Health & Safety Manager | Oxford | £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.

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.

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.

Want to find out more? Please contact me directly or make an application and I’ll call you back to discuss.

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.