Faculty OHS

Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences 

Classification UOM 7
Salary 
Superannuation Employer contribution of 9.5%
Employment Type 0.6 FTE (fixed-term) for 12 months
Fixed term type:  Specific Task or Project
Other Benefits http://hr.unimelb.edu.au/careers/working/benefits
How to Apply NA
Contact
For enquiries only Catherine Itman
Tel +61 3 8344-7202
Email: catherine.itman@unimelb.edu.au

Please do not send your application to this contact

For information about working for the University of Melbourne, visit our websites:

hr.unimelb.edu.au/careers
joining.unimelb.edu.au

Position Summary

The Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences (MDHS) operates and manages a large portfolio of specialist clinical research, laboratory and office spaces in campuses, research institutes and health services area throughout Victoria.

As a member of the MDHS OHS and Laboratory Management team, you will closely with the local area Health and Safety Business Partner to play a lead role in supporting University of Melbourne OHS policy, requirements and process implementation in the assigned portfolio.  You will also ensurelaboratory regulatory requirements are met, including obtaining all relevant licences and permits required for operation in the assigned spaces.

Working closely with academic, professional managers, and external stakeholders,you must have the ability to maintain laboratories and research spaces that enable learning, teaching and research activities to be conducted safely and effectively for the relevant School, while working within a complex organisational structure and shared services model.

This role will be responsible for ensuring that the ongoing externally provided support services to the areas are of a high standard (e.g. security, cleaning, waste management, engineering etc.) and that the areas meet the University’s OHS compliance requirements

Our Values

Respect | Accountability | Continuous Improvement | Empowerment | Sustainability

1. Selection Criteria

1.1 Essential

• Undergraduate qualifications in a relevant discipline
• Extensive experience working within a scientific or medical laboratory environment and coordination of personnel in a matrix environment
• Demonstrated knowledge of occupational health and safety legislation, laboratory regulatory and statutory requirements
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to interact with a broad range of people and maintain strong, effective working relationships
• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively within a team environment
• Highly developed computer literacy, particularly using the Microsoft Office suite of applications, database/records management systems and web technology, including the ability to learn and adopt new modes of communication and software packages as required.

1.2 Desirable

• Knowledge of health services and research institutes infrastructure environments and emerging research technologies
  • Experience working within a shared services environment.

1.3 Special Requirements

• A Working with Children and Police Check may be required.

2. Key Responsibilities

2.1 Faculty space & infrastructure portfolio management

MDHS activities take place in a wide range of facilities which include clinical research, laboratory and office spaces in campuses, research institutes and health services area throughout Victoria.

Key responsibilities include:

• Working with MDHS managers to ensure that infrastructure within the assigned areas is efficiently and effectively managed to meet the Faculty’s teaching and research objectives
• Ensuring MDHS complies with the relevant OHS legislation, statues, regulations and policies within the portfolio
• Monitoring and providing feedback on the quality, efficiency and responsiveness of relevant University Services to the Faculty
• Maintaining strong relationships with other service delivery areas, Schools and Departments to ensure effective delivery of OHS support.

2.2 Laboratory Management

The Laboratory Manager is responsible for obtaining, administering and overseeing the following licences and permits at RMH for MDHS:

• Permits / Licences
• PC2 Certification
• Drugs & Poisons Licences
• Radiation Licences
• Quarantine Import / Export Permits.

The Laboratory Manager will also ensure the local area meets the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator’s (OGTR) Physical Containment Guidelines for Laboratories, any relevant AS/NZS standards and that staff, student and visitors comply with the OGTR’s physical containment behavioural requirements.

Additional responsibilities with regard to laboratory management are as follows:

• Procurement of some equipment, consumable goods and services
• Contractor management
• Repair and maintenance of equipment
• Laboratory access control and space allocations
• Waste management (PC2 / Chemical / Radioactive / Biological etc.)
  • Provision of relevant technical, compliance and safety advice relevant to laboratory users.

2.3 Safety, Compliance and Risk Management

This position also has a number of responsibilities with regard to safety, compliance and risk management of the MDHS laboratories:

• Develop and review local laboratory induction materials
• Development and implementation of policies, procedures, risk assessments etc. and maintaining currency of existing documentation
• Deliver laboratory related trainings consistent with the responsibilities of the role and in consultation with Scientific Services Manager
• Ensuring the tasks documented in the cyclic event checklist are completed in a timely fashion
• Preparation of local laboratory areas for audit; ensuring implementation of corrective actions under incumbent’s responsibilityfor audit close out
• Compliance with the relevant occupational health and safety legislation and the University of Melbourne OHS requirements within the local area
• Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) outlined in section 5
• Any other duties which may be assigned by the supervisor from time to time with regard to current workload and which are consistent with the incumbent’s experience and skill.

