Play and Outdoor Equipment Technician - Bankhead Depot

The City of Edinburgh Council · Edinburgh · £34,452–£40,501 (stated in the posting)

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Play and Outdoor Equipment Technician 
Bankhead Depot

Salary: £34,452 - £40,501
Hours: 36 per week, 52 weeks 

Do you enjoy working outdoors, being physically active and solving practical problems?  Do you take pride in doing a job well?  As a Play and Outdoor Equipment Technician you will inspect and maintain play equipment and surfaces, carrying out repairs and maintenance.  This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a vital new small team keeping Edinburgh’s school play areas safe, welcoming and fun for children. 

About the Role

Reporting to the Learning Estate Planning Officer, the post holders will be part of a small, specialist team that provides the inspection and maintenance service for play and outdoor equipment and surfaces associated with school, nursery and community centre grounds. 

What you will be doing

• Carrying out a full maintenance and repair service for the Council’s play and outdoor equipment, in accordance with appropriate guidance such as ROSPA Play Safety. 

• Carrying out planned inspections of play areas and other equipment in accordance with industry standards and manufacturer’s recommendations, recording the outcomes of inspections and repairs and bringing any non-routine issues to the attention of the Learning Estate Planning Officer. 

• Carrying out emergency inspections of damaged and unsafe playground equipment and make the facility safe and secure until parts can be provided for the repair of the equipment, furniture fencing and safer surfacing. 

• Carrying out minor defect rectification to equipment, fencing, furniture and safer surfacing. 

• Installing small items of play equipment, furniture in accordance with site plans and manufacturer’s installation details, making safe any major defects and reporting for appropriate action. 

• Duties will include the safe use of a range of associated hand tools and powered equipment.

• Routine maintenance and cleaning of equipment, including daily checks and timely reporting of faults. 

• Operatives will be required to demonstrate a strong customer focus whilst undertaking their duties, and to report matters affecting the appearance of the built environment to supervisory staff in a proactive manner. 

• Proactively identify and suggest changes to improve service delivery and represent and promote the interests of the Council. 

Supervision and Management of People

The postholder may supervise apprentices when working as part of a team.  You will be required to direct contractors as required to ensure that projects meet the necessary design, quality and cost criteria.  

Environment

• Deadline orientated, as the work is a blend of reactive and planned work and the postholder must be able to manage both. 

• Role is predominantly mobile and predominantly outdoors in all weather, traveling to various locations across the city on a daily basis for site visits and inspections. The percentage of office time will be minimal (10%). 

• Exposure to noise from machinery will be a feature of the work for a minimum of 30% of the day. There will also be exposure to vibration from the use of power-tools for a minimum of 30% of the day. At the same time, there will be exposure to dust and debris from power-tools, as a by-product of the work they do (30%) 

• The post will feature intense physical activity, such as loading and unloading tools and machinery to and from transport vehicles; handling heavy items such as gratings, gates and railings; operating and moving the equipment needed to carry out repairs; as well as the physical demands of carrying out repairs and maintenance. Again, this would amount to at least 30% of the day. 

• Given the nature of the job, at least 80% of the working day will be in difficult surroundings, effecting repairs outdoors in all weather, and will involve having to get into awkward positions in order to get the repairs done. 

• The post will require the postholder to take care in relation to the working environment, in terms of them working outdoors in public with heavy equipment and power-tools. In addition, they will be dealing with the general public who may be quite challenging, given this role will be making changes to spaces which members of the public may be unhappy about. 

Resources

The postholder will be jointly responsible for the vehicles used to get to sites and the equipment contained in the vehicle including an inventory of spare parts, hand tools and machinery. This will be in the region of £45k in terms of overall value. 

Health and Safety

Protecting the health and safety and welfare of our employees, and our third parties including members of the public, contractors, service users and pupils, is the starting point for a forward-thinking Council. 

All employees are responsible for: 

• Taking care of their own health and safety and welfare, and that of others who may be affected by their actions or omissions; 

• Co-operating with management and following instructions, safe systems and procedures; 

• Reporting any hazards, damage or defects immediately to their line manager; and 

• Reporting any personal injury and work related ill health, and accident or incident (including ‘near misses’) immediately to their line manager, and assist with any subsequent investigation, including co-operating fully with the provision of witness statements and any other evidence that may be required. 

Line managers have additional responsibilities for ensuring all health and safety risks under their management are identified, assessed and controlled, with specialist input from H&S Advisers and others including Occupational Health where required. Where the risks cannot be adequately controlled the activity should not proceed. 

This post is regulated work with children and/or protected adults under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. The preferred candidate will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check. Where an individual has spent a continuous period of 3 months or more out with the UK in the last 5 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check. An unconditional offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of both these pre-employment checks being deemed satisfactory.

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce where everyone feels valued and able to be their best. We particularly encourage applications from women for senior roles, as well as people from minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities or neurodivergent people, care experienced people, carers and LGBT+ people across all levels of the organisation, all of whom are currently underrepresented. All applicants will be considered fairly based on skills and experience. Disabled and care-experienced applicants who meet the minimum job criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

Find out more about our commitment to equalities  https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/work-us/inclusive-edinburgh/4

As part of our goal to improve organisational culture and create a great place to work together for the people of Edinburgh, we want to make sure we're recruiting the best people. We’re interested not only in your skills and experience but also in your approach to work. Therefore, part of our interview process will be an assessment of how you would bring Our Behaviours of Respect, Integrity and Flexibility into your ways of working.

You can find out more on Our Behaviours web page Our Behaviours – The City of Edinburgh Council

Our salary range typically reflects the initial starting salary and annually increases until it reaches the top of the range.

Happy to talk flexible working.

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View Play and Outdoor Equipment Technician Job Description 

View Play and Outdoor Equipment Technician Person Specification 

THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL

About Us:

Are you keen to shape the future of Scotland’s capital city? The City of Edinburgh Council is looking for dedicated and enthusiastic individuals to work with us and deliver key services across our capital city. We’re the second largest local authority in Scotland with a workforce of over 19,000 who all play a crucial role in maintaining and supporting vital services to over 500,000 residents. We offer an incredible variety of career opportunities across a broad range of sectors. Join us and you’ll find a role where you can make a difference and grow your career.

Our Culture:

Our Behaviours, respect, integrity, and flexibility guide everything that we do, and we strive to make sure all colleagues feel valued and have a sense of belonging in the workplace. We want to make sure that we bring people into our roles who demonstrate Our Behaviours and are dedicated and committed to our purpose of serving our community. We are focused on delivering excellent customer service to meet citizens needs and make the city a better place.

You can find out more on Our Behaviours web page Our Behaviours – The City of Edinburgh Council.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

We recognise the benefits that diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds bring to our organisation, and we’re committed to employing a workforce that represents the population of the city we serve. We particularly encourage applicants from under-represented groups including women, LGBT+ people, racially minoritised groups, people with disabilities and people who are neurodivergent.

As part of our commitment to inclusive recruitment, we're delighted to announce that we have extended our guaranteed interview scheme to include all applicants who are or have been care experienced, and who meet the essential criteria for the post. This extends our current arrangements of being a Disability Confident Employer, that guarantee an interview to applicants who meet the criteria for the post and who declare a disability.

Happy to talk flexible working.

Colleague Support and Wellbeing

As outlined in our People Strategy 2024-27, we aim to nurture a healthy workforce where we can all thrive. We offer regular events, initiatives and learning opportunities covering a range of different health and wellbeing topics.

We’re committed to supporting employees to achieve a healthy work life balance. There are several policies in place to support this ranging from flexible work options to career breaks. Our full suite of employment policies can be found here.

We have a range of support options available including access to counselling, a mental health support service, an occupational health service, speak up supporters and a colleague listening service.

Reasonable Adjustments:

We’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience at work for all our colleagues and we’ll work hard to ensure that we meet the changing needs of colleagues throughout their time with us. We’re also geared up to support all candidates who may require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process. Candidates invited for interview, should let the hiring manager know what they need, and they will do everything they can to accommodate your request.

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