75235 - Health, Safety and Fire Advisor

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Job Title:    

Heath, Safety and Fire Advisor    Contract Type:    Permanent

Grade:    

HEO    

Salary range (depending on location):    

National - £31,265 to £34,446
London - £35,405 to £39,000

Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location. 

Location:    

Any LAA Office

Directorate:    

Corporate Services Team:    

Corporate Assurance, Risk and Secretariat

Working Pattern:    

The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely (as part of hybrid working), part time or as part of a job share etc.

If you are applying for a part time role, please note that in order to meet business demands we need cover for a minimum of 30 hours and to cover 5 days of the week

Reporting to:    

Health and Safety Manager

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We provide civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales to help people deal with their legal problems. 

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service.

Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The LAA is committed to diversity and inclusion and we positively promote flexible working, including job shares.

We will consider all applications on merit regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, religion, ethnicity, preferred working pattern and except for exceptional circumstances your working location.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months.

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes.

Corporate Services

The Corporate Services directorate works across the LAA to help shape and enable the priorities of the Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team, providing support on areas such as strategy, data analysis, risk, assurance, communications, people, and capability to all other parts of the LAA.

Corporate Assurance, Risk & Secretariat (CARS)

The CARS team combines the 5 functions of Health & Safety, Information & Data Security, Business Continuity, Risk and Secretariat to collectively strengthen and support the LAA’s governance, our assurance strategies, risk management processes and provide support to the LAA’s senior governance forums including the Board and Executive Leadership Team.

The Health and Safety function supports the work of the LAA helping to ensure compliance with health, safety and fire legislation and best practice across all sites including a warehouse and Public Defender Services offices where clients are seen face to face.  Staff also work in courts, police stations and providers offices and travel as part of their role.  LAA offices are spread around England and the South Wales and include locations such as Bristol and Brighton in the south and South Tyneside in the north where there is our largest site which includes a warehouse and JCC.

Job Summary

A specialist professional role providing dedicated support to operational and managerial staff.

While working collaboratively with the H&S Manager, you will be required to work independently for significant periods, delivering key Health, Safety and Fire (HSF) tasks including audits, briefings and training.

You must work with a high degree of accuracy and take pride in your work.

A proactive approach is essential, identifying risks and opportunities and suggesting actions and mitigations, achieving compliance with legal requirements while enabling operational delivery.

Building good working relationships is key both within the LAA and across other government departments and agencies.

Key Responsibilities:

• To provide advice to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) to ensure it meets the requirements of Health, Safety and fire legislation and support the delivery of the corporate Health and Safety strategy and arrangements.
• To advise managers on the implementation and delivery of the corporate Health and Safety Policy, procedures and the LAA Health and Safety Delivery Plan, while utilising the support of Site Leads and their deputies.
• The post holder will develop and maintain key contacts across the Agency and other government departmental H&S teams to provide consistent and balanced advice relevant to LAA offices/sites promoting a positive health and safety culture.
• The post holder will be required to complete accident, incident, near miss and fire investigations, audits and to deliver briefings and training related to all aspects of health, safety, and fire.
• The post holder will be required to work collaboratively with colleagues in security and facilities management and communications to support cross MOJ agendas.
• Deliver reports, information, data, and recommendations on all aspects of health, safety and fire operational delivery that help drive improvements and engagement with the ambitions of our assurance team.
• Work collaboratively within the corporate centre assurance team.
• The role involves providing a degree of administrative support and work supervision.
• The role includes travelling to inspect/audit sites and to deliver support across all LAA offices/sites with some overnight stays dependent on your base location.
• Promote and maintain practices which are free from discrimination, support equality of opportunity and reflect the LAA diversity and equality policy.

Essential Knowledge, Experience, and skills    

• Minimum qualification: NEBOSH Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health or equivalent, such as would satisfy the membership requirements of Tech IOSH.
• Must be able to evidence ongoing Continued Professional Development as required by professional membership.
• Experience in fire safety / fire risk assessment, water hygiene and asbestos risk management.
• Knowledge and understanding of health, safety, and fire matters to provide competent and trusted advice.
• Ability to write policies and procedures, reports of varying types and complexity and undertake/support risk assessments.
• Experience of digital and remote working tools.
• The delivery of health and safety briefings and training.

Desirable Knowledge, Experience, and skills    

• Experience of the delivery of fire marshal training
• Experience of undertaking Display Screen Equipment assessments.

Person Specification    

• You’ll have experience of applying Health, Safety and Fire Legislation to a range of organisational processes and in a variety of settings.
• You’ll work well with people and be able to maintain positive relationships whilst ensuring legislative obligations are met, communicating effectively at all levels.
• You’ll enjoy working in both a pro-active, and re-active way and be able to reprioritise effectively during busy periods, efficiently planning and organising your time and workload to ensure the delivery of various workstreams simultaneously. 
• Ability to interact with and engage colleagues – beyond your own team - to achieve shared goals.
• Ability to work autonomously, identify and mitigate risks and spot opportunities to improve the health and safety of staff.

Assessment approach

Application Process 

Interview / assessment Process

To apply complete an application based on the following behaviours and experience using no more than 250 words per behaviour.

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing 
• Changing and Improving 

When submitting an example of a behaviour, remember to include the situation, what you did and why, and what was the outcome/result. In the event of a high number of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead Behaviour of Making Effective Decisions. 

If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview / assessment centre in person 

Strengths relevant to the role

Some or all the following Behaviours: 

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Exercises relating to a health/safety/fire incident
• You will be asked to confirm you hold the minimum qualification of NEBOSH Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health or equivalent, such as would satisfy the membership requirements of Tech IOSH. 

Behaviour Definitions: 

Making Effective Decisions – Understand own level of responsibility and empower others to make decisions where appropriate. Analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions. Invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making. Display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular. Consult with others to ensure the potential impacts on end users have been considered. Present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risks.

Delivering at Pace – Show a positive approach to keeping the whole team’s efforts focused on the top priorities. Promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation. Ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively. Regularly monitor your own and team’s work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks. Act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance. Allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility.

Working Together – Encourage joined up team work within own team and across other groups. Establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders. Collaborate with these to share information, resources and support. Invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another. Put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs. Make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. Actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

Communicating and Influencing – Communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner, choosing appropriate styles to maximise understanding and impact. Encourage the use of different communication methods, including digital resources and highlight the benefits, including ensuring cost effectiveness. Ensure communication has a clear purpose and takes into account people’s individual needs. Share information as appropriate and check understanding. Show positivity and enthusiasm towards work, encouraging others to do the same. Ensure that important messages are communicated with colleagues and stakeholders respectfully, taking into consideration the diversity of interests.

Changing and Improving – Work with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes to use fewer resources. Use technology where possible to increase efficiency. Encourage ideas for change from a wide range of sources. Clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change. Encourage an environment where colleagues know that they can challenge decisions and issues safely. Take managed risks by fully considering the varied impacts changes could have on the diverse range of end users.

Shortlisting is planned for week commencing 19th June 

Interviews are planned for week commencing 3rd July 

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact – Lorraine Fellows, LAA Health and Safety Manager – Lorraine.Fellows2@justice.gov.uk, for an informal discussion via Teams.  Contact prior to application is welcome to ensure you fully understand the demands of the role.

Complaint’s procedure

If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing LAACentralRecruitmentFunction@justice.gov.uk initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days. 

If you are dissatisfied with our response, we will forward your complaint to the Civil Service Commission, an independent body, for review.