Building Compliance Safety Officer

Overall Purpose of Job

• To be responsible for the delivery of critical Building Safety and Compliance Inspections in line with legislation such as the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order 2005, Fire Safety Act 2021, Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and Ongo’s internal policies and procedures. To maintain a safe, clean and hazard free environment at our corporate buildings, low rise communal areas and multiple high-rise residential buildings inc. rooftops.

 Main Responsibilities 

• To be the initial point of contact and to administer the day-to-day permissions, access and monitoring of all high rise residential rooftops and corporate buildings (to include Contractors, Fire Risk Assessors etc) in line with the Roof Access Procedure.
• To ensure all internal fire safety checks are carried out and recorded for Ongo Homes’s high rise and corporate buildings.
• To plan in, execute and record quarterly communal fire door inspections within the 4 high rise buildings.
• To liaise with the Fire & Asbestos Compliance Lead, contractors and residents to assist to plan in all required safety checks to ensure multiple checks (damper/fire door/fire alarm) can be completed within Ongo’s high rise buildings with as little disruption as possible to the residents.
• To ensure all checks have accurate records that will form part of the ‘golden thread’ of information for Ongo’s high rise buildings which will also assist in the preparation of the Building Safety Cases for the new Building Safety Regulator.
• To be the lead in relation to all required fire safety checks and provide advice and guidance to other building managers as required (E.g. schemes/HMOs).
• To undertake and record safety inspections of our High Rise Communal blocks, Market Hill maisonettes, Corporate Buildings and 400+ low rise blocks at the required frequencies. These inspections include but are not limited to:
  • Asbestos checks (visual)
  • Emergency light tests (short discharge)
  • Sterile communal checks
  • Communal cupboard checks (any bin chutes/EML switch located within/meter cupboards)
  • Smoke alarm tests (where present)
• To undertake initial investigations for any items left in the communal areas and record all actions appropriately in line with our sterile policy and procedures.
• To liaise with the Housing Teams & Neighbourhood Services Team to ensure all breaches of the sterile communal policy and fly tipping cases are dealt with promptly and any recharges are raised in line with our policy.
• To be a point of contact for any incidents at the high rise buildings and be able to liaise with relevant staff members in dealing with any such incidents. This may be outside of normal working hours on occasions.
• To coordinate with external companies regarding any works required to multiple sites within Ongo as required.
• To undertake testing of fire alarms & detection equipment, lift fireman’s switch and lift auto-diallers compile testing reports and notify of any defects to sites of responsibility.
• To undertake and record quarterly communal Fire Door Inspections to all 4 High Rise buildings.
• To ensure all records are created and filed appropriately and any components on QL are updated.
• The post holder will be expected to be aware of safeguarding vulnerable adults and children and report any concerns via Ongo’s Safeguarding policies and procedures.

Creativity & Innovation 

• Develop & implement new ways of working which improve service delivery and/or deliver value for money.
• Resolving issues on a daily basis to ensure the delivery of an efficient customer focused service.
• Find solutions that meet the needs of our customers and communicate them in an appropriate manner.

 Contacts & Relationships 

• The post holder would act as an initial point of contact with staff, residents, other organisations and contractors and, where possible, deal directly with any enquiry depending on the complexity of the issue.
• The post holders would signpost or refer matters to others if they are unable to reach a resolution.
• Daily contact would be made with residents, contractors and internal teams.
• The post holder will mainly be based on Ongo’s estates ensuring we have a visible building compliance team whilst also proactively improving customer relations and identifying any required safety improvements.
• The post holder may have to handle difficult and potentially aggressive customers when communicating decisions and undertaking their daily tasks.

 Decision Making – Discretion 

• The post holder will have the responsibility to ensure that we are complying with all Building Safety, Fire Safety, Health & Safety, and other legislative requirements in Ongo’s communal areas by ensuring all requirements are recorded within set timescales.
• Ability to make timely and effective decisions.
• The post holder will be required to find effective solutions to some complex issues, particularly in relation to Safety and Compliance whilst carrying out their daily tasks.
• Decisions made will have a direct impact on Resident and Building Safety.
• Decisions made need to ensure that Health and Safety, Environmental and reputational risks are minimised.
• Prioritise workload and ensure all inspections are completed within set timescales and recorded appropriately.
• The post holder would be responsible for reporting repairs, ensuring they are completed within the required timescales and escalating if not completed.

