems, fire safety, and nanotechnology.
    • Oversee and coordinate safety advice from various specialized safety officers.
    • Support novel risk assessments and ensure fire safety compliance.

Promoting safety culture:

    • Implement plans to enhance safety culture within the department.
    • Engage regularly with academic staff and research groups to promote good safety practices.
    • Disseminate safety information effectively and support university safety networks.

Investigations, inspections, and reviews:

    • Investigate accidents and incidents, ensuring proper reporting and implementation of corrective actions.
    • Assist with divisional inspections and ensure compliance with health and safety policies.
    • Support external inspections and ensure compliance with recommendations.
    • Participate in university self-assessments and external reviews.

Safety records and reporting:

    • Maintain records of training, COSHH, risk assessments, accidents, and audits.
    • Report on safety reviews, recommendations, and incidents to relevant departmental heads and committees.

Other duties:

    • Line manage safety officers and provide professional oversight to lab managers.
    • Attend the department during serious emergencies out of hours.
    • Collaborate with the Head of Finance and Administration and support efficient departmental services.

Skills:

  • Membership of IOSH (TechIOSH, CertIOSH, GradIOSH or CMIOSH)
  • NVQ level 4 or higher in a relevant subject (e.g., science, engineering).
  • NEBOSH General Certificate or NEBOSH Diploma (or equivalent).
  • Up-to-date knowledge of health and safety legislation.
  • Expertise in multiple safety areas (e.g., mechanical systems, PUWER, cryogenics).
  • Experience in risk assessments, safety audits, and delivering training.
  • Emergency response skills and ability to act as incident controller.
  • Ability to work autonomously and prioritize tasks.
  • Strong interpersonal and persuasive skills.
  • Discretion and tact in handling sensitive issues.
  • Good IT skills, particularly in Microsoft Office.
  • Excellent written communication skills.
  • Commitment to continuous professional development.

Please direct all enquiries and applications to Steven Bryan steven@bryan-armstrong.com

Want to find out more? Please contact me directly or make an application and I’ll call you back to discuss. steven@bryan-armstrong.com

Bryan & Armstrong Ltd is a specialist Health & Safety recruiter, supplying Health & Safety professionals on an interim and permanent basis across the following disciplines: Health & Safety, Health, Safety & Environment, SHEQ, CDM, Fire, Environmental, Quality Management and Health, Safety, Environment & Quality Systems.