Ministry of Justice posts a health, safety and fire role centered on incident control and risk assurance
The Ministry of Justice is recruiting a Health, Safety and Fire Practitioner for Wolverhampton, placing the post inside a specialist estate-based structure that supports establishments across health, safety, fire, and litigation functions. The role sits within the National Service estates, health, safety, litigation, and safety group, and is framed as a non-operational specialist position with direct access to work areas, plant, and equipment. In practical terms, the appointment is designed to keep safety systems functioning at the point where hazards become operational realities: in live establishments, among staff, prisoners, contractors, and visitors.
The job is not about abstract policy alone. It is about the daily discipline of identifying danger, documenting it, and forcing a response before a defect, incident, or fire condition escalates.
The post holder will have no line management responsibility, yet the remit is broad. The practitioner will provide first-line advice and support, coordinate local administration and management systems, and help translate national policy into usable controls inside the establishment. That includes advising senior managers, supporting investigations, and ensuring that accident, assault, near miss, and fire events are captured, reviewed, and acted upon in a timely way. The position also carries responsibility for sensitive evidence handling, including CCTV and body-worn video footage, with findings recorded in the Sphera system to support case work and advisory decisions.
Fire risk, incident investigation, and contingency planning sit at the core of the post
Fire safety receives especially prominent attention in the job description. The practitioner is expected to manage and co-ordinate fire safety arrangements in line with legislation and policy, while working with internal and external stakeholders to plan drills, familiarisation tours, and tactical exercises. When key services are interrupted, the role becomes a contact point for continuity planning and local response. Regular liaison with the Fire and Rescue Service is also built into the remit, linking establishment-level contingency planning with operational firefighting procedures.
This is a position where weak controls have immediate consequences. A poorly documented hazard, an untested evacuation route, or an incomplete fire contingency plan can expose a high-density custodial environment to rapid escalation. The job description makes clear that the practitioner is expected to review fire risk assessments, identify significant risks and actions, and monitor those risks through governance structures and monthly stakeholder reporting.
A single sentence captures the operational logic here: fire safety is being treated as a live clinical-grade risk system, not a paperwork exercise.
The same approach applies to accident and assault investigations, near misses, and other safety events. The practitioner will collate sensitive information, identify patterns, and support advisory actions. Through repeated tours, triangulated inspections, and verification of compliance, the role is meant to surface unsafe conditions before they become embedded. This is especially important in environments where the margin for error is small and where staff need immediate, practical guidance rather than delayed review.
Training, compliance, and legal support are built into the role design
Training occupies a substantial part of the post. The practitioner will support health, safety, and fire-critical training and assessment validation, open individual learning plans where specific learning needs are identified, and provide peer quality assurance. There is also a requirement to deliver inductions so that staff and stakeholders understand what to do in an emergency. In a setting where turnover, varied roles, and complex routines can weaken consistency, that training function becomes a key control measure.
Several compliance-related duties extend beyond fire safety. The post holder will support monitoring of immunisations, RIDDOR referrals, first aid assessment, respiratory protective equipment training, arson measures, and PEEP-related advice in accordance with governance strategy. The job also includes support for litigation teams through the identification and collation of relevant material for complex sensitive cases, reflecting the way safety, recordkeeping, and legal defense intersect in public service environments.
The technical demands are specific. Candidates are expected to hold or complete, within two years, a minimum of the NEBOSH General Certificate or equivalent, alongside the HMPPS Fire Risk Assessment qualification. Immediate completion of the RPE Training Qualification is also expected on appointment. Professional progression is built into the role: associate membership of IOSH within two years, technical membership within two to five years depending on full-time status, technician grade of the Institution of Fire Engineers within two years, 25 hours of continuing professional development per year, and progression toward EngTech registration and a place on the Institution of Fire Engineers Fire Risk Assessors register.
Governance expectations point to a high-accountability safety post
The governance language in the posting is dense for a reason. The practitioner is expected to contribute to risk registers, forward delivery plans, RFI data collation, PHASE checklists, and monthly committee reporting. They will attend establishment morning meetings with the senior health, safety, and fire advisor, report areas of concern, and act on incidents as they emerge. They will also work with MoJ Estates colleagues on high-risk audits, site visits, pre-start meetings, and formal requests for unsafe conditions to be corrected.
That structure suggests a role built around continuous surveillance and rapid escalation. The practitioner is not merely recording what has already gone wrong; the position is tasked with searching for defects, testing contingency readiness, and pressing those risks into formal governance channels until they are resolved or controlled.
The role requires someone who can deal effectively and assertively with staff at all levels, work to tight deadlines, and prioritize competing demands. Basic IT competence, data collation, analysis, Word and Excel use, and training or presentation ability are all listed as essential experience. Those skills matter because the post turns observation into action through documentation, systems entry, and recurring reports.
Recruitment terms reflect the operational environment rather than a standard desk post
The vacancy is permanent, full time, and graded at HEO level, with a salary of £37,417 to £39,214. The role is based in Wolverhampton, and the wider arrangement allows for hybrid working where business need permits, although the post can only be worked in the UK. Standard full-time hours are 37 per week excluding unpaid breaks. The Ministry of Justice also indicates that flexible patterns, part-time arrangements, and job sharing may be considered when compatible with operational demands.
The posting closes on 22 November 2026 and names one available job, with a reserve list lasting 12 months. Security and identity checks apply before appointment, external candidates face a six-month probation period, and the broader civil service framework shapes terms, training, and adjustments.
What remains most striking is the way the post connects ordinary administrative work to high-consequence risk control. The practitioner will spend as much time on records, reports, and software systems as on tours and drills, but the underlying objective is constant: keep people safe, keep the establishment compliant, and make sure dangerous conditions are identified early enough to be corrected.