Decision Making – Consequences 

• High Impact - Consequence of not carrying out inspections to sites as required and monitoring of remedial actions where identified would pose a health & safety and risk to others, where a person could be harmed.  This could also result in damaging the reputation of the company and also resulting in legal challenges.
• High Impact - Key performance indicators not being achieved could have a consequence in terms of providing an excellent customer service.
• High Impact - Consequences of inappropriate access at High rise rooftops.eg. Radio and microwave Frequency exposure to untrained persons who are not aware of the dangers of rooftops and the effects of radio and microwave Frequency on the human body. Additionally, the disruption to tenants who live in the high rise towers.
• High Impact - Consequence of inappropriate access at High rise buildings resulting in non-approved works being carried out by unqualified people, no records, damage caused to safety equipment or the building that will need to be rectified. This could put the building and its residents, staff, visitors at risk. There could also be loss of building function resulting in possible temporary closures, enforcement notices etc.
• All compliance areas are high risk in relation to keeping tenants safe.

 Responsibility for Resources 

• Company vehicle used to carry out their duties.
• Responsible for equipment/ tools and materials stored on location or within a company vehicle.
• Personal equipment such as mobile phones, satellite navigation device, IPads and personal protection equipment and clothing.   

Work Demands 

• Work will be subject to changing demands and priorities due to the context of the duties.
• Monitoring of issues raised and ensuring that they are dealt with in a timely manner is an important part of the role.
• In emergency situations or when operational demands arise, you may be requested to work outside normal office hours, at weekends and on bank holidays, to provide support to customers.
• To be able to manage conflicting deadlines, decide priority and organise tasks based on a variety of factors such as customer satisfaction and legal requirements that are relevant to the tasks and operational needs.

 Physical Demands 

• Some physical demands in relation to site visits, such has walking, lifting & climbing stairs.
• Heavy lifting may be required whilst carrying out the role.
• Driving between various sites will be required in the course of carrying out daily duties.

 Working Conditions 

• The post holder will attend Ongo Homes’ properties and sites.
• Visits to sites where there may be difficult situations and circumstances.
• The post holder will spend time using a computer and IT systems.
• At times the post holder may work in unhygienic and unpleasant surroundings.

 Work Context

• Some potential risks with dealing with members of the public.
• Some potential risk associated with unpleasant substances whilst on site.
• Exposure to the above risks is minimised through a comprehensive risk management approach.
• Hot/cold weather conditions and manual work. 

Knowledge, Skill & Experience Required 

• Qualified to carry out Fire Door Inspections (FSIS/bmtrada/BRE/RoSPA or equivalent)
• Health & Safety, COSHH, Fire Safety, Legionella and Asbestos Awareness trained
• RF Safety Awareness & Roof top Safety Awareness trained
• IOSH Working Safely
• Manual Handling
• Understanding and experience of risk assessment and management
• Experience of working with and knowledge of current fire safety legislation and have the ability to effectively deliver a programme of compliance inspections.
• Knowledge of OH high rise buildings and all safety systems therein.

• The ability to coordinate responses/actions as required.
• Experience of undertaking safety inspections
• Good experience of ICT systems including Microsoft email, Qlx, First touch and a variety of communication methods.
• Ability to organise own workload and possess effective time management skills.
• Ability to supervise others as required.
• Physically fit
• Full clean driving licence
• Good communication skills – written and verbal.
• Committed to excellent customer service.
• Able to work unsupervised, alone or as part of a team.
• Ability to work flexibly, including evening/weekend working without assistance if required.

Health & Safety 

To be aware of risks to personal safety, other employees, customers, company property and company reputation and to highlight such risks to managers immediately.  

Environment and Sustainability 

• To ensure the environment and sustainability policies are understood by the post holder
• To promote the importance of considering the environment and sustainability in the role
• To treat the environment with respect and commit to ensuring all services/activities that are provided in this role have taken the impact on the environment into consideration/action plans

Risk Management 

To be able to identify risks that may affect the achievement of personal and service objectives. To support the organisation's risk management process through good communication and carrying out actions to reduce identified risks. 

Equality & Diversity 

• To promote equality and diversity amongst our stakeholders, residents, customers, clients, staff, board and committee members and all those we work with.
• To ensure all customers’ needs are understood and all services that are provided meet individual needs, including in relation to the protected characteristics and customers with additional support needs.
• To treat everyone with dignity and respect at all times.

CLOSE DATE FOR APPLICATIONS - 9 MAY
INTERVIEWS TO BE HELD 17 MAY