Safety and Facilities Advisor

Job Summary

The Faculty of Applied Science at UBC includes six engineering departments, the Schools of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Nursing, and Community and Regional Planning; four multidisciplinary programs; five major research centres; and the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan. The Faculty operates across the Point Grey and Okanagan campuses and at off- site locations, including health authority facilities. As a multi-disciplinary Faculty, our core purpose is to discover, design and innovate, provide top-tier education, and champion a community of responsible professionals.

The Health and Safety Advisor provides Faculty level leadership for occupational health and safety (OH&S) within Applied Science. The position is accountable for developing, operating, monitoring, and continuously improving the faculty wide OH&S program framework, systems, and practices. The Advisor translates University policies and applicable legislation into Faculty specific programs, guidelines, procedures, tools, and consistent practices. The position establishes program goals and annual priorities, evaluates effectiveness, coordinates corrective actions, and provides expert advice across the faculty.

Within UBC's decentralized safety framework, Safety & Risk Services (SRS) retains responsibility for university wide policies and systems and serves as UBC's primary liaison with WorkSafeBC. Supervisors, principal investigators, academic units, and faculty leadership remain accountable for safety within their respective areas, while embedded safety personnel and Local Safety Teams support day to day implementation. The Advisor manages the faculty wide program through professional expertise, functional leadership, influence and partnership. The role consults two distinct environments: student learning activities, including engineering design teams, capstone projects, and other experiential and co curricular programs; and research, operational, and staff activities. The position's primary focus is Faculty wide program leadership and oversight. Direct delivery of training, inspections, and other operational support is undertaken as required to support overall program effectiveness. A key focus is the safe delivery of Applied Science's engineering design team program, in which students design, fabricate, test, and compete with complex engineering systems. The Advisor provides program level oversight, risk management guidance, incident support, and coordination to help ensure that hands on learning, research, and operational activities are conducted safely and responsibly.

Organizational Status

The position reports to the Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Planning, who provides general direction on overall objectives and strategic priorities. The Advisor works closely with senior personnel in the Faculty of Applied Science, including the Director, APSC Student Services; the Manager, Experiential Learning and Professional Development; the Student Teams Faculty Advisor; the Student Teams Staff Advisor; departmental and school safety officers; Student Safety Officers; and other embedded safety personnel. The position maintains active relationship with SRS and liaises with Building Operations through the appropriate Zone Facilities Manager, Parking, and Community Safety on information sharing and specific safety matters.

Work Performed

Faculty OH&S Program Strategy and Governance

• Leads the design, implementation, operation, review, and continuous improvement of the Faculty OH&S program and supporting management systems, ensuring alignment with applicable legislation, University policy, and recognized practices.
• Establishes Faculty wide program goals, annual priorities, performance measures, and monitoring processes; evaluates program effectiveness; identifies opportunities for improvement; and coordinates related corrective actions.
• Develops Faculty specific OH&S guidelines, procedures, templates, tools, and standardized processes in consultation with the APSC Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) and relevant units. Stewards’ documentation through approval by the JOHSC, Department Head or Director, and/or Dean, as appropriate to its scope.
• Provides technical leadership and administrative oversight for Faculty JOHSC processes, regulatory compliance, and acts as the primary liaison between the JOHSC and SRS.
• Builds and sustains a faculty wide community of practice and advises the network of Local Safety Teams to improve consistency, coordination, shared learning, and organizational capability.
• Prepares and presents program reports, performance information, emerging risks, and recommendations to Faculty leadership and relevant committees, and contributes to planning and decision making related to safety strategy and governance.

Faculty Advisory Services and Safety Network

• Provides expert advice to faculty, staff, and students on OH&S requirements and interprets and applies University policies and applicable federal, provincial, and municipal requirements within the faculty context.
• Acts as the principal advisor to academic and administrative units in developing and maintaining compliant safety programs for research, operational, and student activities.
• Provides functional leadership and technical direction to departmental and embedded safety personnel while recognizing that academic units and supervisors retain responsibility for local implementation and day to day safety.
• Liaises with SRS, Building Operations, Parking, Community Safety, and other internal and external stakeholders to support information sharing, consistent interpretation, and coordinated responses to safety matters.
• Promotes a proactive safety culture through consultation, relationship building, knowledge sharing, and the development of practical resources.

