Departmental Safety Officer
UCL
About us
UCL is one of the world's leading universities, consistently ranked in the global top ten. UCL's Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (MPBE) is internationally recognised for its research excellence, clinical partnerships and impact on healthcare and engineering.
Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (MPBE) is seeking a proactive and highly skilled Departmental Safety Officer (DSO) to play a pivotal role in supporting world-leading research and teaching in a complex, multi-disciplinary laboratory environment.
This is a new and strategically important role within the Department's technical support team, offering a rare opportunity to shape, lead and continuously improve health and safety practice across a department at the forefront of biomedical engineering, imaging, physics and clinical translation.
In this role you will:
As Departmental Safety Officer, you will take the lead on health, safety and environmental management across MPBE, supporting staff, students, visitors and contractors working across six UCL buildings in central London.
The Department's activities span mechanical, electrical, biological, chemical, optical and ionising radiation hazards, making this a varied, intellectually engaging and highly impactful role. You will act as the first point of contact for safety matters, working closely with academic, technical and professional colleagues to enable excellent research and teaching to take place safely and compliantly.
This is a hands-on role. You will not only provide expert advice, but actively drive improvements - developing training programmes, reviewing and improving risk assessments, supporting laboratory refurbishments and infrastructure projects, and ensuring that safety systems are robust, embedded and continually improving.
You will work closely with the Research Laboratory Manager and Department Manager, liaise with UCL Safety Services, and co-chair the Departmental Health & Safety Committee alongside the Head of Department. You will also be a key member of the Department's incident and emergency response team, with occasional out-of-hours contact required.
Key responsibilities
We are looking for a confident, collaborative and pragmatic safety professional who is comfortable working in a fast-paced research environment.
You will have:
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.
We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce.
These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people.
UCL is one of the world's leading universities, consistently ranked in the global top ten. UCL's Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (MPBE) is internationally recognised for its research excellence, clinical partnerships and impact on healthcare and engineering.
Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (MPBE) is seeking a proactive and highly skilled Departmental Safety Officer (DSO) to play a pivotal role in supporting world-leading research and teaching in a complex, multi-disciplinary laboratory environment.
This is a new and strategically important role within the Department's technical support team, offering a rare opportunity to shape, lead and continuously improve health and safety practice across a department at the forefront of biomedical engineering, imaging, physics and clinical translation.
In this role you will:
- Have genuine influence over how safety is designed, delivered and continuously improved
- Work with cutting-edge research facilities and passionate, expert colleagues
- Be supported in your professional development and training
- Benefit from UCL's excellent staff benefits, including generous annual leave, pension, and flexible working options
As Departmental Safety Officer, you will take the lead on health, safety and environmental management across MPBE, supporting staff, students, visitors and contractors working across six UCL buildings in central London.
The Department's activities span mechanical, electrical, biological, chemical, optical and ionising radiation hazards, making this a varied, intellectually engaging and highly impactful role. You will act as the first point of contact for safety matters, working closely with academic, technical and professional colleagues to enable excellent research and teaching to take place safely and compliantly.
This is a hands-on role. You will not only provide expert advice, but actively drive improvements - developing training programmes, reviewing and improving risk assessments, supporting laboratory refurbishments and infrastructure projects, and ensuring that safety systems are robust, embedded and continually improving.
You will work closely with the Research Laboratory Manager and Department Manager, liaise with UCL Safety Services, and co-chair the Departmental Health & Safety Committee alongside the Head of Department. You will also be a key member of the Department's incident and emergency response team, with occasional out-of-hours contact required.
Key responsibilities
- Act as the departmental lead and first point of contact for health and safety matters
- Provide expert advice on safe working practices across laboratories, workshops and teaching spaces
- Ensure compliance with university policies and UK health &; safety legislation
- Conduct inspections, audits and investigations, following through to delivery of corrective actions
- Work with staff and students to develop and review high-quality risk assessments and procedures
- Deliver safety inductions and training to staff and students
- Oversee key safety roles including Senior Fire Marshal, First Aider, Radiation Protection Supervisor, Laser Safety Officer and Chemical Safety Representative
- Support laboratory refurbishments, equipment installations and other major projects
- Maintain safety documentation, records, registers and web content
- Monitor mandatory training compliance and support Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs)
- Line manage and develop a small team of technical staff
- Contribute to business continuity and contingency planning
We are looking for a confident, collaborative and pragmatic safety professional who is comfortable working in a fast-paced research environment.
You will have:
- A degree or equivalent experience in engineering or a related STEM discipline
- Strong working knowledge of health and safety management in laboratory or technical environments
- Experience of risk assessments, safety inspections and audits, ideally within research settings
- Practical knowledge of chemical safety and laser systems (or strong transferable experience)
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with the confidence to challenge unsafe practices constructively
- The ability to communicate clearly and engage diverse stakeholders, from students to senior academics
- Sound judgement under pressure, including during incidents or emergencies
- Find out about the UCL Ways of Working: www.ucl.ac.uk/ways-of-working.
- Applications should include a CV and a Cover Letter: In the Cover Letter, please explain how you meet the essential and desirable criteria in the Person Specification part of the Job Description. Please upload this in the cover letter attachment section of the application form. By including a Cover Letter, you can leave blank the Why you have applied for this role field in the online application form (which is limited in the number of characters it will allow.)
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:
- 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
- Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme
- Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
- Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
- Immigration loan
- Relocation scheme for certain posts
- On-Site nursery
- On-site gym
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
- Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
- Discounted medical insurance
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.
We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce.
These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people.
- Our department holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award, in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality.
JOB SUMMARY
Departmental Safety Officer
UCL
London
5 days ago
N/A
Full-time
Departmental Safety Officer