Health and Safety Adviser

Salary: £36,636 to £38,784 with progression to £46,049 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 24 September 2026

The Role

We are looking for a motivated Health and Safety Professional to join our busy and highly professional health and safety team.  The work environment at this research-intensive Russell Group university is diverse, challenging and highly rewarding. You will deliver a broad spectrum of competent health and safety support, training and advice to research, teaching and service colleagues, acting a lead liaison with the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

To be successful in this role you will be highly driven with excellent inter-personal and communication skills.  We need you to bring with you experience of providing effective health and safety advice to people at all organisation levels in line with current legislation.  You must be a trained competent person with a NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent and have substantial post qualification experience.  Awareness and understanding of working in a university setting is an advantage. 

Please reach out to Sam Dainty, Occupational Health and Safety Services Manager (OHSS), email [email protected] for a chat about this opportunity

To apply please upload your CV and a letter of application which specifically evidences how your skills, experiences and knowledge align with the requirements of the person specification below.

We are currently working with a hybrid model of on-site and home working and are happy to discuss flexible working requirements with you.  We can support colleagues with relocation packages for candidates applying from outside of the region.

Key Accountabilities

• Working as part of a team, to provide competent, solutions orientated health and safety advice, support and guidance to University staff, postgraduate students and others.


• Working in liaison with the Radiation Protection Advisers, Biological Safety Advisers, Fire Officers and other OHSS colleagues, to advise and support (via training, inspection and audit) on aspects of health and safety.


• Advise and assist Faculty/Services and Unit staff (including Managers, Principal Investigators and Heads of Units) to enable them to meet their statutory obligations and the relevant University health and safety management standards.


• Attend and contribute to meetings of the Faculty Health & Safety Committee and other committees/working groups, as appropriate. 


• Lead on the implementation of health and safety policy and management systems through the audit and inspection programme; and to put forward effective and proportionate recommendations for addressing any shortcomings. 


• Devise and deliver health and safety training courses for staff and students at the University. 


• Investigate significant incidents, ensure the necessary recording of information, compile comprehensive reports, identify root causes and ensure the appropriate follow up action is implemented.


• Lead on the development and updating of University health and safety management standards and guidance on a project basis. 


• Establish and maintain positive working relationships with key stakeholders across the University.


• Maintain membership of relevant professional organisations e.g. IOSH and to update and maintain health and safety competence.


• Cover for other OHSS staff as necessary when required.


• Undertake other tasks commensurate with the grade, as required by the Occupational Health & Safety Manager.

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Experience as a health and safety practitioner.


• Ability to understand and scrutinise scientific and technical information.


• An up-to-date understanding and working knowledge of the key principles of health and safety, including risk assessment.


• Ability to write succinct, clear reports to a high professional standard.

Desirable

• Chartered Member of IOSH or equivalent. Where it has not yet been achieved, it is a requirement of the job that the post-holder must gain professional level health and safety knowledge and experience within 3 years. Significant support will be provided for this purpose.


• Awareness and understanding of Higher Education.


• Registered IOSH health and safety trainer.


• Previous work in a complex environment with many competing demands.

Attributes and Behaviour

• Ability to build effective and productive partnership relationships.


• Confident and engaging with excellent presentational skills.


• Ability to communicate effectively and influence staff and students at all levels.


• Ability to demonstrate tact, sensitivity and discretion.


• Ability to be assertive when circumstances require.


• Ability to prioritise workload to meet deadlines.

Qualifications

• Degree in Health & Safety, NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent.

Desirable

• Teaching or train the trainer qualification.


• Auditing qualification.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29743