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RECRUITMENT GUIDE

How To Hire A Safety Manager

A safety manager is responsible for implementing safety measures, and ensuring that all workers are adhering to these measures on a construction site. They are responsible for executing risk minimization actions on the work site, to ensure the safety of the workers as well as the safety of the general public.

Training staff about the importance of being safe on site is a large part of their role, ensuring that everybody is aware and on the same page in terms of protection. Each day a safety manager must assess and inspect the tools, equipment and the site to ensure everything is in accordance with government regulations and guidelines, to avoid any potential accidents.

Day-to-day tasks of this role:

  • Conducting safety inspection on equipment and work site.
  • Completing incident reports.
  • Training staff about safety precautions.
  • Keeping up to date with government and industry safety regulations.

Recruitment Process

UNDERSTAND THE ROLE

Skills profile for Safety Manager

Most organisations require a safety manager to have a tertiary qualification such as a Bachelor or Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, Construction Management or Engineering. Having relevant industry experience is also favourable when applying for a safety manager role. There are some common skills required for this position.

It is essential that a safety manager has strong attention to detail skills. They must use this skill to identify possible safety issues in the workplace, and ensure that they are meticulous in their safety inspections. They also must utilise this skill when completing safety reports. They must ensure these reports include all relevant information, and detail the events of all incidents that occur, as well as any ‘near-misses’.

It is important that a safety manager is very procedural. They must be competent at developing and executing safety plans, as well as being able to effectively communicate these plans to other staff. They must also be able to strictly adhere to safety procedures and plans and work hard to enforce these in all workplaces and sites.

A safety manager must also be able to effectively communicate with everyone that they interact with. They must be confident in communicating safety plans to all staff, especially senior management staff. They need to be able to explain safety procedures in an easy to understand manner, and spend time ensuring that every individual on the site understands these safety procedures before starting work.

Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position.

SOURCE APPLICANTS

Safety Manager Job Description

Summary:

  • Why is this role being filled?
  • How does this role fit into the organization and the team?
  • What makes your company unique?
  • What would it be like to work for you?

Requirements:

  • What technical skills are needed for this role?
  • Which soft skills are applicable?
  • What are the nice-to-have experiences of your ideal candidate?
  • Include availability preferences in this section

Responsibilities:

  • What are the key deliverables for this role?
  • What does the day-to-day of this role look like?

Benefits:

  • Compensation & bonuses
  • Employee benefits & perks
  • Ongoing training benefits

PRO TIP #1
Safety managers can work in all different work environments. Depending on the role, candidates may need to have acquired certain licenses or qualifications. For example, a safety manager in a warehouse environment may require a forklift licence, or on construction sites will need to acquire a white card. Be sure to outline all the skills and knowledge that is required of the successful candidate in the job description.

PRO TIP #2
Ensure that the entire recruitment process from job description to assessment to interview reiterates your company vision and values. This will help you identify the right people for the role, and applicants will know whether your company is the right fit for them.

SKILL ASSESSMENT

Sample skills assessment

Safety manager 1
Question 1

Safety Manager

Question Type: Document

What is the most severe safety incident you have had to manage. What happened, how was this preventable and what were the outcomes? Please use the document below to outline this information.

Safety manager 2
Question 2
Attention to Detail
Question Type: Text

Tell me about a time where you picked up on a safety issue that had previously been missed.

Safety manager 3
Question 3
Communication
Question Type: Video

Describe a situation where you have had to increase costs to an area of a business due to safety. How did you communicate this?

INTERVIEW

Interview guide for a Safety Manager

Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The PDF interview guide contains structured questions against each of the competencies for this role.

This interview guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the Vervoe skills assessment. Where a candidate has scored Low – Medium on a skill, focus on asking more questions from that skill to gain deeper insight into their level of competency.

PDF INTERVIEW GUIDE
Get your copy of the  interview guide to complete the hiring process. Includes questions against each of the skill competencies for the role.

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