19.11.12 Version 1.0

Job Profile

1. Post Information

Job Family / Organisational Support
Directorate / OCE
Service / HR & OD
Job Title / Health and Safety Adviser and Senior Health and Safety Adviser
Grade / SO1-POF (Career Progression scheme applies)
Type of Worker
(Home, Remote, Agile or Office) / Agile
Tier / N/A
Reports to / Health and Safety Manager
No. of Reports / N/A
Management responsibility for / N/A
Reference No. / JP763
Purpose / To contribute to the delivery of an effective Health and Safety service by providing specialist advice on health and safety, organisational review and policy, leading or working on specific projects/cases.

2. Council’s Purpose and Values

The purpose of the Council is “to ensure the people and City of Sunderland fulfil their potential” by:
·  Raising aspirations, creating confidence and promoting opportunity (People)
·  Leading the investment in attractive and inclusive City and its communities (Place)
·  Creating the conditions in which business can establish and thrive (Economy)
Values: PROUD, DECENT, TOGETHER

3. Key Areas

Key Area / Statement Part 1
(Verb, what is done) / Statement Part 2
Output & Outcome
(How it is done, to what or whom, and with what result)
Communication / Communicate information verbally and / or in writing / To provide advice, guidance, support and challenge to managers, colleagues, internal and external customers, employees and partner organisations on H&S Policy and development, to support resolution of H&S issues.
When leading or working on special projects/pieces of work, in order to ensure effective service delivery.
Communicate information to different audiences / As shown above. Information can be varied, complicated and sensitive, for example:
- the H&S implications in enforcement body investigations, civil and criminal H&S investigations, disciplinary investigations, , re-organisations and business transfers;
- providing operational advice and direction to service managers, in line with H&S policies, to support the resolution of H&S issues whilst ensuring compliance with statutory H&S requirements.
Provide information and / or advice and guidance / Receive and respond to customer issues and enforcement body enquiries within the lead areas of the council, providing advice on H&S issues, some of which can be complex, in order to inform, assist, and advise at all levels as required, and to support colleagues within the H&S Team.
To managers and H&S colleagues, when leading or working on projects or cases.
Specialist H&S Policy and advisory knowledge is required, in order to assist in ensuring that the organisation’s objectives are best delivered through the provision of sound and appropriate H&S guidance.
Undertake complex / contentious negotiations / Some negotiation may be required when working on projects or pieces of work, (for example with enforcement bodies, trade unions on proposals, or service managers, or employees), in order to achieve an acceptable outcome.
Undertake formal counselling / formal advocacy / When required, to give evidence to health and safety enforcement bodies on occasion, or advise directly at enforcement investigations, in order to assist in ensuring matters are dealt with in line with Health and Safety policies, and to seek resolution of Health and Safety issues.
Influence others to adopt policies and courses of action / To support the implementation of the Corporate Health and Safety Policy across the Council.
To produce H&S policies which meet legislative requirements and organisational objectives and values.
Working with managers to adopt strategies, new ways of working and processes which may be unfamiliar and at times contentious, in order to adopt new ways of working.
To engage with managers and employees to work within the Council’s Health and Safety policies and principles.
Customer Focus / Establish excellent relationships with customers / To liaise closely with managers, employees, special project teams and trade unions, bringing H&S expertise, in order to add value to the overall outcomes.
Working closely with the H&S Manager providing H&S advice in order to assist the business.
Assess and / or anticipate customer needs / Understand and assess the H&S requirements of customers, in order to provide input into work plans, setting objectives and contributing towards ensuring effective service delivery and compliance with statutory requirements and Corporate Health and Safety Policy.
Assess service delivery requirements / Understand the expectations of different customers and the range of H&S policies and procedures, in order to provide support to H&S colleagues, and to support customers directly on organisation reviews, policy, risk assessments and safe systems of work, in order to provide guidance which is appropriate and which ensure legal compliance.
Exercise customer focus skills / Provide guidance and support to H&S colleagues.
Use of creative and analytical skills (e.g. when dealing with complex projects or pieces of work; providing advice on complex H&S issues; identifying implications of legislation for service users), and negotiating and persuading skills (e.g. with managers, enforcement bodies, employees and trade unions) in order to come to an appropriate solution.
Influence / Influence and persuade others / Be able to engage managers, enforcement bodies, employees and trade unions to accept decisions or adopt policies or particular ways of working, which at times may be contentious, in order to ensure that the business is in line with the statutory H&S requirements and organisational values.
