Health, Safety and Fire Practitioner

Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working

Vacancy Approach

External

Location

Newton Abbot

Region

South West

Closing Date

07-Aug-2026

Business Unit

Area Directors Office - London Family

Post Type

Permanent

HEO

Number of jobs available

1

Reserve List

12 Months

Job ID

20170

Overview of the job This is a non-operational specialist role based within establishments and line managed via the Senior Health Safety and Fire HS&F Advisor within the National Service - Estates, Health, Safety, Litigation and Safety Group HSF&L Team.

The role supports national plans and systems for the effective management of HSF and Litigation via the risk through the provision of first line advice and support for establishment(s) and by the co-ordination and operation of relevant establishment(s) administration and management systems in line with national policy.

There are no line management responsibilities.

Summary The post manages the day to delivery by liaising and co- ordinating health, safety and fire management in establishment(s), providing first line guidance and advice, training and support to key stakeholders including the SMT, staff, prisoners, contractors and visitors. Ensuring matters are investigated in a timely manner as per guidance. The job holder will undertake the role, having access to all work areas, plantand equipment within the establishment.

The post holder will report to the Senior HS&F Advisor in the HSF&L Delivery Team. Support for other establishments in thegeographical area or wider structure may be required in line with risk.

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties

• Responsible for the administration, management and assurance of all accident, assault, near miss and fire incidents. This involves investigating complex incidents, while collating sensitive information, obtaining CCTV/BWVC evidence and recording evidence finds on the Spherasystem to support cases and advisory actions.
• The administration and management of the DSE training and assessment software system; undertaking individual DSE assessments for acute cases and advising Managers whenergonomic assessments are necessary in complex cases.
• Responsible for the Health safety and fire safety critical training and assessment to validation. Covering a range of software systems, strategies and policy principles to allow staff to deal safely with emergency incidents. Provide advice to managers, opening individual learning plans for thosedeemed to have a specific learning need and provide peer quality assurance.
• Support in the management, monitoring, review and delivery of the risk management model within the HSF&L Governance Strategy. To advise and support the seniormanagement and governing governor of any dangerous conditions requiring immediate action and intervention. Offering significant impactful knowledge towards resolution of complex life critical services within health, safety and fireprocess assurance.
• Responsible for the production, review and monitoring ofestablishment FRA's, identifying all significant risks andactions, reporting and managing to mitigate or eliminate the risk. Liaise regularly with the PSP (North/South/LT&HS)HSF&L team, to ensure that national priorities and actions for HS&F are fed into relevant establishment managementforums and report through monthly stakeholder reports tohighlight and progress concerns.
• Manage and co-ordinate fire safety arrangements within the establishment in line with legislation and policy, including co-operating and co-ordinating with internal/externalmanagement stakeholders, to plan and execute fire safetydrills, familiarisation tours, tactical exercises and where required be the point of contact during any interruptions to key services, all in line with the establishments contingency plans. Frequent liaison with the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) to facilitate the implementation of the localestablishment fire contingency plans in association with theFRS operational firefighting procedures.
• Work with colleagues and support all local functions inrelation to Health, safety and fire compliance, supporting the monitoring of immunisations, referring RIDDOR incidents,attendance absence cases for RIDDOR, first aid assessment, RPE training to national requirements, arson and PEEP advisor measures in accordance with thegovernance strategy.
• Responsible for reviewing projects with senior stakeholders and management functions, including site visits and pre-start meetings. Providing technical Health, safety and fire advice and knowledge based on legal requirement, HMPPS Policyand technical instruction.
• Work collaboratively with MoJ Estates colleagues in thecompletion of high risk audits, contribute to Estates tri-partite meetings, submit Planet FMs or New Work Requests andEIPs for all unsafe conditions that are identified and highlighted through the completion of BFRAs and anydefects identified as part of establishment tours. Encourageall staff to actively report unsafe acts and conditions.
• To routinely monitor the adequacy of HSF&L Contingency Planning and to assist those responsible with the development and testing of HSF&L contingency plans, through memorandum of understanding MOU.
• Conduct frequent HSF tours to all areas of the establishment using a triangulated approach to inspect and verify compliance. Ensure that any areas of concern are reported effectively. Working with managers including Heads ofFunctions to ensure all staff are aware of the risk assessment process and associated SSOW, to ensure all isks are reviewed and managed as required and performing fire evacuation exercises.
• Assist the regional litigation teams in the identification/collation of relevant information and documentation, to assist in defending the service from legal challenge within complex sensitive cases to protect the public service and reduce litigation cost.
• Contribute to the completion of PHASE checklists in line with the HSF&L Governance strategy, through the evaluation ofestablishment risks. Support the SHSFA in the production of the HSF&L risk register, forward delivery plan and collation of RFI data. Support in the monitoring of actions andchanges in risk levels.
• Responsible for ensuring all staff and stakeholders receive a health, safety and fire induction and are aware of the actions required in the event of an emergency.
• In conjunction with the SHSFA ensure attendance at establishment morning meetings, reporting any areas of concern and acting upon any reported incidents.
• Support in the production of incident, risk and compliance data for discussion at establishment HSF&L committee. Support in the coordination of the meeting in line with the requirements of the governance strategy.

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it isat present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustmentsmay require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Good IT skills ensuring that related electronic systems are accurately populated.
• Able user of MS Word and MS Excel.
• Basic training and presentation skills.
• Information collation and analysis.

Technical Requirements The post holder is required to hold or complete within 2 years of appointment:

• a minimum of NEBOSH General Certificate or equivalent;
• and the HMPPS Fire Risk Assessment qualification.

Appointees are also required to complete the RPE Training Qualification and will be expected to gain this qualification immediately on appointment.

It is expected that post-holders will achieve Associatemembership of IOSH within 2 years of appointment via successful completion of the NEBOSH Certificate or equivalent andsubsequently achieve Technical Membership within 2 to 5 yearssubject to F/T status.

It is expected that post holders will achieve Technician Grade of the Institute of Fire Engineers within 2 years of appointment viasuccessful completion of the HMPPS Standard Fire RiskAssessors course and maintain 25 hours of continuedprofessional development (CPD) per year, including a mix of formal and informal activities.

The post holder will also be required to attain EngineeringTechnician (EngTech) grade through the Engineering Council and achieve a place on the Institution of Fire Engineers Fire RiskAssessors register.

Ability

• Able to deal effectively and assertively with staff at all levels.
• Able to work to tight deadlines and prioritise workload in line with demand.

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working.Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone's circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

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