Job Description – Health & Safety Officer (HSO)

JOB TITLE Health And Safety Officer (HSO)

DEPARTMENT MOLA Northampton

LOCATION MOLA Northampton Office and with regular travel to sites

MOLA GRADE MOLA Grade 2.2

CONTRACT TYPE Permanent (subject to a 6 month probationary period)

HOURS 22.5 hours per week, working pattern as agreed.

RESPONSIBLE TO Group Health and Safety Compliance Manager

RESPONSIBLE FOR No direct line management responsibility.

However it should be clear: the HSO is a member of the management team and not an
advisor, therefore their instructions are (subject to discussions with relevant staff) to be
implemented.

OVERALL JOB  To help ensure MOLA compliance with current and future health and safety legislation
PURPOSE and best practise
 To help develop methods for the improvement of MOLA health and safety performance.
 To help ensure the safe management of MOLA premises, projects and operations.
 To help ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of MOLA staff and other stakeholders
(e.g. volunteers, sub-contractors, visitors, the public)
 To provide and organise appropriate health and safety training to staff.
KEY TASKS  Inspection/audit and reporting on of MOLA premises and archaeological projects to
ensure compliance with health and safety legislation and best practise.
 Ensuring the inspection and maintenance of MOLA equipment, including vehicles and
collating and maintaining the records of these inspections.
 Incident investigation and reporting for MOLA, particularly ensuring compliance with
RIDDOR.
 Sourcing and overseeing MOLA health and safety training requirements. Where
appropriate undertake ‘train the trainer’ courses (e.g. manual handling) and then
provide the training to staff.
 Conducting MOLA company safety inductions for new staff and other training where
qualified.
 Maintenance of MOLA health and safety training records.
 Chairing and overseeing MOLA Northampton health and safety meetings and
attendance at MOLA Group Health and Safety Committee meetings.
KEY TASKS cont.  Review and authorisation of MOLA risk assessments and method statements prior to
commencement of work.
 In conjunction with HSCM assist with the review and improvement of MOLA health and
safety templates (including risk assessments and method statements) policy and
procedures documents.
 Supporting the MOLA management team to ensure the safety of projects and attend
regular management meetings.
 Providing guidance and support to all staff on health and safety requirements and best
practise to increase health and safety awareness at all levels within the organisation.
 Assist in monitoring the health and safety compliance of MOLA sub-contractors.
 Liaison with other client/contractor health and safety personnel and to attend site
safety meetings where required.
 To maintain accreditation / registration to Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP) and
other portals.
 To assist in the preparation of relevant sections of tender documents.
WORKING  The work will frequently be outside in both urban and rural environments
CONDITIONS
 The role will require office DSE/Computer/ Keyboard work.
SPECIAL  This role will involve travel between the MOLA Northampton and London Offices and
CONDITIONS may include visits/inspections anywhere in the UK

 Commercial archaeological work frequently takes place on construction sites under the
auspices of the Construction Design Management Regulations, and even where this is
not the case archaeological sites are often similar to construction work in appearance
(e.g. use of plant)

NB This job description should not be taken as an exhaustive description of the role and is, rather,
indicative of the types of responsibility covered by this job. Post holders will be required to carry out
such other work as is required by MOLA as long as this is reasonable and commensurate with the
nature of the post held.
 Person Specification – Health & Safety Officer (HSO)
ESSENTIAL ASSES DESIRABLE ASSES
METHOD METHOD

QUALIFICATIONS  NEBOSH General or Construction AF

Certificate level or higher
DRIVING  Full UK driving licence or valid AF
LICENCE equivalent

PROFESSIONAL AF/I  TIOSH or higher AF/I

MEMBERSHIP

EXPERIENCE &  In depth understanding of Health and AF / I  At least two years’ experience in a AF / I
KNOWLEDGE Safety legislation and best practise in safety management role
general and the CDM regulations in  Experience/ knowledge of AF / I
particular. Construction projects
 Experience of incident investigation and AF / I  Archaeological interest, experience AF / I
report writing or knowledge
 Experience of written Risk Assessments AF/I
 Experience of inspection and audit. AF/I
 Ability to deliver effective training. AF/I
 Experience of working under pressure AF/I
and to deadlines.
 Desire to contribute to the AF/I
development of MOLA’s health and
safety performance and culture.
SKILLS &  Strong interpersonal and influencing AF/I  CSCS card relevant to role AF/I
COMPETENCIES skills
 Proven ability to represent the AF/I
organisation in dealing with
 Good written and verbal AF/I
communications skills
 Highly numerate AF/I
 Sound judgement AF/I
 Willingness to learn about AF/I
archaeological techniques and
methodologies.

Assessment Method Code:

AF – Application Form
I – Interview
T - Test