Health and Safety Advisor

at  Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

An opportunity has arisen for a full-time experienced competent Health and Safety Advisor at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. The Trust has over sixty premises ranging from in-patient mental health buildings to GP practices, and Queen Mary’s Hospital Sidcup.
This is an opportunity for a highly motivated and committed individual with health and safety experience in a designated H&S role to join our specialist NHS Trust. The postholder will be an integral team member of the Health and Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response Team.
The successful applicant will need to demonstrate the ability to work closely with team members from all professions, and with the wider risk teams to help coordinate education, support, monitoring and management in respect of the Trust’s Health & Safety and Risk agenda.
Previous experience of risk management procedures and Datix are desirable but not essential. Candidates should have excellent IT and communication skills and experience of working in a busy team, with structured annual workplans and strategic vision.
You must act in collaboration with our Estates and Facilities department and our Health and Safety Team. You will be an excellent communicator, able to train other multidisciplinary team members, partners and contractors regarding risks, controls, and complex procedures, to provide assurance to the Trust board as to status of health and safety. To work within the team, striving to build a positive Trust safety culture.
To provide competent advice to all Oxleas staff on the requirements of current Health and Safety legislation, initiatives and guidelines and Trust policies, safe systems of work and procedures.
To be a ‘competent person’ for the Trust in Health and Safety matters as required.
To undertake an annual programme of Health and Safety compliance-based audits across Trust teams. This will include scheduling the annual programme of audits, of the teams and Directorates allocated to the Postholder and within specified timescales.
To ensure all Health and Safety Audits conducted (within allocated sites) are evidenced based and appropriate remedial actions are assigned to Team Managers to address all non-conformities, to ensure continuous improvement.
To promote a positive Health and Safety culture and ensure all works are undertaken with the highest regard to the safety of patients, staff, visitors and contractors.
Promoting a culture of ownership of health and safety, and risk management throughout the Trust. Working with partner organisations to ensure equitable compliant standards.
Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children’s centres, schools and people’s homes.
We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.
Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values:
We’re Kind
We’re Fair
We Listen
We Care

Ensure there is compliance with all regulatory provisions regarding Health and safety in all Trust owned or operated properties. To undertake an operational role within the Health and Safety Team, being first link to clinical and non-clinical teams, working with them to help develop safe systems of work to improve the safety of staff whilst at work, including lone workers, contractors and agency staff.

• Auditing departments, clinical teams and directorates.
• Writing training and education material.
• Training staff and management on all aspects of health, safety and compliance.
• Providing data for the writing of status and monitoring reports and statistical analysis.
• Supporting Directorates with all health and safety and risk management related enquiries.
• Collaborative working with departments, clinical teams and directorates, promoting good practice in risk management and risk reduction.
• Monitoring incidents and assisting accident/incident investigation, ensuring RIDDOR reportable incidents are notified to the HSE in timely manner.
• Implement robust processes to ensure best practice health and safety policies, procedures and safe systems of work.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ROLE(S):

• Minimum of NEBOSH Diploma (or equivalent).
• Significant previous experience of working in a Health and Safety post is essential.
• Previous experience of auditing; ideally with some community/mental healthcare experience.
• Strong communication skills, and ability to influence and engage with people at all levels.
• Strong interpersonal, IT and organisational skills.
  Full Job Description and Person Specification is attached

Ensure there is compliance with all regulatory provisions regarding Health and safety in all Trust owned or operated properties. To undertake an operational role within the Health and Safety Team, being first link to clinical and non-clinical teams, working with them to help develop safe systems of work to improve the safety of staff whilst at work, including lone workers, contractors and agency staff.

• Auditing departments, clinical teams and directorates.
• Writing training and education material.
• Training staff and management on all aspects of health, safety and compliance.
• Providing data for the writing of status and monitoring reports and statistical analysis.
• Supporting Directorates with all health and safety and risk management related enquiries.
• Collaborative working with departments, clinical teams and directorates, promoting good practice in risk management and risk reduction.
• Monitoring incidents and assisting accident/incident investigation, ensuring RIDDOR reportable incidents are notified to the HSE in timely manner.
• Implement robust processes to ensure best practice health and safety policies, procedures and safe systems of work