Job Title: Fire Safety Advisor
Band: 7
Locality: Estates Services
Service: Estates & Facilities
Base: St Mary's Hospital, Armley, Leeds
Hours of work: 37.5 hrs
Please note this is a 3-6 month role with the potential to go on as a permanent role.
Job Summary:
The post holder will be responsible in supporting that the Trust meets all statutory fire requirements. The post holder will support the fire safety provision in the day-to-day fire safety advisor role and a key feature of this role will be to ensure that fire safety systems are in place to meet requirements of legislation and that these are supported by suitable policies and procedures linking into both Trust Management and new client arrangements.
The Fire Safety Advisor will provide an oversight of the of both in-house and outsourced service providers fire safety responsibilities to the Fire Safety Manager and ensure all their services comply with legislation and good industry practice. They will deputise for the Fire Safety Manager in their absence.
Key Relationships:
Internal and external stakeholders across all Trust sites, including ward staff, service users, contractors and service providers as well as the Fire Service/Local Authorities.
Key Responsibilities:
- Carry out fire risk assessments and training across the Trust.
- Deputise for the Fire Safety Manger when required, chair and attend meetings in their absence.
- Ensure fire risk assessments are reviewed on a regular basis and in line with the Fire Safety Order.
- Ensure training packages are regularly reviewed and updated.
- Ensure issues identified during fire risk assessments are recorded monitored and acted upon.
- Identify all fire safety activities within LYPFT and with new clients and lead on continuous development of a positive fire safety culture.
- Continually develop the current fire safety practice and work with security and health and safety teams to ensure a balanced approach across the Trust.
- Ensure fire safety information on Staff net is up to date and relevant.
- Raise fire safety awareness by promoting the practice if risk assessment and management, ensuring that a consistent and cohesive approach is adopted, and leading the development and implementation of the Trust and new clients' fire safety strategies and accompanying policies.
- Provide advice on fire safety issues across the Trust and to new clients to prevent risk to staff, the public and the organisation.
- Review and amend LYPFT, Trust and new client's policies, procedures and systems affecting fire safety and pursue best practice.
- Provide specialist advice and knowledge to colleagues, partners and other individuals and agencies to support the achievement of organisational objectives and enable compliance with organisational policy.
- Evaluate and assess the value of health and safety information identifying relevant patterns and trends. Use the information to take appropriate action and achieve desired outcomes.
- To be familiar and comply with all relevant Fire Safety, Operational, Human Resource, Data Protection, Risk Management and Financial Regulations, policies and procedures and to contribute to the development of new policies and procedures where applicable.
- To ensure equality of opportunity is afforded to all persons both internal and external to the Authority, actively seeking to eliminate any direct or indirect discriminatory practices/behaviour.
Communication and Relationship Skills:
- The Fire Safety Advisor will have excellent communication and relationship skills liaising with internal and external stakeholders and team members.
- Estates & Facilities operates in a highly customer focused, lean and quality focused environment (relationships management) and therefore the post holder will act as the "face of estates fire safety" and communicate with, and provide advice to key stakeholders, or their representatives and new clients, in order to advise on timescales and logistics. Discussions are often of a sensitive / confidential nature requiring tact and diplomacy to be observed.
- The post holder will be expected to attend team meetings, occasional user groups and provide a prompt and positive response to customer suggestions and complaints.
- Attends team meetings and forums, which may be internal or external.
- Deliver training across the Trust to all staff advising on Fire Safety and best practice with the ability to communicate effectively in response to different learning styles.
Analytical and Judgmental Skills:
- The post holder will have excellent analytical and judgmental skills as they are responsible for conducting fire safety audits. As such they will contribute to regular reports with senior managers and stakeholders within the Trust.
- Prioritise fire safety to meet the needs of the Trust and the capital programme.
- Make recommendations for safety improvements to Trust representatives.
Planning and Organisational Skills:
- Planning and organisational skills are vital in the role of the Fire Safety Advisor, working in a fast paced environment working to deadlines and tight timescales is vital as well as the ability to prioritise.
- This includes the management of the contractors, contracts scope, timescale, schedule, cost, quality maintenance and subsidiary services in accordance with the services and safety specifications.
- Contribute towards the planning and delivery of capital schemes from a fire safety perspective via approved suppliers.
Physical Skills:
- When visiting buildings and sites, the post holder will be required to physically examine the scene identifying and investigating compliance and adherence to building regulations - this will include physically assessing and examining the building composition and structure.
- The post holder will be required to frequently visit sites to investigate unpleasant conditions/environments where it may have been fire/smoke damaged.
- Undertake physical examinations of buildings and sites
Patient/Client Care:
- Patient and Client Care is at the heart of all tasks completed by the Fire Safety Advisor. Acting on patient and colleague feedback is a key element of the role and is conducive to care and recovery.
- Ensure services / environments are suitable and safe for service users, staff and visitors.
Responsibilities for Policy and Service Development:
- The Trust's Estates Strategy is key in the Fire Safety Advisor's role.
- All estates fire safety services must be compliant with current building regulations, statutory legislation, approved codes of practice and NHS guidelines, seeking advice on all estates safety matters.
- Ensure regular monitoring is in place to manage performance against specifications.
- Complete fire safety audits with Trust representatives to ensure performance and identify any fire safety improvements.
Responsibilities for Finance:
- Reporting of expenditure is an element of the Fire Safety Advisor's role.
- Ensures fire maintenance services and safety improvements are procured to the appropriate professional, technical & quality standards and are maintained to the necessary physical environmental conditions that are conducive to service user safety, care / recovery.
- Ensure purchase orders are raised within standing financial instructions.
- Review invoices for payment.
Responsibility for Human Resources:
- As a face of estates, liaising with other members of a multi-disciplinary estates and facilities team is important in the role of the Fire Safety Advisor.
- Management of contractors and works completed ensuing quality and value for money.
- Provide cover for other Estates and Facilities colleagues as required.
Responsibility for Information Resources:
Contributing to reports and information resources with senior management, for governance and assurance to the Trust by specified deadlines is an important part of the Fire Safety Advisor role and as such accurate record keeping and tracking of works is vital.
Research and Development:
- The Fire Safety Advisor is keen to develop the role and research ways to continuously improve processes and procedures around fire safety management.
- Lead on the completion of fire safety audits within their locality and ensure rectifications are undertaken.
- Assist in developing reports and using systems to improve performance.
Freedom to Act:
- The post holder is expected to practice within their professional codes of conduct and to act with almost full autonomy / freedom within the budgets / timescales ratified by the Board, the Trust Standing Financial Instructions (SFI's) and standing orders.
- To undertake the role of appointed Deputy Responsible Person for fire safety compliance on behalf of LYPFT.
- Ensure contractors completing works on site meet Trust policies and procedures.
If you are interested in this role please apply and we will endeavour to get back in touch within 48hours.
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