2.4 Relationship Management

The Laboratory Manager is responsible for the following with regard to relationship management within the assigned area:

• Providing a high standard of service and support to the local area.
• Building rapport and establishing regular contact with the local area operations team and other local area stakeholders including University Business Services and equivalent providers in tenanted sites
• Building rapport and establishing regular contact with MDHS’ OHS / Laboratory Management team and local area stakeholders
• Developing strong working relationships and partnerships with senior management, staff and students
• Working effectively and productively with the other members of the MDHSOHS / Laboratory Management team to meet the Faculty’s OHS and compliance objectives
• Building trust through managing and delivering on expectations
• Actively seeking feedback to better understand local area needs from relevant Schools / Departments / Institutes./ Partners to achieve outcomes, involving others either within MDHS’ OHS / Laboratory Management team and local area stakeholders
• Engaging in collaborative practices with colleagues across all areas.

2.5 Communication

The Laboratory Manager is responsible for the following with regard to communication with internal and external clients, staff, students and visitors:

• Using appropriate communication techniques to accurately determine needs
• Exchanging ideas using suitable language appropriate for audience
• Listening when others are communicating
• Demonstrating a clear, concise and open manner
• Ensuring noticeboards, newsletters and any other medium used for communication is kept up-to-date
• Cooperates and works well with others in pursuit of team goals, collaborates and shares information, shows consideration, concern and respect for others feelings and ideas, accommodates and works well with the different working styles of others, encourages resolution of conflict.

3. Job Complexity, Skills, Knowledge

3.1 Level of Supervision / Independence

The Laboratory Manager reports to the Scientific Services Manager. In addition, the Laboratory Manager will work closely and effectively with the relevant operations team/s within the local area. The Laboratory Manager will work within the framework of University and MDHS policies and procedures; will seek advice and take direction from the OHS Team Leader and will work collaboratively with colleagues to ensure safety and laboratory compliance for the assigned Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences areas.

3.2 Problem Solving and Judgement

• Demonstrate an ability to prioritise individual workload and act effectively to complete set tasks to meet schedules
• Identify and analyse alternative solutions to issues and reported incidents and recommend any new procedures or modifications to existing systems and processes
• Implement OHS legislation and apply policy and procedures to assist staff in the local area, and as appropriate, be cognitive of policy and procedures of any associated external organisations.

3.3 Professional and Organisational Knowledge

Possess a sound understanding of work health safety principles and concepts, hazards, risks and controls to eliminate, reduce and minimise work-related fatality, injury, disease and ill-health. This knowledge is applicable in different frameworks and contexts.

The incumbent may have additional areas of knowledge based on their background, education and experience, such as a broad knowledge of standard procedures, chemicals, and equipment used within a biological science research context, and the ability to assess new and emerging technologies and practices from a safety and risk perspective.

3.4 Resource Management

The Lab Manager will manage their own time resources and will bring to the attention of the Scientific Services Manager or Director, Infrastructure & Facilitiesthe requirement for additional resources or tools.

3.5 Breadth of the position

This position is expected to monitor, interpret and advise on current University policies, government regulations or legislation, standards and encourage adherence to these requirements.

4. Other Information

4.1 OHS & LaboratorY Management Team

The MDHS OH&S and Laboratory Management team collaborates with all Faculty members to drive process improvement and evaluate and improve risk management, thereby protecting the well-being of each one of us and the University's regulatory reputation.

MDHS has a large number of organisational units including Schools, Departments, institutes and clinical research areas located on and off campus. Some academic units are embedded in external hospital or institute partners’ sites.

The Laboratory Managers support OHS management across the Faculty. This is achieved by having good safe work procedures, providing appropriate induction and training for staff and students, and regularly inspecting the workplace for hazards. The aim is to reduce risk in the workplace by ensuring a safe working environment.

The MDHS OHS program is developed and managed by the OHS Team Leader and a team of Laboratory Managers, some of whom have dual appointments as OHS Advisors.

