Background
Taylor Wessing is an international law firm with offices including London, Cambridge and Liverpool. It asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit a part-time Health and Safety Officer, working three days a week and reporting to the Head of Workplace and Facilities Management, with an urgent start.
The post was created by splitting health and safety out of an existing combined role, so that the previous post holder could concentrate on sustainability.
The Challenge
A three-day role with a wide scope needs someone who can work quickly without supervision. The post holder carries out workstation, maternity and general risk assessments, including COSHH, and runs a monthly site inspection in London with follow-up actions. Training is a major strand: managing certificates, arranging mandatory sessions for joiners, first aiders and fire marshals, and inducting staff and work experience students.
The fire and first aid workload extends beyond London. The Officer supports Cambridge and Liverpool as point of contact for first aiders, accident reporting including RIDDOR, evacuation drills with landlords, personal emergency evacuation plans, extinguisher and emergency lighting reports and annual fire risk assessments with actions tracked.
There is also a compliance register to keep current, with legionella temperatures, PAT testing, weekly ladder checks, contractor health and safety and employers' liability insurance evidence, plus support to the ISO consultant and pandemic risk assessments. Candidates needed to be organised enough to cover this in three days and credible enough to challenge partners and building services.
Our Approach
- We agreed the brief with the facilities team, including the split from the sustainability role and the three-day pattern.
- We searched for health and safety advisers and officers from professional services firms and office environments who were available at short notice.
- We checked their experience of fire, first aid, legionella and risk assessment in multi-site offices, and their comfort working part time.
- We put forward a shortlist supported by full CVs and notes, and managed the offer so the start date could be met.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens made the appointment.
If you need specialist health and safety support on a part-time basis, talk to Maxwell Stephens about how we would approach the search.
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