Occupational Health Specialist Inspector (FOD Band 3/SEO)

Diverse Perspectives and experiences are critical to our success, and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We look forward to receiving your application.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

At HSE, we work with one goal in mind – to help keep Britain’s workforce safe and healthy.

Our occupational health specialists work as Regulators across Great Britain in a whole range of essential industries with thousands of workers, to ensure that work is managed safely. In this role, you can utilise your considerable professional knowledge to influence not only individual employers but whole industry sectors.

A career with HSE gives you a unique opportunity to visit and interact with different and diverse employers and work activities, often small to medium sized businesses that lack occupational health understanding. You’ll work alongside other inspectors to ensure that all employers take action to control health risks in the workplace, and that means you will see a wide variety of work-related health concerns and reported occupational diseases.

Your work as a regulator will make the most of your experience in occupational health – identifying risks, providing the right advice and crucially – taking steps to ensure the employer takes the necessary action. You could be inspecting the management of health risks in an engineering firm, investigating a report of occupational disease in a bakery, taking enforcement action when required. Your work will take you across the range of industries from construction, manufacturing and engineering, to agriculture, waste and recycling or the public sector.

This role will broaden your knowledge and your professional credibility like no other role can and you will be fully supported by your colleagues including the widest range of health and safety experts in Britain.

Together, you’ll be helping to protect thousands of people, whether that be from our offices or out on site.

Further information about the role can be found in the attached candidate pack.

You will be office-based but as part of your role, you will be required to inspect and visit sites across Great Britain. This will require regular travel and overnight stays.

Training:

At the HSE, in order to fully understand the legal and enforcement requirements of this front-line role, you develop your regulatory expertise completing formal accredited training and complete a legal assessment. This includes a mixture of e-learning and face to face tutorials. You’ll also have wider learning opportunities through your Civil Service access.

Essential Requirement:

As well as learning on-the-job, you will continue your development, consistent with the professional revalidation process, to maintain your registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Please provide your NMC registration number on your application form.

Key Responsibilities
• Leading and/or supporting investigation of work related ill-health concerns and reportable diseases to identify the cause and where necessary, take appropriate enforcement action to control the risks
• Inspecting a variety of workplaces, either on your own or supporting another inspector to make sure health risks are managed safely, driving improvements and taking enforcement action where required to secure compliance with the law
• Advising other HSE colleagues about OH and how conditions compare with minimum legal requirements and good practice
• Providing specialist support to guide enforcement decisions and specialist opinion in reports
• Contributing to policy work and guidance in relevant priority areas by sharing information and advice with policy colleagues
• Contributing as a member of the occupational health team to promote occupational health at relevant UK forums as well internally, for example, coaching trainee H&S inspectors, and
• You will be expected to appear as specialist / expert witness at tribunals, inquests and legal proceedings.

Person specification

To be considered for this role, you will need to:

• Be a registered specialist community public health nurse (specifically occupational health) (SCPHN – part 3 of the NMC Register)
• Be able to demonstrate sound practical experience and technical expertise in occupational health
• Be able to influence at all levels in an organisation to make significant improvements in occupational health

Essential experience requirements: 

• The assessment and management of health risks from workplace exposure to a range of hazards such as substances hazardous to health, work-related infections etc.
• Developing policies and written arrangements for protecting worker health
• Managing health surveillance arrangements regarding risks to workers hearing, skin and respiratory system as well as the risks from exposure to vibration
• Monitoring the quality and effectiveness of occupational health delivery and
• Experience in the management of musculo-skeletal disorders and work related stress and broader occupational diseases.

In addition, you’ll have made impact in your career by making intelligent, measured decisions in your area, with good analytical skills to spot underlying issues. Communication skills are key in this role as you will be expected to persuade and influence people at all levels.

We value people who respect others, work well in a team and can build robust relationships with employers and other stakeholders.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Assessment and management of a range of health risks at work
• Development, management and implementation of health surveillance programmes
• Monitoring the effectiveness and quality of occupational health arrangements and the technical work of others

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension

We invest in our people with;

• Competitive rates of pay
• Access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme to which HSE contribute 27.1% far more than in the private sector.
• Family friendly policies and working hours to help balance your home life and career
• Carer friendly policies to help create a supportive working culture
• 25 days annual holiday increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays and 1-day Civil Service privilege leave
• Parental leave benefits

Allowances

This post is eligible for Excess Fares Allowance. A successful internal candidate currently based at another office may be entitled to Excess Fares Allowance in line with HSE policy (http://intranet/finance/expenses/excess-fares-allowance-policy.htm)

Job contact :

• Name : Julie Wood
• Email : julie.wood@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk