Dangerous Goods Engineer
| Posting date: | 21 May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £35,663 to £38,844 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 17 June 2024 |
| Location: | Leatherhead |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 349281/2 |
Summary
Do you have a keen eye for detail and take pride in your level of accuracy?
Would you embrace the opportunity to enhance public safety through effective regulation of transporting dangerous goods?
If so, we have an opportunity available within the Dangerous Goods Office and would love to hear from you!
This role will be referred to internally as Tank Engineer.
The role of the Dangerous Goods Tank Specialist is primarily to manage and support inspection bodies appointed to inspect dangerous goods tanks and pressure receptacles. This could include providing regulatory interpretations, disseminating guidance, and organising industry liaison meetings. The successful candidate will be expected to gain an understanding of the regulations and standards governing dangerous goods tank inspections, and to visit inspection bodies on site to ensure regulatory guidance is followed.
A typical week could involve a number of activities as the role is varied. In addition to responding to tank-related enquiries, the Tank Specialist will also assist in providing guidance to the Department for Transport, industry bodies and enforcement authorities (e.g. Police). The postholder will also be responsible for reviewing audit reports, organizing liaison meetings with inspection bodies, and actively participating in standards committees or working groups to develop and refine regulations and industry standards. In this role, the application of engineering knowledge and experience will be key to understanding the regulations. Good organisational skills will also be required to manage the variety of tasks on hand, and attention to detail will ensure accurate handling of data. Additionally, strong communication skills will allow effective interaction with industry stakeholders, government bodies, and the public. Tailoring communication to each audience will be essential.
The Dangerous Goods office is currently undergoing a digitalisation process as part of a VCA- wide digital transformation programme. The VCA has invested heavily to improve work processes and increase efficiency. The postholder will be expected to engage with this programme and will have the chance to influence the way in which the Dangerous Goods Office operates going forward.
There is also an expectation to have regular travel in the UK and be able to travel overseas if required.
Where the job sits in the Agency
Dangerous goods are vital to many sectors, such as construction, energy supply, food production, defence, information technology, and the healthcare. Through effective regulation, the Department for Transport (DfT) seeks to minimise the risks in transporting dangerous goods by ensuring they are transported in a way that protects the population and the environment.
The VCA Dangerous Goods Office (DGO), is responsible for approving containment systems, ensuring they conform to regulations and are suitable for the safe carriage of dangerous goods. These can range in size from small packaging (boxes, jerricans, drums etc.), aerosols and gas cylinders through to road tankers and globally used tank containers. Some of the approvals are handled in-house and others by bodies deemed suitable to undertake test and inspection. Our work includes the assessment, appointment and supervision of suitable inspection and test bodies and providing a central databases for the certification of packaging and tanks respectively.
Your duties will include but not limited to:
- Develop an understanding of the regulatory framework for dangerous goods and a detailed knowledge of the regulatory provisions for tanks and pressure equipment.
- Become familiar with the administrative process for appointing inspection bodies (AIBs), ultimately taking responsibility for this workstream.
- Answer dangerous goods enquiries from industry and the public in a concise, accurate and timely manner.
- Review UKAS accreditation visit reports and bring any significant non-compliance to the attention of your colleagues as appropriate.
- Monitor AIB activity on the DfT/VCA tank certification database and periodically audit selected work.
- Prepare timely management alerts and reports on audited activity, including improvements where appropriate, and analysis of database activity and trends.
- In conjunction with colleagues, liaise with AIBs to arrange witnessing of inspections and tests, ensuring that over time all AIBs and locations are sampled, including overseas locations if necessary.
- Contribute to the development and documentation of systematic workflow procedures Make considered contributions to improve the dangerous goods carriage regime, participating in meetings as appropriate, including overseas if necessary.
- Develop competency in other VCA DGO workstreams sufficient to cover for colleagues when required.
- Work within VCA Quality Management System to ensure high quality standards are maintained.
For more information, please refer to the role profile attached.