Health, Safety, Social and Environmental Officer

Job Description

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

The Health, Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) Officer will report directly to the Project Manager and ensure full coordination with the Construction Engineer, Site Engineers and other project team members. In general, the main duties of the HSSE Officer include ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety, social and environmental laws, procedures, guidelines and specifications and to provide advice on measures needed to minimize hazards or unhealthy situations in construction sites. The HSSE Officer needs to establish a safe workplace according to legal standards and foster a culture of attention to health, safety, social and environment management in all work sites under the project throughout project life cycle. The HSSE Officer shall focus primarily on prevention of accidents and is expected to be detail-oriented and ready to act in emergencies.

More specifically, the HSSE Officer will be responsible for the following substantive tasks:

• Prepare and/or update health, safety, social and environmental management plans, review them on a regular basis and keep them up to date at all times.
• Advise and instruct project staff, contractors, consultants and other stakeholders on various safety, health, social and environmental related matters related to project implementation.
• Support the Project Manager in raising awareness on health and safety issues among project staff, consultants, contractors and other stakeholders and within UNOPS in general, working closely with the UNOPS QA/QC Section.
• Conduct risk assessment and enforce preventative measures on HSSE.
• Initiate, organize and conduct HSSE training for UNOPS project team, contractors, consultants and other stakeholders.
• Inspect work sites and the work of personnel on a regular basis to identify issues or non-conformity, and enforce necessary actions where unsafe acts or processes that seem dangerous or unhealthy are detected.
• Oversee installations, maintenance and disposal of substances, plant and equipment etc. to ensure they are done in conformity with applicable laws and industry best practice.
• Record and investigate incidents (including near misses) to determine the cause and to propose improvements to processes in the future.
• Prepare reports on incidents (including near misses) and compile statistical information to present to upper management on HSSE matters.
• Ensure a safe workplace environment is maintained at all times without risk to health and safety of everyone including workers, UNOPS staff, other stakeholders and general public.
• Ensure that all Health & Safety policies, procedures, rules and regulations are adhered to and are regularly reviewed, updated and communicated.
• Ensure the contractor meets its statutory obligations in all areas pertaining to health, safety and welfare at work, including statutory training and reporting.
• Ensure that safety inspections, risk assessments, working procedures are managed, and contractors and employees are aware of their responsibilities in relation to health and safety issues.
• Co-ordinate the development of HSSE policies, systems, procedures and guidelines.
• Ensure full and accurate health and safety training records are documented.
• Establish a full programme of documented HSSE inspections, audits and checks.
• Establish and conduct a structured programme of health & safety training (including a well-developed induction program) for project staff, contractors, consultants and other stakeholders.
• Establish an HSSE Committee, manage and devise the agenda for, chair and formulate & distribute minutes for the Health & Safety Committee meetings.
• Keep up to date with all aspects of relevant health, safety & welfare at work legislation and communicate relevant changes to the stakeholders.
• Provide regular reports to the Project Manager on relevant health and safety activities.
• Participate in regular site meetings to report on relevant health & safety matters and to provide necessary advice.
• Any other tasks assigned by the Project Manager.

About the Organization

Background Information - UNOPS

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.

Afghanistan

UNOPS strategy for Afghanistan is aimed at providing maximum support to the Government and people of Afghanistan though the delivery of projects and services in line with the government’s own priorities. The UNOPS Afghanistan Operation Center (AFOC) has been established as an organizational mechanism to deliver a range of projects for which UNOPS has been designated as the implementation agency. At present, UNOPS AFOC is implementing a number of projects in a range of sectors including infrastructure (roads and schools) development, capacity building to various ministries, and environmental protection, among others, on behalf of the Government of Afghanistan and the donor community.

The functional objective of UNOPS AFOC is to deliver projects in an efficient and effective manner, to achieve the development outcomes sought by the Government of Afghanistan and the donor community, where capacity building is always considered and encouraged. The aim of UNOPS AFOC is to provide implementation services to the Government of Afghanistan, the donor community and partner agencies in the reconstruction and development of the country. In doing so, UNOPS aims to exceed client expectations in the delivery of quality services throughout the country.