Health & Safety Advisor

Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Job Description

Role Definition

To assist the Head of Health and Safety UKI to actively promote health and safety compliance, improve the safety culture and deliver quality support to the UK and Irish business, with future expansion potential for global delivery.

Key Responsibilities / Accountabilities

• Assist with the roll out of the Health and Safety Strategy and Policy as instructed by the Head of Health & Safety

• Delivering short in-house training and toolbox talks internally to staff or any other training requirements as needed

• Assist with the investigation of accidents and incidents and liaison with the Business Continuity Team around emergency preparedness

• Assist with the creation of risk assessments for activities and events and maintain the risk assessment library

• Support the Catering teams with setting up food safety inspections and procedures, including liaison with the retained food safety consultancy

• Carrying out internal audits of premises in the UK and Ireland and follow up visits where necessary, driving forward actions from the fire risk assessments and H&S inspections carried out by the fire consultant and attend office safety sampling catch up meetings with the Health and Safety Administrators to close local inspection actions by the site coordinators

• Liaising with Health and Safety Administrators, Corporate Real Estate Services (CRES), landlords of sites and other Operations staff with regards to safety improvements and training performance improvement

• Offer guidance to the Health and Safety Administrators

• Give workstation assessment advice, carry out risk assessments over Teams where possible and engage with retained DSE consultancy for home workers where necessary

• Review all expectant mother risk assessments which are self-completion questionnaires logged in a shared secure area

• Administration of the hybrid worker online DSE queries escalated from the administrators and course provider

• Creating agenda and minutes from the Health and Safety Committee and following up actions to assist the Health and Safety Manager

• Maintain a record of all safety management documentation to ensure it remains up to date for version control including annual review of risk assessments

• Deputizing for the Health and Safety Manager at Group Corporate Services meetings where required

Skills and abilities needed to perform role

• Ability to work in a fast-paced dynamic environment

• Knowledge of food safety and HACCP procedures (desirable but not essential)

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, along with demonstrable presentation skills

• Excellent MS Office IT skills including use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint and Co-pilot/AI applications

• Ability to handle multiple competing priorities

• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively and make decisions based on competent knowledge.

Knowledge and Experience

• Advanced DSE Workstation assessor experience/reasonable adjustments

• A comprehensive knowledge of current health and safety legislation and relevant standards and food safety requirements

• Accident investigation, auditing skills, inspections and risk assessment skills.

• Proven track record in providing professional, technical and practical health and safety advice and training internally

Professional Qualifications

• Minimum NEBOSH Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety or equivalent (Construction, Fire, International)

• Membership of IOSH (minimum Tech IOSH essential)

• Level 2 Food Safety (desirable but not essential)

• Compliance & Regulatory Responsibilities

• Meet all competency requirements by undertaking training and following agreed principles, policies, processes and procedures

• Identify and refer any actual or potential conflicts of interest

• Identify and refer any breaches, potential risks or non-compliance to H&S procedures to line management in line with the ISO code of conduct

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs.  Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.