Fire Safety Advisor

Transformationunitgm; Warrington; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare trust in Warrington is seeking a Fire Safety Advisor to manage fire safety across its estate. This full-time position offers a competitive salary range between £37,338 and £44,962 per annum and plays a crucial role in ensuring compliance with fire safety legislation and management of risks. The successful candidate will provide expert advice and leadership in fire safety, whilst working closely with various teams to uphold safety standards.

Qualifications

• Attendance on a specialist fire safety course at the Fire Service College.
• Minimum of 5 years management experience in fire safety.
• Conversant with relevant and current fire safety legislation.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for professional fire safety management throughout the estate.
• Co-ordinate risk assessments and ensure staff training is delivered.
• Advise on fire safety compliance with statutory requirements.

Education

Fire Safety Engineering or Safety Management Degree

Health & Safety Diploma

Graduate or Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) or Institute of Fire Prevention Officers (IFPO)

Job description

Main area Fire Grade Band 6 Contract 1 year (1 Year Fixed Term Contract) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm) Job ref 350-TWS7222800

Employer Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Hollins Park Hospital - The Pavilion Town Warrington Salary £37,338 - £44,962 Per Annum Salary period Yearly Closing 26/06/2025 23:59

Fire Safety Advisor

Band 6

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Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

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Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen to support the Trust with the effective management of Fire Safety. This post will be based within the Estates & Facilities Department.

This post will work across Trusts sites to support the Trust, Departments and Teams in meeting their statutory responsibilities and fire safety needs.

The Fire Safety Adviser will provide a range of specialist expert advice and assistance to a wide range of staff, senior managers and Trust Directors and experience of fire risk assessments in complex settings is essential together with relevant fire safety qualifications.

Main duties of the job

Responsible for professional fire safety management throughout the estate including advice on planned maintenance, defect maintenance and the implementation of inspections and training. Support the Senior Fire Safety Advisor in the implementation of policy and service development. Deputise for the Senior Fire Safety Advisor in fire safety issues as required.

Advise and make recommendations to the Trust (and where Service Level Agreements are in place, other NHS Trusts), on all aspects of fire safety in accordance with statutory requirements, Codes of Practice, Firecode and other guidance. To ensure that adequate fire safety training is undertaken for all staff within the Trust, appropriate of their environment.

Working for our organisation

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will provide specialist fire safety guidance to senior management and the Trust Board to ensure the Trust is able to meet its statutory obligations under the Regulatory Reform Order (Fire Safety) 2005.

Using their initiative, the Fire Safety Advisor will co-ordinate the work of the Senior Fire Safety Advisor to ensure that risk assessments are undertaken at appropriate intervals, inspections are undertaken, staff training is delivered, relevant planned maintenance, defect maintenance is carried out and there is effective liaison with external agencies including the local Fire and Rescue Authority.

The post holder will advise and make recommendations to the Trust (and where Service Level Agreements are in place) on all aspects of fire safety in accordance with statutory requirements, Codes of Practice, Fire code and other guidance.

The post holder will demonstrate an attitude which respects and values service users’ and their carers.

The post holder will embrace the core values of the organisation and adopt the principles of Recovery. These principles will recognise the need to:

• Promote safe practice
• Value the aims of service users
• Work in partnership and offer meaningful choice
• Be optimistic about the possibilities of meaningful change
• DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Service Delivery
• Provide professional fire safety leadership and management, ensuring effective training, inspections and maintenance programmes are developed to meet statutory requirements, minimise risk and provide a safe environment for patients, staff and visitors.
• Provide advice to the Heads of Property and Capital Planning for initial design input in the preparation of capital schemes to deliver effective facilities, which maximise safety and minimise revenue
  
  
• Provide advice and support to the estate’s operations team and ward & departmental managers by means of plans and reports for minor works and day to day fire safety
  
  
• Support the Senior Fire Safety Advisor in developing and implementing the estate fire safety policy and procedures in line with the corporate objectives of the trust
• The efficient and effective management of fire safety contracts including service level agreements
• Responsible for the performance of estate fire safety policy and procedures, ensuring the development and maintenance of the highest standards for the benefit of patients, visitors, and staff.
  
  
• To undertake Fire Risk Assessments as required by the Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Order 2005, Hospital Technical Memorandum’s, Fire code and to monitor and review the assessments as required, providing reports on the findings of the assessment to appropriate managers.
  
  
• To co-ordinate and, where appropriate, undertake regular inspections of Trust premises, or at any time deemed necessary by changed circumstances, and to provide reports as necessary.
  
  
• To identify, control and reduce unwanted fire signals in accordance with the requirements of the Local Fire Authorities and NHS Estates Department.
  
  
• To ensure the Trust meets the requirements of the Regulatory Reform Order (Fire Safety) 2005
  
  
• To accompany Fire Authority Inspecting Officers on inspections. To maintain records of any requirements and their subsequent reports.
  
