Health and Safety Adviser

Job summary

What you’ll do…

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Health, Safety and Technical Training Team as Health and Safety Adviser. Supporting the Health and Safety Business Partner to provide practical on the ground support focusing on managing risks to our staff, volunteers, contractors and visitors.

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Where you’ll work…

The post holder will be covering our North Forest District plus other business units and districts as required. Ideally you will be based in our North district offices, which include Bellingham, Northumberland or Grizedale, Cumbria.

Frequent travel will be required to locations across at least the forest districts to support teams and attend meetings. Occasional overnight stays will be required.

The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving licence that enables them to drive in the UK. However, the FC is willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by other means.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Provide support to staff, volunteers and managers on practical implementation health and safety arrangements across a range of topics and work areas.
• Carry out audits in order to uncover areas of non-compliance and improvement relating to health and safety arrangements.
• Build strong working relationships and facilitate problem solving and adjustments to current working practice in order to support teams to work safely.
• Support incident investigations, identifying lessons learned for sharing and implementation.
• Coach and mentor colleagues to problem solve and identify improvements to health and safety.
• Support the delivery of key health and safety communications in a creative and engaging way.
• Support line managers through regular site visits.
• Keep up-to-date and fully conversant with Forestry England health and safety policies, procedures and guidance and communications in order to offer inductions, demonstrations, toolbox talks and other methods of increasing implementation across teams.
• Support H&S Business Partners and the H&S Manager with health and safety audits as well as monitoring key performance indicators collating information to inform outcomes and shape recommendations for improvement.
• Support the H&S Business Partner in attending and providing information for H&S Meetings as required.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

As the post involves dealing with contacts across the UK, travel with overnight stays away from home is requirement of the post.

The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving license that enables them to drive in the UK.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Experience working in Forestry or similar outdoor settings;
• Demonstration of a strong health and safety commitment;
• Experience of applying organisation policy to ensure compliance with legislation;
• Experience of carrying out audits/ inspections;
• ability to use a range of Microsoft Office software packages.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Experience of coaching and mentoring;
• Experience of leading a team; Qualifications

Essential

As a minimum:

• IOSH Managing Safely or equivalent

Desirable:

• NEBOSH General Certificate
• Technical Membership of IOSH or Associate Membership of IIRSM

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together
• Developing Self and Others

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,039, Forestry Commission contributes £10,150 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

How to apply…

We cannot accept applications via email. Please follow the steps outlined below. Any CVs and/or personal statements sent outside the system will not be considered for shortlisting.

If candidates pass the interview but are not the leading candidate, they can be placed on a reserve list. We may offer candidates on the reserve list for this role the opportunity to be considered for other roles at the same or lower pay bands.

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Communicating and influencing
• Changing & improving
• Working together
• Developing self and others

You may also be assessed on Experience, Strength based questions, and/or the Technical Success Profile at the interview. The technical element could include a presentation, practical or written task.

Interviews will take place on Wednesday 2nd December 2026.

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.

If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : FC Recruitment Team
• Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

Attachments

Forestry England Job Description - H&S Adviser (PB5) (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 198kB)