Band 7 Fire Safety Advisor

We are seeking a Fire Safety Advisor to join the Estates & Facilities Directorate & support the delivery of a safe, compliant & well-managed estate across the Trust. This role will provide specialist fire safety advice across a diverse property portfolio, including hospitals, community sites, secure services, children's settings, offices & prison healthcare environments., Ensure there is compliance with all regulatory provisions regarding fire safety in all Trust owned or operated properties.

Conduct a program of fire risk assessments in all Trust occupied premises, working to the standards in Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Health Technical Memorandums (HTM's), Building Regulations, British Standards and other relevant documentation, to ensure the Trust and its buildings comply with current fire legislation.

Undertaking overarching fire risk assessments in complex hospital buildings, to ensure efficacy of shared arrangements, horizontal evacuation and compartmentation, taking into consideration the profile of occupants.

Ensure all wards, departments and units have local plans in place detailing the actions to be taken in case of fire. Ensure these are reviewed regularly and their contents understood by staff.

Conduct a comprehensive program of fire drills across all Trust occupied premises, including where necessary outside of core hours to ensure all staff are prepared.

Maintain suitable clear structured records of all risk assessments, evacuation plans, fire drills and training are kept and accessible; this includes analysis of same when required.

Produce and maintain structured electronic records of reports, assessments, drills and fire safety and emergency planning training programmes to meet the needs of the Trust.

Compile end of month and annual fire safety statistics, analyse and produce reports to inform Head of Estate Development and the Health & Safety Committee.

Investigate all incidents of fires and fire alarm actuations. Monitor and Analyse trends and patterns to assist the Trust in learning from fire related incidents.

To maintain an up to date resource base of legislation, codes of practice and other relevant literature. To make the resource readily available to other Estates and Facilities staff.

Conduct fire safety audits when required, including on contractors operating on our premises.

Formulate and deliver a suitable program of fire safety training to a workforce of approximately 4500 staff. Methods to include e-learning, remote training using Microsoft Teams, and face to face training methods as appropriate; include specialist methods where appropriate such as the use of a fire training simulator used in conjunction with fire extinguisher training, and the use of Evac-Chair and other associated evacuation equipment.

Review with the Head of Safety and Compliance the Trust fire related policies and procedures, updating where appropriate, and communicating to Trust employees.

Support and advise the Head of Safety and Compliance in the production of an annual report to be provided to the Trust Board, by providing detail of the achieved standard of fire safety across all Trust premises.

Advising and liaising with staff and management at all levels regarding fire safety matters.

Plan, organise, conduct and report on emergency planning exercises of all types, with an emphasis on fire scenarios, but potentially also covering other emergency planning risk and threat areas. This includes regular communications test exercises, through to live-play exercises with inter-agency involvement i.e. emergency services, other Trusts, Local Health Resilience Forums, Borough Resilience Forums, and other Category 1 & 2 Responders.

As required provide a fire advisory service to the Estates and Facilities department on new and refurbished Trust building schemes.

Liaise and work with other members of the Health and Safety Team to achieve the Trust's health, safety, fire, emergency planning and security objectives.

Maintain an awareness of changes in fire safety legislation and guidance to ensure the Trust meets its fire safety obligations.

Participate in Local Health Resilience Forums; Borough Resilience Forums and Regional EPRR Meetings, representing the Trust on fire safety matters.

Management responsibilities

This is a non-clinical role.

The post holder is expected to contribute to the review and development of policy and procedural documentation within fire safety and emergency planning exercising activity. (Trust Fire Policy, Fire Safety Protocols and other fire procedural documents).

The post holder has no budget responsibility

The post holder will be responsible for purchasing relevant required equipment to meet needs of compliancy regarding Fire Risk Assessments.

The post holder will be responsible for determining the most suitable suppliers for procuring fire safety equipment in line with requirements from RRFSO & Firecode Series 5.

The post holder has no line management responsibilities

The post holder will conduct a compliant program of fire risk assessments and reviews in all Trust occupied premises.

The post holder is expected to manage his/her own workload under the line management of the Head of Estate Development.

The post holder will be responsible for the initial organising and prioritising their schedule of work, and annual work plan, in order to complete the annual fire risk assessment , fire drill and inspection programme.

Be expected to produce and deliver a fire safety training programme to all staff groups, in order that the Trust comply with Firecode; the types and frequencies will be determined by a training needs analysis.

Leadership

Accountable to the Head of Estate Development

Accountability for the completion of fire risk assessments, fire drills, and fire training, including statistical analysis and reports thereof.

Advising and influencing on all fire safety matters and supporting and advising departmental managers to discharge their duties.

Advising managers on the implementation of all fire safety legislation and codes of practice.

Designing and delivering training courses for staff on fire safety

Research

Required to interpret obligations as directed under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Health Technical Memorandums (HTMs) - Firecode 05-Series, Health Building Notes (HBNs), and British/EU/ISO Standards relating to fire safety.

Undertake surveys, and report on the impact of changes in legislation and official guidance regarding fire related matters. Advise on remedial action required to achieve an acceptable standard and make recommendations on the priority of improvement schemes for funding., To facilitate mutual knowledge and understanding of their respective requirements and obligations.

Manage internal and external fire safety enquiries requiring advice; referring to specialists, such as the appointed Authorised Engineer (AE) where necessary.

On Call/Unsocial Hours

Post requires occasional out of hours working to undertake selected fire drills and training to in-patient wards. Approximately twelve evenings a year.

Post also requires occasional weekend working to conduct exercises and emergency planning activity. Approximately two days a year.

The role will suit a confident & knowledgeable fire safety professional who can work independently, communicate clearly with clinical & non-clinical teams & provide practical advice on fire precautions, evacuation arrangements, building works & Trust policies. The successful candidate will need strong understanding of fire safety legislation, healthcare fire safety guidance & relevant technical standards, together with the ability to travel across Trust sites & work flexibly when required., Communication

Effective verbal communication skills, including patience and a willingness to listen. Ability to converse productively with staff, managers and specialists.

Proficient negotiating and influencing skills.

Adept written communication skills, including structured report writing and training packages.

Ability to build and maintain constructive relationships with professional and managerial disciplines.

Provide effective teaching and coaching in all issues involving fire safety, including strategy and evacuation procedures, to individuals and groups.

Maintain a close working relationship with the local Fire and Rescue Service.

The Band 7 Fire Safety Advisor will deliver the provision of a comprehensive and effective fire safety service across all properties owned or operated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities are set out below and in the attached Job Description.

Oxleas offers a wide range of NHS healthcare services to people in community and secure environment settings. Our services include community health care such as district nursing and speech and language therapy, care for people with learning disabilities and mental health care such as psychiatry, nursing and therapies. Our multidisciplinary teams look after people of all ages and we work in close partnership with other parts of the NHS, local councils and the voluntary sector and through our new provider collaboratives. Our 4,300 members of staff work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, prisons, secure hospitals, children's centres, schools and people's homes.

We have over 125 sites in a variety of locations in the South of England. In London we operate within the Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley Greenwich and into Kent. We manage hospital sites including Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup and Memorial Hospital, Woolwich, as well as the Bracton Centre, our medium secure unit for people with mental health needs. We are the largest NHS provider of prison health services providing healthcare to prisons within Devon, Dorset, Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Kent and South London. We are proud of the care we provide and our people.

Our purpose is to improve lives by providing the best possible care to our patients and their families. This is strengthened by our new values