Role: Health & Safety Co-Ordinator (EO)

Business: Office of Public Guardian (OPG)

Location: Birmingham, Victoria Square House

Grade: EO

Salary: £29,303

Contract Type: x1 Post. Fixed-Term Contract (12 months)

Minimum Hours: Full - time; 37 hours per week on site.

Organisational Overview

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) protects people in England and Wales who may not have the mental capacity to make certain decisions for themselves, such as about their health and finance. We are an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), set up in 2007 following the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act of 2005.

OPG is responsible for registering lasting powers of attorney (LPA) and enduring powers of attorney (EPA) and supervising deputies who are appointed by the Court of Protection.

OPG is a fantastic place to work offering a range of development opportunities. The OPG is a disability confident employer and is committed to developing a supportive and inclusive environment that reflects the diverse community we serve.

OPG is currently delivering an ambitious transformation programme. This will change the way we provide services and help us meet the growing needs of our users, partners and our stakeholders. It will make sure our users experience a better level of support and will help us to respond to the changing needs of society. Transformation will ensure we can better support adults at risk and create high-quality services that are accessible and affordable.

Team Overview

The OPG Health and Safety Team works collaboratively across all business areas.

This will consist of working with all employees to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities; to provide advice and assistance where required and sign-post employees to relevant information.

Deliver provision for and embed Display Screen Equipment (DSE), First Aid and Fire Safety compliance within the OPG, acting as a point of contact and engaging with appointed personnel which includes facilitating regular meetings.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Coordinate OPG’s Health and Safety activities, working proactively with the facilities management team and other business areas to ensure the organisation is compliant with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 as well as other legislative and departmental health and safety responsibilities.

• Act as a point of contact for all Health and Safety matter, escalating any issues to the Facilities/Health and Safety Manager that require further resolution.

• Support the Facilities/Health and Safety Manager regarding policy planning and performance with health and safety compliance consistent with HSE Managing for Health and Safety (HSG65) and MOJ policy.

• Support the Facilities/Health and Safety Manager in providing policy advice on all matters relating to H&S within OPG and liaising with the Health and Safety Manager as appropriate.

• Manage a best practice needs based approach in the procurement of H&S equipment assessing value for money procurement.

• Raise and maintain the profile of Health and Safety across the OPG, demonstrating best practice in all undertakings.

• Manage the Health and Safety Administration Officer ensuring that they are equiped with the skills and capabilities required to support the OPG Health and Safety team to deliver against its key objectives.

• Provide on-going coaching and development to fully support delivery of all Health and Safety functions throughout the organisation.

• Ensure safe systems of work are in place in line with Health and Safety legislation and OPG health and safety procedures, monitoring compliance with Health and Safety requirements and take remedial action to improve performance when necessary.

• Act as Incident Control Officer when required and conducting meetings on lessons learnt with other emergency responders.

• Manage the emergency responder lists and act as a point of contact for all, ensuring all such roles are adequately represented within the workplace. Attending other meetings / forums, as required, capturing, and escalating any concerns as they arise.

• Act as Incident Control Officer when required and conducting meetings on lessons learnt with other emergency responders.

• Build Knowledge and understanding of disability issues and how such affects staff in the workplace. Provide support on application/scope of reasonable adjustments and signposting staff or line manager to guidance and external agencies.

• Conduct investigation into accident or incident as required, promoting incident reporting and preventative measures/behaviours where appropriate.

• Communicate and build relationships with the organisation with regards Health and Safety matters via the various formats available.

• Identify risks and complete risk assessments and guidance for managers to assist them to do so within their teams and environment.

• Work closely with the Facilities Management Team providing support with their daily tasks when required and giving advice regarding H&S matters.

• Line Management of 1 Administrative Officer (AO) staff member within the Estates/Strategy & Central services Team.

Agreed Expectations

The successful candidate will be expected to work from their base location on a weekly basis in line with current Civil Service requirements, outside of any reasonable adjustments.

You will be required to work on site 5 days per week, with the occasional travel to our other offices in Nottingham and London.

Skills & Qualifications

Essential Skills

• The ability to promote and communicate health and safety ethics across the organisation, whilst building strong working relationships, and identify key business needs within your area of responsibility. (Lead criteria)

• Well organised team player able to prioritise your workload and meet deadlines.

• Deliver a high level of customer service.

• Attention to detail with the ability to accurately record information across multiple platforms.

• Basic knowledge of Microsoft Office Packages, such as Outlook, Sharepoint, Excel and MS word.

• Previous line management experience

Desirable Skills

• Nebosh/IoSH Health & Safety Qualification or the desire to work towards gaining either or both qualifications.

Application process

This recruitment process will follow the Civil Service Success Profile process. Candidates will be expected to provide a Personal Statement of Suitability of no more than 750 words in support of your application based on essential and desirable skills.

Please note: ‘The ability to promote and communicate health and safety ethics across the organisation, whilst building strong working relationships, and identify key business needs within your area of responsibility’, has been marked as a lead criterion at sift stage, and we reserve right to score this as a priority if the number of applications received are high.

Interview Process

If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview which will use the Civil Service Success Profiles. At interview, candidates should expect questions on:-

• Strengths relevant to the role (please note; strength-based information is not released to candidates in advance of interviews).

• The following Behaviours at EO level:-

• Leadership (Lead criteria at interview)

• Working Together

• Making Effective Decisions

In the event of tied candidate scoring at interview, the lead Behaviour to determine interview outcome will be Leadership.

All interviews will be held in person at Victoria Square House, Birmingham.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Reasonable Adjustments

At OPG we consider all applications on the basis of merit and want you to feel able to demonstrate your full potential whatever type of assessment is used. If you require any reasonable adjustments for any aspect of the selection process, do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. If you are applying for a role within OPG and would like to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the selection process.

For further information on benefits of working for OPG, such as our Flexible Working Policy and a FAQ, please check the candidate information pack attached to this advert.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, we may offer you an alternative role at the same or lower grade should one be available.