Fire Safety Advisor

**Science and Technology Facilities Council**

**Salary: £39,748 to £44,166 per annum**

**Hours: Full time**

**Contract Type: Open ended (permanent)**

**Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxfordshire.**

**About Us**:
Part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a world-leading multi-disciplinary science organisation. We support university-based research and provide access to world-leading, large-scale science facilities across the physical and life sciences from our three national laboratories. We help to ensure that there is a future pipeline of skilled and enthusiastic young people pursuing careers in science and engineering.

We’re committed to keeping the UK at the forefront of world-changing science and this requires excellence across all our support services.

**About the role**:
STFC Safety Health and Environment (SHE) Group is a small team that provides advice and support across all sites.

We wish to recruit a second Fire Safety Advisor to provide advice and assist in maintaining a growing portfolio of fire risk assessments for a large and expanding site of over 100 buildings at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Our buildings range from sleeping accommodation, laboratories and workshops through to offices and large complex buildings housing cutting-edge scientific experiments of an industrial nature.

As part of a small team of fire safety professions this is a busy, varied and exciting role working closely with all departments on site giving great opportunities to use and develop your skills to make a difference to UK science.

**List of Duties / Work Programme / Responsibilities**
- Write and maintain Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) for buildings/facilities of various complexity at RAL and Chilbolton Observatory, and work with tenants of STFC buildings to ensure co-operation and co-ordination on fire safety to cover all new, or changes to existing buildings (their design or use), and ensuring compliance with Building Regulations and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005;
- Engage with Building Fire Managers and others to ensure that building FRAs continue to accurately reflect the range of activities which represent a fire risk, and that appropriate control measures are in place and that they are fully implemented;
- Undertake regular inspections of the controls detailed in FRAs ensuring that fire controls are maintained, and issues or deficiencies arising from such inspections are tracked and addressed in a timely manner;
- Provide safety advice to staff, tenants, contractors, visitors and facility users in respect to fire safety legislation and its implementation as part of the STFC SHE Management System;
- In collaboration with existing fire team and fire system designers, provide specialist fire safety advice regarding new building design and construction, as well as proposed alterations to existing buildings, ensuring that fire management systems, equipment and controls are appropriately specified;
- Assist in the process of handover prior to signing off beneficial occupation of new buildings at RAL, ensuring that all fire management systems, controls and equipment are correctly installed and/or implemented, and that full commissioning and maintenance documentation is provided;
- Advise on the provision of fire signage and fire safety equipment, including fire extinguishers and their location;
- Support a programme of fire drills to test evacuation procedures, identifying opportunities for improvement;
- Assist in maintaining a comprehensive team of trained building wardens for the RAL site and ensure that fire drills interact appropriately with the site’s Security Team and Emergency Controllers, and during planned site emergency exercises;
- Audit the effectiveness and efficiency of fire safety management systems as part of the STFC SHE Management System at RAL and as appropriate other STFC sites, to drive continuous improvement in fire safety;
- Prepare and deliver STFC specific on-line and face to face SHE training programmes in respect to fire safety at RAL and where appropriate other STFC sites;
- Support the investigation of fire incidents, fire false alarms and related fire incident learning opportunities to root cause(s) ensuring they are recorded in STFC’s incident reporting systems minimising the likelihood of their recurrence;
- Assist in the preparation of fire statistics and reports for STFC management and safety committees for consideration and action; and
- Support the establishment of good working relations with local emergency services: Oxfordshire fire and rescue, ambulance service, RAL Emergency Controllers, site tenants and Harwell campus residents, ensuring RAL’s specialist fire safety needs are effectively integrated and coordinated with local emergency services.

**Contacts and Communication**
- Post holder will work and engage with scientists and engineers through to managers an