Planning and decision making / Plan and organise / Own work, including re-prioritising tasks where required, to meet sometimes challenging timescales or deal with conflicting priorities or escalated queries or unexpected events, in order to ensure a responsive and effective service delivery.
Support H&S Manager in planning H&S issues.
Make decisions / Independently and on a daily basis, when dealing with and providing information and advice on queries, projects or cases.
When leading or working on projects or cases, in order to ensure that work is delivered to the required standard and on time.
Deal with and solve problems / Which can be diverse and complex (e.g. supporting organisation reviews and policy development, or working on specific projects/cases, in order to provide appropriate advice to enable a successful outcome or resolution.
Analyse and interpret information / To understand the objectives of assigned work, and work closely with others to clarify or identify where requirements are changing, in order to ensure that any issues raised are addressed appropriately, and in line with the Council’s policies and procedures.
Ensure that own knowledge base is up to date in order to ensure that specialist advice given is accurate and appropriate.
Independence / Undertake independent actions / Working with minimal supervision within the framework of H&S policies and procedures, statutory instruments, HSE codes of practice, HSE guidance notes, HSE sector specific bulletins, industry standards, recognised sector specific safe working practices, trade union guidance and publications etc, in order to provide specialist advice.
Making decisions when working on projects or pieces of work, and managing own workload. To work closely with H&S colleagues in order to ensure consistency and approach across the team.
Will have access to Senior H&S colleagues or a colleague with lead responsibility for specialist technical issues for specialist advice and support, or to line manager for higher-level decisions, in order to ensure personal development.
Developing and motivating others / Demonstrate own duties to other employees / When supporting the induction of new employees and sharing knowledge of practice and procedures, in order to ensure effective understanding of the needs of the service.
Advise, instruct, check work or train other employees / Supporting the development of new and existing members of staff, in order to share knowledge and experience.
Coach and / or mentor others / Supporting colleagues on a daily basis, in order to share learning and improve consistency and support development.
Manage and develop employees / Support development of others through offering guidance and advice.
Lead and guide employees / By sharing knowledge or area of expertise with colleagues, in order to support the improvement and development of the function
Composure and thoroughness / Ensure accuracy in work produced / In own work, and that of colleagues, by sharing information with colleagues, in order to ensure consistency of message and standards and in line with policies and legislative requirements and values.
Ensure work is carried out in an organised and effective way / Through working within agreed systems, procedures and standards in order to improve productivity and quality.
Maintain focus on tasks, even in challenging circumstances / When dealing with conflicting priorities and deadlines or where the subject matter is complex or sensitive, or to support colleagues, in order to ensure that service requirements are met.
Deal with deadlines / To ensure that workflow is managed and that an effective advisory service is provided.
Deal with interruptions and conflicting demands / When responding to queries, managing cases or projects including those that are escalated, in order to ensure that service delivery is maintained and to support customers and team members
Partnership working / Work effectively with others to build relationships and find common solutions / Working across the H&S team and other HR & OD teams, in order to assist the HR OD function to support the organisation.
Liaise with neighbouring authority H&S teams to share and benchmark good practice and approach to H&S advice.
Develop and maintain clear working objectives with internal and external partners / Through ongoing work and engagement with all partners to ensure that the service provided is fit for purpose.
Improvement / Develop and produce plans and / or strategies / Contribute to plans and strategies for service improvement.
Contribute to the effectiveness of improvement activity / By applying specialist knowledge from own service area and supporting the service in order to develop solutions, in order to support and act as an enabler for change to the organisation.
Measure the impact and effectiveness of plans / strategies / improvement activity / Contribute towards this by being clear about own work targets and working within these and feeding back as appropriate.
Innovation / Use creative skills to develop novel or unique ideas or products / Work with the function in developing products to support and drive improvement activity, and work with the business in order to embed these, as part of the Sunderland Way of Working.
Implement and / or co-ordinate new technology and processes / Implement new processes as they are introduced within the service, in order to improve service delivery.

