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Who are we?
South Western Railway (SWR) operates over 1,500 services each weekday across the network and employs more than 5,000 people. We provide easy and convenient mobility, connecting people and communities in South West London, southern counties of England, and the Isle of Wight.
Join our team and help us continue to improve quality of life, by bringing people together to get the most out of life.
SWR is part of FirstGroup, the largest rail operator in the UK and second largest bus operator in the UK outside London. FirstGroup operates services throughout the UK and Ireland, with over 30,000 employees providing services that make travel smoother and life easier. FirstGroup works hard to reduce its impact on the environment, introducing cleaner and more environmentally responsible methods of transport.
About the job
The Head of Occupational Safety is responsible for providing expert health and safety (HS) advice, assistance and support to all employees and contractors. Providing HS leadership to the business, strategic direction, driving improvements in safety culture and performance aligned to the improvement of SWR’s risk profile and in compliance with SWR’s vision, values and Business Plan.
Your main responsibilities will be:
Provide health and safety (HS) leadership to the senior management peer group and the wider business, driving improvements in culture and performance.
As the Professional Head of Occupational Safety, provide expert advice, assistance and support to all SWR staff on health and safety (HS) legislation and other external requirements
Lead and chair cross-organisation safety governance groups, implementing a ‘matrix’ working framework to share information and ideas with other Senior Leaders with safety portfolios, to facilitate knowledge sharing and continuous improvements across all safety roles in the business.
As the organisation lead for the Be Safe principles, lead activities to embed safety as a personal core value for all colleagues through behaviour change, reinforcing and communicating good safety behaviours.
Work closely and collaboratively with our Trade Union Partners to identify issues, gain feedback on proposed improvement plans and engage our colleagues in any changes or improvements required.
Ensure that the SWR Safety Certificates and Authorisations are current and fully compliant with legislative requirements.
Lead the development of the SWR Safety Management Systems SMS, ensuring they are fit for purpose, providing robust mitigations against known risks, compliant with relevant legislation, industry standards and DfT commitments and drive continuous improvement.
Lead the development of processes that enable safety, and occupational health risks to be identified and mitigated – including those associated with organisational and operational change.
Ensure implementation and maintenance of the Company Document Control System within the Company to ensure the efficient distribution of instructions and standards.
Lead the delivery of an integrated safety risk management system and provide guidance on the process
Work with the Head Security and Safety Assurance to ensure that SWR has effective processes for the recording, reporting and investigation of accidents, accidents and near misses in order to develop a culture where lessons are learned and drive risk reduction.
Monitor the close-out of incident/accident investigation recommendations, both internal and from wider Industry regulatory bodies such as RAIB
Support the management stakeholder relationships with the ORR and other regulatory bodies
Provide leadership and coaching to the Safety Team in order to ensure objectives are monitored and achieved.
Maintain theoretical and practical competence in the field of HS management, including the application of relevant legislation, industry requirements and implement best practice from across the sector and the wider HS field.
Represent SWR’s interests at relevant Industry meetings as directed by the Safety and Security Director
Stand in for the Safety and Security Director when needed.
Ensure ISO45001 is maintained within already accredited departments of the SWR.
The post holder is expected to make decisions relating to the day-to-day application of safety arrangements and implement improvements where appropriate. For fundamental changes to safety arrangements or the strategic safety direction, the post holder would make a recommendation to, and seek authority from the Safety and Security Director before implementation.
As a minimum, you will need to have:
Education
Degree level qualification or equivalent experience
Formal safety management qualification (NEBOSH diploma or equivalent) with membership of the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) or equivalent professional qualification.
Job Specific Knowledge & Skills
Significant experience in an HS management role. Three years’ experience of such a role in the UK Railway Industry (or a sector with similar HS characteristics to rail) is desirable, but not essential.
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to influence both senior decision makers and the behaviour of front-line employees.
Experience in leading cultural and behavioural safety change programmes
Ability to work on own initiative, self-motivated and able to set and achieve demanding targets and objectives.
About the location
South Western Railways HQ is based on the 4th Floor at South Bank Central, a stone’s throw from the River Thames and a 10 minute walk from our busiest station, Waterloo. It is local to many well-known attractions, restaurants and retail facilities and is easily accessible by public transport.
Working pattern
Working an average of 37 hours per week over 5 days
Office hours Monday to Friday but with an expectation of out of hours, nights and weekends when required
The Reward
In return we offer a competitive salary and a variety of valuable benefits, including:
Free duty and leisure travel on SWR services for employees
Free leisure travel for spouse/partner and dependants (criteria dependent)
75% discount on many other train operating companies
Full training and support with development
Large range of exclusive retail offers
Excellent pension scheme
We all belong at SWR. FirstGroup’s vision is to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues, across its group of businesses, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment.
We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA+, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We maintain a zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent.
We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive.
We review all roles and job descriptions to ensure they are accessible and, where possible, we support and provide flexible working options; we recommend that you refer to each vacancy description for further details.
If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please follow the links below. We encourage you to share any additional needs you may require so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply.
https://www.healthassured.org/blog/neurodiversity
