Lead a proactive safety culture

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Health & Safety Manager to take ownership of health, safety and environmental compliance at a busy food manufacturing site in Banbury.

This is a high-impact role for a confident health and safety professional who can combine strong technical knowledge with a practical, engaging approach.

You will work closely with the Site Leadership Team, Engineering, Technical, HR and Operations to minimise risk, protect employees, contractors and visitors, and embed a positive safety culture across the site.

You will have the opportunity to influence how health and safety is managed every day, while supporting operational excellence, employee engagement and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities

• Act as the site lead for all health, safety and environmental matters.

• Provide competent advice on UK health and safety legislation, company policies and industry best practice.

• Develop, review and maintain health and safety policies, procedures and safe systems of work.

• Lead the identification, assessment and control of workplace risks across all departments.

• Ensure risk assessments are completed and maintained, including COSHH, manual handling, workplace transport, machinery, PUWER and DSE assessments.

• Monitor legal compliance, statutory inspections, testing, certification and other regulatory requirements.

• Manage contractor health and safety processes, including selection, induction, monitoring and performance review.

• Develop and maintain Permit to Work systems for activities such as hot works, confined-space entry, working at height and electrical isolation.

• Support Engineering with machinery installations, capital projects and site modifications.

• Maintain and continually improve the site’s Health and Safety Management System.

• Develop and deliver workplace inspection and internal audit programmes.

• Investigate accidents, incidents, near misses and dangerous occurrences using recognised root-cause analysis techniques.

• Ensure corrective and preventative actions are completed, monitored and reviewed for effectiveness.

• Maintain accurate records and complete RIDDOR reporting where applicable.

• Develop and deliver inductions, toolbox talks, refresher training and safety-awareness campaigns.

• Coach managers to build their confidence and capability in managing safety within their teams.

• Promote employee engagement through behavioural safety initiatives, safety observations and improvement activities.

• Maintain and test emergency response procedures, including fire evacuation, spill response and major incident arrangements.

• Support fire risk assessments and ensure associated actions are completed.

• Monitor waste management, pollution prevention and environmental performance.

• Work with operational teams to improve sustainability and reduce environmental impact.

• Produce monthly health, safety and environmental performance reports for the Site Director and Site Leadership Team.

• Act as the company’s lead representative during visits from the HSE, Fire Authority, insurers, auditors and other regulatory bodies.

About you

You will be an experienced health and safety professional with a strong background in manufacturing. Experience within food manufacturing or FMCG would be particularly advantageous.

You are likely to bring:

• NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma or equivalent.

• CMIOSH or CertIOSH, with a commitment to Chartered status.

• A full UK driving licence.

• Strong knowledge of UK health and safety legislation.

• Demonstrable experience managing health and safety within a manufacturing environment.

• Experience of audits, risk assessments, incident investigations and compliance management.

• Experience delivering training and working with regulatory bodies.

• Excellent communication, coaching and influencing skills.

• Strong organisational, analytical and problem-solving abilities.

• Competence using Microsoft Office and health and safety management systems.

Desirable qualifications and experience include:

• IRCA Auditor qualification.

• IEMA qualification.

• Train the Trainer qualification.

• Food manufacturing or FMCG experience.

• Contractor management and occupational health experience.

The ideal leadership style

You will be a visible and credible presence across the site, able to build trust with colleagues at every level. Rather than simply enforcing procedures, you will engage, coach and influence people to understand their responsibilities and take genuine ownership of safety.

You will be practical, organised and confident challenging decisions where necessary, while working collaboratively to find effective solutions. You will also be comfortable analysing data, identifying trends and turning insight into clear improvement activity.

Why consider this opportunity?

This is an excellent opportunity to join a well-established food manufacturing operation in a role where your expertise will make a direct difference to colleague wellbeing, legal compliance and site performance.

If you are passionate about creating safer workplaces and enjoy bringing people with you through positive change, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Please get in touch for more information on this exciting opportunity or apply with your CV today.