Health & Safety Business Partner

House of Commons

The House of Commons a unique and exciting place to work right at the heart of the UK's thriving democratic system. 

Behind the scenes, the House of Commons Service is made up of more than 3,000 employees who support and facilitate the smooth day to day running of the House. They provide professional services to Members of Parliament, their staff, and the wider parliamentary community.

Staff Benefits

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:  

• 30 days’ annual leave (increasing to 35 days after first full leave year). 
• Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. 
• Access to training and development. 
• Flexible working. 
• Interest free season ticket loan and bicycle loan.

Introduction 

The Strategic Estates (SE) Team manages all property and engineering infrastructure across the Parliamentary Estate. The Estate consists of around 14 main buildings ranging from the historic Palace of Westminster to the modern Portcullis House, is located within a UNESCO World Heritage site, and spans 4 conservation areas. SE has an annual budget of several hundred £m, split between around 100 ongoing capital projects and operations, and has several multi-million refurbishment projects planned over the next decade to refurbish some historic buildings and replace ageing engineering infrastructure.

The Health and Safety Team comprises a number of safety professionals who are collaborating closely with stakeholders across the estate to develop local arrangements aligned to ISO45001 and maintain compliance to the corporate safety management system. They also provide assurance to senior stakeholders that the system is appropriate, effective, implemented and compliant with the CDM Regulations. Systems must be proportional and appropriate for all services provided by the department, including construction and maintenance operations.

The Role 

The post holder will be one of a team of health and safety business partners within the House of Commons safety team. The team and will report to the Senior Construction Safety Advisor. This is predominantly a business support role and will assisting in the   development of effective arrangements across construction activities, including assurance. The role is essential given the number of projects and construction related maintenance undertaken simultaneously, the nature of work and the live environment in which work is carried out.

This role may involve limited night and weekend working as projects and duties require as well as some on-call cover to provide safety support where significant incidents or events may affect the business of either House.

This post does not have any line management responsibility but postholders will be required to support colleagues and assist with the professional development of others within the organisation and wider team.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Follow the principles of health and safety regulatory requirements and internal governance arrangements outlined in the Parliamentary Combined Health and Safety Policy and associated supplements. This also includes the Safety Centre of Excellence and the associated protocols, Local Arrangements and House policies, procedures and guidance relevant to your work.
• Conduct monitoring arrangements to support the discharge of applicable statutory duties e.g Health and Safety at Work Act etc.
• Compile evidence, reports & dashboards etc. describing how compliance obligations are met e.g (CDM 2015).
• Contribute to checks, audits and peer reviews, lessons learned, cost benefit, value engineering and other exercises being undertaken by colleagues, staff within other departments and external organisations as required.

Skills and Experience

Qualifications:

• NEBOSH General and Construction Certificates or equivalent.
• Tech IOSH, or similar and equivalent membership

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

• Planning and Organising – Experience of successfully managing a variety of safety issues and non-compliances, effectively adapting to changes in scope and project schedules or sudden events.
• Influencing and Persuading – Able to use a range of persuasive techniques to influence the behaviours of Senior Stakeholders, managers, staff, contractors and consultants to ensure their adherence to H&S policies and procedures etc.
• Communication – Experience of effectively explaining complex, technical verbal and written safety information and advice in a way that is understandable and meaningful to a range of lay and technical stakeholders and audiences with differing goals.
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – Understands the need for working successfully within a team, whilst upholding the values of equality, diversity, and inclusion by:
  • promoting an environment of mutual trust and respect
  • building wide reaching collaborative relationships
  • contributing to the common goal of making everyone feel valued and respected
  • keeping all those working on and visiting the Estate safe

Next Steps and Additional Information

• CV & Supporting Statement – If you would like to apply for this role, please submit your CV and supporting statement with a 500-word limit.

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description. 

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.

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