Safety Officer

Safety Officer The Purpose of the Role The Safety Office provides advice and information to the University community; develops University wide policy and procedures and runs a comprehensive safety training programme. The postholder will be part of a small team of safety professionals in the Safety Office that advises and oversees the broader safety management programme and includes specialists in Fire Safety, Radiological Protection and Biological Safety who report into the Head of Safety. The postholder will be required to provide professional expertise relating to general safety across the university, including event management, risk assessments, safety statements and training. They will assist in the development of policies and procedures to meet with legislative requirements. The postholder will be responsible for online training management and incident management using the online portal and ensuring statutory reporting to the HSA is carried out in a timely fashion. The postholder will be a subject matter expert in health and safety, advising local safety officers on general safety standards and requirements and will also be involved in the Safety Office Training Programme delivering specific courses such as Manual Handling, DSE Assessments and Heartsaver AED. Context Estates & Facilities are responsible for the planning and development of the Universitys buildings and sites and their operation and maintenance including energy supply and utility infrastructure support, as well as a wide range of engineering and technical services which improve efficiency and sustainability. The University has 167 buildings owned or rented on 13 sites across Dublin with a total area of There are 108 acres of land in freehold ownership (c. 50 acres of which is in the city centre. The estate has a rich variety of building typologies with 25% of buildings being more than 200 years old and 68% of buildings more than 100 years old. The insurance replacement value of the estate is c. €1.75Billion. Main Responsibilities This is a list of the tasks, duties and responsibilities for the role. To keep up to date with the requirements of university policies and legislation and to promote a positive safety culture within the University; To manage a H&S audit programme to ensure that university safety policies are being adhered to, across all aspects of the college, through audit and inspection and to follow-up on remedial actions taken, as required; To manage incident reporting through the online tool IProtectU, including investigating, recording and completing statutory reports to the Health and Safety Authority as and when required; To assist the Unit Safety Officers with undertaking investigations and completing accidents and dangerous occurrences reporting and documentation through iProtectU; To assist the Head of Safety with the timely completion of safety queries that are captured including Event Assessment queries and event management planning; To assist and advise local managers how to rectify/comply with health and safety issues in a prompt and effective manner; To liaise with others in the Estates & Facilities Department and the wider University community in the ongoing management of asbestos across the Estate; To disseminate the necessary information, instruction, advice and training to enable staff to perform their work in a safe manner, and encourage and support their attendance at relevant University and external safety training events; To deliver courses, develop courses and identifying additional training courses that may be required for the Safety Office training programme. This will include management of the online content and the training data on IProtectU safety management tool; To manage the work of Unit Safety Officers to ensure that their Safety Statements including risk assessments are periodically evaluated and revised, and to coach them to undertake risk assessment and method statements and adopt Safe Systems of Work; To manage the content of the Framework Safety Statement and Safety Office Website to ensure they are kept up to date; Assist the Head of Safety to ensure that all H&S policies, rules and regulations and safe systems of works procedures are fit for purpose and in line with current legislation and assist in the development of policy as required; To attend emergencies or other similar circumstances during or outside of normal working hours; To be available to act for the Head of Safety and provide cover for other members of the Safety Office team in the event of absence during holiday leave etc. as appropriate; and Other duties as may be, from time to time, assigned by the Head of Safety. Qualifications Educated to degree level or higher (Essential); A minimum NFQ Level 8 qualification in Safety, Health and Welfare at Work or equivalent (Essential) Membership of IOSH (Essential), working towards Chartered status; Train the Trainer or Manual Handling instructor (Desirable), with requirement to complete within 3 months of commencing the post; and Display Screen Equipment Assessor (Desirable), with requirement to complete within 3 months of commencing the post; Knowledge A demonstrable broad working knowledge of managing safety within a large multi-site organisation (Essential); Knowledge of Health & Safety legislation and procedures specifically in regard to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 2006 and 2010 (Desirable); Detailed knowledge of the regulatory framework relating to manual handling, risk assessments, construction, chemicals, and general hazards (Essential); Knowledge of current safety legislation (Essential); and Knowledge of the Safety Role in Event Management (Desirable). Experience 3+ years as a dedicated safety officer or similar role (Essential); Significant and relevant experience delivering safety and induction training to all levels of an organisation (Essential); Experience in managing asbestos related project/surveying works and third-party consultants/contractors (Desirable); Experience of developing safety policies, procedures, risk assessments and safety statement (Essential); Experience of working with an estate of similar characteristics (Protected structures and modern buildings) (Desirable); Experience of influencing across all levels to build trust and credible relationships (Essential); Experience of implementing and embedding best practice within a large matrix organisation (Essential); and Experience in accident and incident investigation. Skills Ability to encourage and persuade colleagues at all levels to engage with and develop a strong safety culture within the University (Essential); Excellent interpersonal, networking and communication skills, able to work with people at all levels of the university and build trust and credible relationships with staff (Essential); Ability to inspire trust and to become a trusted adviser to local safety officers within a large matrix organisation (Essential); Excellent organisational and time management skills (Essential); A proactive approach to problem solving; Ability to demonstrate through personal behaviour that only the highest standards of safety are acceptable; Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and meet deadlines with minimal supervision coupled with attention to detail; Ability to react and respond appropriately in an emergency, working effectively under pressure; Ability to resolve complex safety issues within a university environment with diplomacy (Essential); Excellent record keeping, report writing and presentation skills with an ability to design and provide training and instruction and briefings to staff; Demonstrable knowledge of working with Safety Management software systems such as iProtectU or LabCup (Desirable); and Highly computer literate ideally with a working knowledge of Safety Management applications, Microsoft office suite of programmes and presentation tools (Essential). Personal attributes Not intimidated by workload or the challenges of the role and demonstrates a willingness to engage at all levels of the university in the advocacy of our need for safe workplace; Be detail focused and possess a very high standard of accuracy with an attention to detail and ability to manage tasks to completion; and Ability to work effectively as part of a close-knit team of professional experts and are articulate, personable with a clear capacity to foster excellent working relationships with all stakeholders. Skills: Education Dublin Safety Officer Safety Public Sector