Program Assurance, Incident, and Risk Management

• Establishes Faculty wide frameworks and standardized processes for hazard identification, risk assessment, inspections, training, emergency preparedness, and program evaluation, and monitors their consistent implementation and effectiveness.
• Reviews and oversees incident reporting, including CAIRS processes, and analyzes related information to identify trends, systemic issues, and opportunities for risk reduction.
• Provides guidance on incident response and investigations by identifying root causes and recommending sustainable corrective and preventive actions.
• Coordinates corrective and preventive actions, monitors their completion and effectiveness, and escalates unresolved or high risk matters through established Faculty and University processes.

Student Safety and Experiential Learning Programs

• Leads the development, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of safety programs supporting undergraduate experiential learning activities, including Design Teams, Capstone projects, and other co curricular programs.
• Establishes safety requirements, operational expectations, and risk management frameworks for student led technical activities and Faculty managed student spaces.
• Reviews and advises on safety plans, hazard assessments, and controls for complex student design, fabrication, testing, and competition activities.
• Develops, delivers, and maintains mandatory safety training and resources for student led environments and oversees completion tracking across a large and changing student population.
• Provides guidance and mentorship to Student Safety Officers and related roles, building safety capability within student communities.
• Develops strong working relationships with student groups to promote proactive risk management, support safe innovation, and strengthen safety awareness.
• Identifies activities that present an immediate or significant safety risk and initiates their pause or suspension through the appropriate Faculty escalation process.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The position is accountable for the effective design, operation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of the Faculty's OH&S program. Failure to effectively develop, implement, evaluate, or improve the program could contribute to serious injury, regulatory non compliance, financial penalties, operational disruption, or reputational damage to the Faculty or University. Inadequate or incorrect advice, ineffective corrective actions, or a failure to escalate significant risks may increase legal and financial exposure. Insufficient oversight of co curricular and student fabrication activities may lead to serious incidents and heightened liability. Because the Faculty's safety system depends on coordination across many semi autonomous units, ineffective relationships or inconsistent program practices could leave significant risks unidentified or unmanaged.

Supervision Received

The position operates with a high degree of independence and exercises professional judgement in planning, developing, and delivering Faculty wide OH&S programs. The incumbent sets priorities, identifies risks, and determines appropriate actions with minimal day to day direction. Work is performed under the general direction of the Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Planning. The incumbent keeps the Senior Manager informed of significant activities, emerging risks, and key issues and consults on complex, sensitive, or high impact matters, including major deviations from established objectives. Work is reviewed in terms of achievement of defined goals and program outcomes.

Supervision Given

From time to time, the position supervises or directs Student Safety Officers and work study students and may direct contract workers assigned to health and safety projects. It may also coordinate or oversee projects involving other Faculty or campus groups. Across the Faculty, the position provides functional leadership rather than line supervision. It stewards Faculty specific OH&S program requirements and practices, provides technical direction, training, and advice, and coordinates a distributed network of departmental and embedded safety personnel over whom it has no direct reporting authority. Where requirements are at risk in areas outside its direct control, the position works through influence and established escalation processes.

Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of three years experience including at least one year in an area of specialization, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Progressive health and safety experience in a complex, decentralized environment, including experience leading through influence and coordinating distributed or embedded teams.
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and evolving safety management systems.
• Knowledge of applicable OH&S legislation and regulatory requirements, University policies, and governance structures.
• Experience with safety practices in laboratory, research, fabrication, or workshop environments.
• Demonstrated ability to advise and influence stakeholders, including leadership, through strong relationship building, communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills, including hazard identification and risk assessment.
• Ability to develop sound guidelines, procedures, and practical tools that support compliance.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing priorities and work both independently and colaboratively.