  
• To undertake investigations into the cause of fires occurring in Trust owned or occupied premises and to liaise with the Fire Service in this regard, and to report accordingly
  
  
• To facilitate fire evacuation drills in all departments across the Trust where appropriate
• Communication
• Develop and maintain effective partnerships with other divisions and services regarding fire safety
  
  
• Communicate and disseminate information at departmental level. Chair meetings and lead initiatives as delegated by the Senior Fire Safety Advisor
• To provide fire statistics and identify trends when required for the various Trust Committees
  
  
• To liaise with Estates Department, Building Control, the Fire Authority and, were appropriate, designated architects on plans for new builds or refurbishment of existing buildings in relation to legislative fire safety requirements.
• To liaise with and provide appropriate information, as requested, to other members of the health and safety team.
• To liaise with the maintenance contractors regarding the maintenance of relevant fire safety systems
• Provide advice and support to the Senior Fire Safety Advisor
• Support the Senior Fire Safety Advisor in developing excellent relationships with all external stakeholders
  
  
• Liaise with ward and departmental managers in the organisation of regular fire drills.
• Performance and Resource Management
• Undertake a variety of complex work in the health environment. Ensure all work is appropriately planned, prioritised, sequenced and executed to the agreed programme and delivered within budget. Formulate flexible plans, which require constant monitoring and judgement to meet the changing needs of the trust.
  
  
• Maintain effective control within the allocated resources and ensure delivery of cost-effective services in accordance with current best practise
• Ensure that all fire safety assets operated by the department are utilised efficiently and maintained
• Provide data for NHS returns and the development of performance measures, including benchmarking, to identify opportunities for improvement
• Report performance issues to the Senior Fire Safety Advisor
• Maintain Professional standards of fire safety excellence as defined by internal and external
• Achieve and monitor acceptable standards of compliance
• The post holder will be required to have a comprehensive knowledge of fire safety and manage all fire risks associated with the specialist nature of health care premises
  
  
• Analyse risks, understand complex situations, carry out option appraisals and identify resource consequences in areas of conflicting priorities
• Governance and Quality
• Support the Senior Fire Safety Advisor in ensuring services are provided to meet the changing needs of the trust
• Support the Senior Fire Safety Advisor by monitoring design performance of schemes, accuracy of documentation issued and ensure standards are maintained.
• Ensure compliance with Standing Financial Instructions and all Trust policies.
• Undertake surveys for statutory compliance.
• Interpret regulations such as RRO, Building Regs, HTM’s, HBN’s, EU Directives, British Standard relating to Fire Safety and Trust
• Health and Safety
• Understand and comply with MDA directives, HTM’s, health & safety legislation and all other statutory
• Support the Department in ensuring all statutory/mandatory fire & safety legislation is complied with throughout the trust
• Actively contribute to the Trust risk management process and ensure all policies are adhered
• Responsible for the implementation and adherence to the Trust fire safety policy for areas across the trust. Identifying financial requirements to sustain the safety of staff, patients, and visitors to those areas, and effect those control measures identified within the risk assessment
• Training
• Plan, organise and deliver fire training to all Trust staff and audits of such.
  
  
• To develop additional training for staff in inpatient areas in methods of evacuation so that patients can be evacuated quickly in an emergency and provide out of hours training to evening and night staff.
• Provide training, technical advice and support to Trust
• Identify and provide comprehensive training and information on fire precautions, fire fighting and evacuation procedures. Carry out a programme of fire evacuation drills through out the trust.
• Attend all mandatory training as required by Trust

Person specification

Qualifications

• Attendance on a specialist fire safety course at the Fire Service College
• Fire Safety Engineering or Safety Management Degree
• Possession of a Health & Safety Diploma
• Graduate or Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) or Institute of Fire Prevention Officers (IFPO)

Knowledge/Experience

• Minimum of 5 years management experience working in a local authority or Fire Brigade including at least 2 years in a fire safety post OR
• Management experience in any other employment which included at least 2 years in a position involving fire safety
• Conversant with relevant and current fire safety legislation, Health Technical Memoranda (HTM’s), Building Regulations
• Awareness of associated British Standards, especially those on fire fighting equipment, fire alarms and fire signage
• IT literacy: ability to use Micro-soft office packages, standard keyboard skills, ability to create and manage databases
• Basic numerical data analysis skills
• Conversant with current Health & Safety legislation
• Attendance on a fire investigation course

Skills

• Ability to read plan drawings, identify problems and find acceptable solutions
• Ability to make decisions relating to fire safety based on professional judgement
• Ability to respond effectively to changing needs and priorities
• Ability to communicate at all levels
• Well organised, methodical and able to work to deadlines
• Able to work as part of a team
• Able to work and act on own initiative
• Able to prioritise
• Flexible approach to work and managing a diverse workload

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Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. All information regarding your application will come from apps.trac.jobs not NHS Jobs.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust’s guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.

Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please email [e-mail] to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration. Trans applicants who require a DBS check and do not want to reveal details of their previous identity can contact the DBS Sensitive Applications Team (01516761452 or email [e-mail] ) with their application number once they have completed their DBS application form. The team can prevent any previous identity showing on the DBS Certificate, unless the applicant has a conviction under their previous details in which case this will need to be disclosed.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence on applications is monitored and if you choose to use this, you must declare this on your application form.

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.

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Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.