Health, Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) Specialist At UNOPS

This is a local position, it is therefore open to Nationals of Ukraine and to individuals who have a
valid residence/work permit.

Local Context: With presence and experience in Ukraine since 2016, UNOPS has provided, on behalf of the Government and people of Ukraine, project management and procurement services to support the national reform and sustainable development agenda, environment and climate action, strengthening the rule of law, improving energy and healthcare solutions, as well as resolving economic and governance institutional weaknesses.

The invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has led to a severe and highly complex humanitarian emergency with global impact as not witnessed in Europe for over 70 years. The international response to the Ukraine crisis has been significant, with notable support being provided by a multitude of donor countries and organizations. UNOPS, with its ability to add considerable value in its core mandated areas of infrastructure, procurement and project management services, is part of the response to the ongoing emergency, and augmenting its capacity to be able to provide robust and timely support over the long term, through the recovery and eventual reconstruction phases. Recognising the enormity and complexity of the challenges ahead, UNOPS is establishing a dedicated Ukraine Country Office (based in Kiev), from where UNOPS’ operations will, with the support of the UNOPS ECR Regional Office (based in Geneva) and UNOPS’ HQ (Copenhagen), be planned, resourced, implemented, managed and controlled in the months and years ahead.

Background Information – Job-specific

The UNOPS Ukraine Office implements projects on behalf of UN agencies and bilateral donors and in close coordination with the Government and national authorities. With an established presence across the region, the office runs operations including large-scale procurement, project development and technical management, and provides financial, human resources and infrastructure-related services.

The functional objective of UNOPS Ukraine Office is to deliver its projects in an efficient and effective manner and in line with the principles, rules and regulations of UNOPS, to achieve the outcomes sought by the clients.

The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.

UNOPS is committed to achieving a fully diverse workforce.

Functional Responsibilties

The Health Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) Specialist will report directly to Deputy Project Manager and will ensure full coordination with the Regional Infrastructure Advisor, the Regional HSSE Advisor, and the project team.

Under the guidance and direct supervision of Deputy Project Manager, the main duties of the HSSE Specialist is to facilitate compliance with UNOPS Health, Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) systems and provide advice on preventive measures needed in order to minimize harm resulting from hazards in the project implemented under the UNOPS Country Office in Ukraine. The incumbent needs to establish a safe workplace according to UNOPS health and safety management systems, and foster a culture of attention to health and safety in all the phases of the implemented projects. Specifically, He/ She will be responsible for the following duties:

HSSE Planning, Coordination, and Implementation

● Provide advice and support on various health and safety related matters in the ongoing

projects (such as noise levels, use of protective equipment, and use of machinery etc.);

● Coordinate the development of health and safety systems, and procedures in line with

corporate policies and guidelines;

● Advise the Deputy Project Manager and Project Engineers on all health and safety related matters during project planning and implementation;

● In line with the UNOPS HSSE policies and procedures, develop and/ or advise on risk

mitigation actions required outlining potential threats, risks levels and recommended mitigation

strategies during project implementation, taking into consideration relevant and existing

assessments;

● Assist in reviewing new project proposals from a health and safety perspective and provide comments and feedback to ensure health and safety components are well addressed;

● Provide advice and support to the DPM and Engineers to prepare health and safety work plans including budget for all aspects of the projects implementation in compliance with UNOPS HSSE

policies, procedures and guidelines;

● Liaise and regularly coordinate with the DPM to ensure their respective contractors meet

their statutory obligations in all areas pertaining to health, safety and welfare at work,

including statutory training and reporting.

HSSE Monitoring and Reporting

● Propose and control projects’ budgets for health and safety and monitor related expenditures;

● Conduct regular field inspection and monitoring visits to the project’s sites to identify possible areas/issues of non-conformity (e.g. unsafe work at heights and in excavations), prepare project’s health and safety related reports on occurrences, and provide statistical information to upper management;

● Provide technical advisory and oversight services to ensure that health and safety is a

core component of all programmes at the different duty stations and that appropriate funding

is provided based on actual needs;

● Implement mechanisms for reporting all health and safety incidents that may have an impact on UNOPS projects , as well as ensure that all accidents are documented, reported internally and/ or externally as per the agreed reporting protocols, investigated while ensuring that any recommended improvements are implemented in a timely manner.

HSSE Compliance

● Ensure that all Health & Safety policies, procedures, rules and regulations are adhered to and

are regularly reviewed, updated and communicated;

● Perform health and safety projects’ assessments, both routine and exceptional, as required,

to ensure optimal health and safety standards are in place;

● Revise and update the office Business Continuity Plan from a health and safety perspective to ensure a safe workplace environment without risk to the health of personnel;

● Devise a plan and conduct periodic projects on-site HSSE Audits and work on the action

plan, if there are any gaps.

HSSE Capacity Building and Knowledge Management

● Initiate, organize, and deliver Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) trainings and learning

initiatives for UNOPS personnel, contractors and partners;

● Oversee UACO’s contributions to health and safety knowledge networks and communities of practice including collaborative synthesis of lessons learnt and dissemination of best practices;

● Provide an induction to all new project managers on HSSE requirements;

● Support the PMs in capacity building planning and transfer of HSSE project-related

knowledge among the relevant projects’ stakeholders, both internal and external.

Education

• Advanced university degree is required, preferably in health and safety management, natural science, engineering ,or relevant field.
• Bachelor degree in combination with an additional 2 years’ of relevant work experience (7 in total) can be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.

Experience

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in Health, Safety, Social and Environmental (HSSE) management is required, with at least 3 years in managing and implementing projects’ related health and safety matters.
• Experience in Health and Safety risk assessments, inspections, incident investigation, and training facilitation is required;
• High proficiency with computers, and other software/ platforms related to the positions field of expertise is required.
• Experience with third party certification audits for Health & Safety and Environment Management is desired; Experience of working at UN agencies or other international Humanitarian/ Development organizations is highly desired.
• Experience in working with the G-Suite platform including, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Sheets, Docs, and Slides is an asset.

Language requirements

• Fluency in English and Ukrainian is required.

Certification in Occupational Health and Safety, such as NEBOSH IGC1, IGC2, GC3 and OHSAS 18001 is desired.

Contract type: Ongoing ICA
Contract level: Local ICA Specialist- LICA 10 (ICS10)
Contract duration: Open-ended subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and/or to
satisfactory performance

For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx