Occupational Health & Safety Specialist

Bureau Veritas · Eritrea

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About Us

Your career is about more than building a resume - it is a chance to #LeaveYourMark. Guaranteeing quality, ensuring health and safety, mitigating risks and improving performance, as well as environmental protection and social responsibility: this is what Bureau Veritas is about. Join an inclusive, flexible and diverse company where you can thrive while positively contributing to transforming the world in which we live.

Position Summary

The Occupational Health & Safety Specialist will provide dedicated site-level HSE oversight for construction and commissioning activities involving solar PV, battery energy storage systems, substations and associated electrical infrastructure. The Specialist will lead inspections, review contractor HSE plans, investigate incidents, coordinate emergency preparedness, monitor electrical and construction safety, support corrective actions and deliver timely HSE reporting throughout project implementation.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide full-time HSE oversight during mobilisation, construction, installation, testing, commissioning and handover activities.
• Review and approve contractor HSE plans, risk assessments, method statements, job safety analyses, permit-to-work procedures and emergency-response arrangements.
• Develop and maintain the project HSE management plan, legal and other requirements register, HSE risk register, inspection schedules and reporting framework.
• Conduct daily site inspections, planned audits, toolbox-talk verification, behavioural observations and compliance monitoring across all work fronts.
• Monitor compliance with electrical-safety requirements, including isolation, lockout/tagout, test-before-touch, temporary power, earthing, energised work controls and arc-flash precautions.
• Oversee working-at-height controls, scaffolding, ladders, fall protection, roof work, elevated platforms and rescue arrangements.
• Monitor lifting operations, including lift plans, cranes, lifting accessories, competent personnel, exclusion zones and critical-lift controls.
• Oversee excavation, trenching, underground-service identification, shoring, access, spoil placement, confined-space interfaces and reinstatement.
• Ensure safe construction and installation of solar PV systems, including module handling, DC hazards, cabling, combiner boxes, inverter stations and energisation controls.
• Ensure BESS construction and commissioning safety, including battery handling, thermal-runaway risk, fire detection and suppression, ventilation, gas detection, emergency isolation, hazardous-energy control and first-responder arrangements.
• Monitor substation, transformer, switchgear, overhead-line, underground-cable and distribution-network construction activities for compliance with approved safety controls.
• Coordinate site induction, task-specific training, toolbox talks, competency verification and HSE awareness programmes for employees, contractors and visitors.
• Lead incident, near-miss, dangerous-occurrence and environmental-event investigations, including root-cause analysis, corrective-action tracking and lessons learned.
• Maintain incident registers, inspection findings, nonconformities, corrective-action logs, leading and lagging indicators, and HSE performance dashboards.
• Stop unsafe work where an imminent risk exists and ensure work resumes only after effective corrective measures have been implemented and verified.
• Coordinate emergency preparedness for fire, medical emergencies, electrical incidents, working-at-height rescue, severe weather, spills and battery-related emergencies.
• Plan and participate in emergency drills, evaluate performance and track improvement actions to closure.
• Verify availability and suitability of PPE, first-aid facilities, firefighting equipment, rescue equipment, welfare facilities, signage and site-access controls.
• Coordinate with contractors, the Client, Owner’s Engineer, emergency services and relevant authorities on HSE requirements and site issues.
• Prepare daily, weekly and monthly HSE reports, inspection reports, incident notifications, audit reports, statistics and management briefings.
• Support testing and commissioning teams by reviewing energisation plans, commissioning risk assessments, switching procedures and permit controls.
• Promote a positive HSE culture through visible leadership, workforce engagement, consultation, coaching and recognition of good safety performance.
• Provide HSE input to progress meetings, design reviews, constructability reviews, change management and project close-out documentation.

Qualifications and Experience

• Master's degree or equivalent qualification in Occupational Health and Safety, Engineering, Environmental Health, Construction Safety or a related field.
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in construction health, safety and environmental management.
• At least 5 years of relevant HSE experience on power-generation, solar PV, battery energy storage, substation or comparable infrastructure projects.
• Demonstrated experience on at least two comparable projects rated 10 MW or larger, or projects of equivalent technical and construction complexity.
• Demonstrated practical experience in electrical safety, working at height, lifting operations, excavation safety and solar PV/BESS fire and emergency safety.
• Experience reviewing contractor HSE plans, risk assessments, method statements, permit-to-work systems and emergency-response procedures.
• Proven experience conducting inspections and audits, leading incident investigations, completing root-cause analysis and managing corrective actions.
• Experience supporting construction, energisation, testing and commissioning activities in live or potentially energised environments.
• Working knowledge of applicable occupational safety legislation, international HSE standards and good construction-industry practice.
• Experience in East Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, remote project locations or internationally financed infrastructure projects is an advantage.

Technical Competencies

• Construction HSE planning, risk assessment, method-statement review, job safety analysis and permit-to-work systems.
• Electrical safety, lockout/tagout, arc-flash precautions, temporary electrical installations, earthing and energisation control.
• Working at height, scaffolding, fall prevention, rescue planning and elevated-work controls.
• Lifting operations, crane safety, rigging, lifting accessories, critical-lift planning and exclusion-zone management.
• Excavation, trenching, underground utilities, confined-space interfaces and safe-access controls.
• Solar PV construction safety, including DC electrical hazards, module installation, inverters, cabling and commissioning.
• BESS safety, including thermal runaway, fire detection and suppression, ventilation, gas detection, hazardous energy and emergency isolation.
• Incident reporting and investigation, root-cause analysis, corrective-action management and lessons-learned communication.
• Emergency preparedness, fire safety, first aid, spill response, rescue planning, drills and coordination with responders.
• HSE inspections, audits, performance indicators, contractor monitoring, site reporting and management review.
• Knowledge of ISO 45001 principles and relevant international electrical, fire-safety and construction-safety practices.
• Strong communication, workforce engagement, training, coaching, conflict resolution and report-writing capability.

Professional Credentials and Attributes

A recognised HSE certification such as NEBOSH, IOSH or equivalent is preferred. Professional membership in a recognised occupational safety, engineering or risk-management institution is desirable. The successful candidate will demonstrate strong field leadership, sound judgement, assertiveness, attention to detail, integrity, effective communication, incident-management capability and the confidence to intervene when unsafe conditions or practices are identified.

ACCEPTABLE CV FORMAT

CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)

Education: {List college/university or other specialised education, giving names of educational institutions, dates attended and degree(s)/diploma(s) obtained.}

Employment record relevant to the assignment: {Starting with the present position, list relevant employment in reverse chronological order. Provide dates, employing organisation, position held, activities performed, assignment location and contact information for references.}

Membership in Professional Associations and Publications: _________________________________________________________________

Language Skills (indicate only languages in which you can work): _________________________________________________________________

Adequacy for the Assignment:

Contact information: (email ____________________, phone ____________________)

Name ____________________     Signature ____________________     Date ____/____/________

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