4.2 FACULTY OF MEDICINE, DENTISTRY AND HEALTH SCIENCES www.mdhs.unimelb.edu.au

The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences has an enviable research record and is the University of Melbourne’s largest Faculty in terms of management of financial resources, employment of academic and professional staff, teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate (including research higher degree) students and the conduct of basic and applied research. The Faculty’s annual revenue is $630m with approximately 55% of this income related to research activities.

The Faculty has a student teaching load in excess of 8,500 equivalent full-time students including more than 1,300 research higher degree students. The Faculty has approximately 2,195 staff comprising 642 professional staff and 1,553 research and teaching staff. 

The Faculty has appointed Australia’s first Associate Dean (Indigenous Development) to lead the development and implementation of the Faculty’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which will be aligned with the broader University – wide plan. To enable the Faculty to improve its indigenous expertise knowledge base, the Faculty’s RAP will address indigenous employment, indigenous student recruitment and retention, indigenous cultural recognition and building partnerships with the indigenous community as key areas of development.

4.3 Growing Esteem, the Melbourne Curriculum and Research at melbourne: Ensuring excellence and impact to 2025

Growing Esteem describes Melbourne's strategy to achieve its aspiration to be a public-spirited and internationally-engaged institution, highly regarded for making distinctive contributions to society in research and research training, learning and teaching, and engagement. www.growingesteem.unimelb.edu.au

The University is at the forefront of Australia's changing higher education system and offers a distinctive model of education known collectively as the Melbourne Curriculum. The new educational model, designed for an outstanding experience for all students, is based on six broad undergraduate programs followed by a graduate professional degree, research higher degree or entry directly into employment. The emphasis on academic breadth as well as disciplinary depth in the new degrees ensures that graduates will have the capacity to succeed in a world where knowledge boundaries are shifting and reforming to create new frontiers and challenges. In moving to the new model, the University is also aligning itself with the best of emerging European and Asian practice and well-established North American traditions.

The University’s global aspirations seek to make significant contributions to major social, economic and environmental challenges. Accordingly, the University’s research strategy Research at Melbourne: Ensuring Excellence and Impact to 2025 aspires to a significant advancement in the excellence and impact of its research outputs. http://www.unimelb.edu.au/research/research-strategy.html

The strategy recognises that as a public-spirited, research-intensive institution of the future, the University must strive to make a tangible impact in Australia and the world, working across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries and building deeper and more substantive engagement with industry, collaborators and partners.  While cultivating the fundamental enabling disciplines through investigator-driven research, the University has adopted three grand challenges aspiring to solve some of the most difficult problems facing our world in the next century. These Grand Challenges include:

Understanding our place and purpose – The place and purpose grand challenge centres on understanding all aspects of our national identity, with a focus on Australia’s ‘place’ in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, and on our ‘purpose’ or mission to improve all dimensions of the human condition through our research.

Fostering health and wellbeing – The health and wellbeing grand challenge focuses on building the scale and breadth of our capabilities in population and global health; on harnessing our contribution to the ‘convergence revolution’ of biomedical and health research, bringing together the life sciences, engineering and the physical sciences; and on addressing the physical, mental and social aspects of wellbeing by looking beyond the traditional boundaries of biomedicine.

Supporting sustainability and resilience – The sustainability and resilience grand challenge addresses the critical issues of climate change, water and food security, sustainable energy and designing resilient cities and regions. In addition to the technical aspects, this grand challenge considers the physical and social functioning of cities, connecting physical phenomena with lessons from our past, and the implications of the technical solutions for economies, living patterns and behaviours.

Essential to tackling these challenges, an outstanding faculty, high performing students, wide collaboration including internationally and deep partnerships with external parties form central components of Research at Melbourne: Ensuring Excellence and Impact to 2025.

4.4 Equity and Diversity

Another key priority for the University is access and equity. The University of Melbourne is strongly committed to an admissions policy that takes the best students, regardless of financial and other disadvantage. An Access, Equity and Diversity Policy Statement, included in the University Plan, reflects this priority.

The University is committed to equal opportunity in education, employment and welfare for staff and students. Students are selected on merit and staff are selected and promoted on merit.

4.5 Governance

The Vice Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the University and responsible to Council for the good management of the University.

Comprehensive information about the University of Melbourne and its governance structure is available at www.unimelb.edu.au.

5. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

All staff are required to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of other personnel who may be affected by their conduct. 

OHS responsibilities applicable to positions are published at:

http://safety.unimelb.edu.au/topics/responsibilities/

These include general staff responsibilities and those additional responsibilities that apply for Managers and Supervisors and other Personnel.