Health and Safety Advisor

The Health and Safety Team support the University of Sussex in delivering a safe working environment for over 2000 staff and 19000 students on the Falmer Campus (over 200 acres) and a range of off-site locations. The Health and Safety Team’s key purpose is to promote and improve the safety culture within key areas of the University.

We are looking for a Health and Safety Advisor, working within a team of 7 who provide health and safety services to the University. Services include providing advice and guidance, conducting investigations, undertaking audits/inspections, producing reports and health and safety policies and guidance. As the University is undergoing an extensive program of health and safety improvements, with a particular focus on Science and Engineering, knowledge and experience within laboratories is highly desirable. The focus of this role will be to support colleagues in the Health and Safety Team in a program of work dedicated to improving Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) and Dangerous Substances Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) compliance and standards within its Science and Engineering Schools, therefore experience of working on chemical and DSEAR safety is highly desirable, but not essential, as training will be provided for the right candidate.

The key function of this post is to provide an excellent standard of professional safety advice/guidance to University Schools & Departments.

Duties will include.

• Working in partnership with the universities estates and facilities team on new and ongoing projects
• Providing health and safety advice to Schools and Professional Services Staff, with a particular focus on COSHH and DSEAR
• Running local audits/inspections and supporting Schools with external audits/ inspections
• Providing an interpretation of any changes in legislation before disseminating key content to relevant members of the University
• Updating and developing new policies/guidance
• Incident investigation
• Reviewing risk assessments
• Attending safety committee meetings
• Developing and delivering H&S briefings/ tool box talks
• Note taking at meetings and some clerical duties will be required as part of this role.

In addition to this a successful applicant will be expected to perform other tasks as called upon by the Head of Health and Safety, including some distinct project work in support of the core departmental goal of promoting a safe working culture.

The role offers great potential for an insightful and innovative health and safety professional to make a substantial, lasting impact, working in collaboration with a team of Safety Professionals. You will have the know-how to advise on a wide range of ‘general’ Health & Safety issues, with an interest/ focus in chemical/ DSEAR safety and be confident in applying this in an academic environment. Of key importance will be your ability to build a rapport with the full spectrum of staff and students.

Please contact Katie Bennett, k.a.bennett@sussex.ac.uk for informal enquiries.

The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

You can find out more about our values and our EDI Strategy, Inclusive Sussex, on our webpages.