4. Statutory Requirements

In line with the Council’s Statutory Requirements, all employees of the Council should:
Comply with the principles and requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to the management of Council records and information, and respect the privacy of personal information held by the Council; Comply with the principles and requirements of the Freedom in Information Act 2000; Comply with the Council's information security standards, and requirements for the management and handling of information; Use Council information only for authorised purposes.

5. Person Specification

Strengths for Matching (via online assessments)
Persuasive: A person’s ability to consciously attempt to influence another through negotiating and selling concepts/ideas/products. High scorers have a tendency to like selling, debating, and negotiating and drive pleasure from winning people round to their point of view. Low scorers will have a tendency to dislike using a sales pitch, debate or negotiation to win people around. They feel uncomfortable pressuring other people to go along with their point of view.
Socially Confident: A person’s ability to be comfortable and relaxed in all situations. High scorers tend to be self-assured and relaxed meeting new people and are comfortable at formal social events or functions. Low scorers feel uncomfortable or even embarrassed meeting new people for the first time and find more social events create anxiety.
Democratic: A person’s ability to make decisions. High scorers have a tendency to listen to others and seldom make up their minds without consulting the group. Low scorers tend to spend little time finding out what everyone thinks and prefers to make the final decision on their own.
Evaluate: A person’s ability to evaluate information and focus on potential problems or flaws and develop a plan of action. High scorers will have a tendency to critically evaluate information, look for potential problems and pitfalls of a particular approach. Low scorers tend to be less interested in reviewing work and will rarely look for errors and mistakes in work.
Innovative: A person’s ability to generate ideas and their creative thinking. High scorers will tend to see themselves as creative, inventive people always generating new ideas. Low scorers are more likely to build and act upon the ideas of others, rather than generating their own.
Forward Thinking: Whether a person prefers to take a long term view, setting goals for the future or are more likely to focus upon immediate rather than long term issues. High scorers typically take a long term view, enjoy setting long term goals and are more likely to take a strategic perspective. Low scorers typically dislike thinking far ahead and are less likely to a strategic perspective.
Detail Conscious: A person’s desire to focus on detail, liking to be methodical organised and systematic. High scorers are typically organised taking care to check detail, but may in extreme case be preoccupied with detail. Low scorers are less likely to be organised, may lose or misplace things and dislike tasks involving detail.
Rule Following: The extent, to which a person follows rules and regulations, prefers clear guidelines and finds it difficult to break rules. High scorers typically stick closely to rules and regulations and take care to follow procedures. Low scorers are typically not restricted by rules and procedures, are prepared to break the rules at work and can dislike bureaucracy.
Further Essential Requirements (assessed by other techniques)
Communicating (verbal) - Able to share information, obtain information and have dialogue with others either in person or over the telephone. / Application
Form, interview, assessment
Communicating (written) - Able to share information and obtain information from others through written communication. / Application
Form, interview, assessment
Listening - Listens to others to assess requirements in order to respond appropriately and efficiently. / Application
Form, interview, assessment
Customer Service Excellence – Able to delight customers, deliver high quality tailored services to meet needs and exceed expectations. / Application
Form, interview, assessment
Experience – Significant experience of dealing with and managing HR issues. / Application
Form, interview, assessment
Knowledge – Thorough knowledge of HR policies and procedures and the application of Employment legislation. / Application
Form, interview, assessment
Commitment to Equal Opportunities / Application
Form, interview, assessment
See career progression scheme

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