Army – Health and Safety Advisor

Bovington Camp, Wareham, Dorset – We are passionate about Smarter Working and believe that a combination of flexible working practices, digital technology and modern workspaces will give you the opportunity to enjoy a healthy work-life balance, while ensuring you deliver your outcomes effectively and efficiently – we expect you to know where to be to have the most impact, balancing your individual needs with that of your team and the organisation.

Do you have a passion for Health and Safety (H&S)? Then this could be the role for you! We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and motivated H&S advisor to join our team. As the H&S lead, you will be the main point of contact and subject matter expert for all Safety, Health, Environmental and Fire (SHEF) related matters for Bovington Garrison. Reporting directly to the Garrison Commander, this post is pivotal in maintaining the ‘safe place’ to support the delivery of training to enable trained soldiers to complete their initial technical training for service in the British Army.  Bovington Camp is an Army base located in Dorset which together with Lulworth Camp forms the Garrison. The camp is a few miles from the south coast and is part of the world heritage site that is the Jurassic Coast. The Garrison consists of three barrack complexes, a forest/heathland training area and a heathland firing range. The physical estate (offices, accommodation blocks, garages etc) and training areas are critical to the delivery of both initial and career training for soldiers from across the whole of the British Army. The soldiers are taught skills in driving, communication, and gunnery across courses of varying lengths within the garrison, using a mixture of tracked (tanks) and wheeled vehicles. Supporting the maintenance of a safe place to deliver this fast-paced training with significant risk to life activity is a crucial aspect of the role and presents a unique challenge for the right person. We are seeking applicants who are both diligent and confident in implementing policy and due to the variety of ranks of serving personnel, civil servants and contractors you will be dealing with, applicants will need to be effective communicators and confident in developing trusting working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. Hybrid working is actively encouraged, although attendance at site for the majority of the week will be necessary. This post is open for all working patterns but please note that part time or job share will only be considered if full time cover can be achieved.

This role will provide H&S advice and guidance directly to the Garrison Commander to enable them to fulfil their duties and obligations as the Head of Establishment in safeguarding all those individuals that work at Bovington Garrison.

You will also be responsible for giving both practical support and advice to all personnel working within the Garrison including the Commanding Officers of the Lodger units.

You will be involved in incident reporting and investigation, conducting audits and risk assessments, assurance exercises, attending meetings as well as providing guidance and advice.

Through proactive engagement you will monitor and develop Garrison systems and culture to ensure compliance and positive H&S behaviours across the organisation. 

Specific tasks the H&S officer is required to deliver include;

• Providing professional advice and guidance to all personnel across the Garrison relating to maintaining a ‘safe place’ to enable individual Commanding Officers to manage and minimise Risk to Life (RtL).
• Draft, assure and review the SHEF plan and policy statements on behalf of the Garrison Commander.
• Lead on Fire safety management across the Garrison.
• Act as Garrison PoC for the Army incident reporting tool (DURALS) and actively promote incident reporting and ‘near misses’ across all units within the Garrison.
• Engage with the relevant stakeholders and subject matter experts to develop policy, procedures and any supporting materials needed.
• Manage and maintain the Garrison H&S Risk Register.
• Support and mentor teams investigating incidents and identify causes, recommendations and encourage the taking of appropriate and timely action.
• Liaise with key stakeholders to ensure appropriate procedures and standards are implemented to safeguard personnel, protect assets and ensure compliance with all H&S legislation.
• Proactively engage with customers to identify and support appropriate H&S training, delivering input where necessary.

Personal qualities

• Strong written and oral communication skills including briefing senior officers,
• A proven ability to build effective working relationships and work with a wide range of stakeholders,
• Previous experience of negotiating and influencing to achieve positive outcomes.

Training requirement

• The successful candidate will be expected to study for and obtain the NEBOSH General Certificate within 12 months of joining, if this qualification, or similar, is not already held.
• Attendance at the 2 week Army delivered H&S Advisors course will also be required.

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

• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace

Alongside your salary of £35,290, Ministry of Defence contributes
£9,528 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

As a Civil Servant working alongside the Army, you will be part of a forward-looking organisation with inclusive workplace policies, excellent career prospects and a job that makes a difference.

The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance.

Other benefits available for Civil Servants:

• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years service.
• Highly competitive pension scheme.
• Personal and professional development.
• Alternative working patterns such as working from home for many roles.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
• A culture that recognises and encourages inclusion and diversity.
• Free car parking and use of on-site gym, swimming pool and subsidised canteen.
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that can assist with living a healthy lifestyle.
• 6 days special leave per year for volunteering activities.

Learning & Development

We can offer the successful applicant a fantastic opportunity to undertake an MOD funded Apprenticeship in Management, allowing the job holder to gain a Level 5 qualification once they are comfortable and delivering the necessary outputs in the role.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

 External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six month probation period.

Please note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.”

“MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment by 31st December 2022. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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Job contact :

• Name : Tracy Drake
• Email : tracy.drake143@mod.gov.uk
• Telephone : 03001 560234

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk