Occupational Health Nurse

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service is looking for an Occupational Health Nurse to join our Occupational Health and Fitness Team based at our dedicated unit in Wigston for two or three days per week. Whilst firefighters make up the majority of our workforce, our goal is to support the health and wellbeing of all our employees and you will play a huge part in supporting our people in our aim of Safer People, Safer Places.

Working days may be negotiated at the interview stage and a combination of office based and hybrid working may be considered for this role.

All applications must be received through Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service's careers website:

Interview and test date: w/c 31 March 2025

Main duties of the job

Reporting to the Occupational Health and Wellbeing Manager you will be an integral part of a small team working alongside Occupational Health Physicians, Fitness Advisors, Counsellors, Physiotherapists and our Health and Wellbeing Lead to deliver our occupational health services. Key aspects of the role will be to assist in the delivery of routine medicals and pre-employment screens for LFRS personnel; undertake referrals where physical or general mental health issues are impacting on sickness absence; provide occupational health advice on reasonable adjustments in the workplace; signposting to other health professionals; and completing concise reports to managers and HR.

Job responsibilities

See the attached job description to this posting.

Post Title: Occupational Health Nurse

Directorate: People and Organisational Development

Department: Occupational Health and Wellbeing

Location: Occupational Health Unit Wigston Fire Station

Grade: H

Responsible To: Occupational Health and Wellbeing Manager, OH Manager, HR, L and D, staff at all levels across the service

Purpose of Job: Working as part of a multi-discipline team this role will assist in the delivery of a comprehensive occupational health service to all Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service personnel. Oversee and delivery of statutory health surveillance in line with relevant legislation to affected personnel. Undertake pre-employment health screening. Support the management of sickness absence through the completion of management referrals, giving advice on reasonable and workplace adjustments.

This role will also aid in ensuring clinical standards and procedures are maintained and providing clinical support and guidance for the OH Technician.

Main Activities, Duties and Responsibilities:

1. To assist the OH Manager in reviewing OH policies and procedures to ensure they reflect current clinical guidance from NICE / HSE legislation, national guidance, other relevant bodies and maintain OH best practice.
2. To assess and prioritise incoming referrals.
3. To use professional and clinical judgment to give practical, industry specific and individually tailored advice to managers and employees, in order to promote recovery and to remove barriers to returning to work by management and self-referral in line with LFRS Standards and procedures.
4. Work closely with HR and Health and Safety to identify common sickness absence trends and strategies for reducing them.
5. Make onward referrals to other health professionals where appropriate including to the services Physiotherapy and counselling providers.
6. To undertake pre-employment screening for Fire Service recruits as required.
7. To deliver on and off site clinics as required.
8. To undertake statutory health surveillance for risk identified by management where control measures may be insufficient and monitoring for occupational disease is required.
9. Maintain own written and electronic clinical records and ensure they are correct and contemporaneous whilst ensuring that patient confidentiality is maintained in line with GDPR.
10. Deliver nurse led clinics for activities outlined including travel health advice and vaccinations for our International Search and Rescue Team (ISAR).
11. Support and assist in the delivery of health promotion activities working with the Health and Wellbeing lead and Fitness Adviser to identify suitable topics and promotions to meet the needs of the Service.
12. Support the delivery of the Services Health and Wellbeing Programme.

Qualifications and Experience Required:

• Registered Nurse holding an Occupational Health Certificate/Diploma.
• Recent Experience of Working in an Occupational Health Setting.

Person Specification Other Criteria

• Must be willing to undertake an enhanced criminal record check.
• Ability to travel off-site whilst undertaking duties for LFRS.

Qualifications

• Diploma in Occupational Health.
• Commitment to CPD and a willingness to undertake required training/updates identified for the role.

Experience

• A proven track record of delivering high levels of customer satisfaction with an ability to proactively anticipate the needs of customers.
• Proven understanding of Health & Safety at work.
• Knowledge and experience of creating, handling and proof reading OH reports.
• Proven knowledge and experience of working with MS Office, including a basic understanding of Microsoft Outlook, a basic use of Word to create, format and file documents, and a basic use of Excel for spreadsheet creation from data input, formatting cells and creating charts.
• Understanding of relevant legislation, including Access to Medical Reports Act, Access to Health Records Act, GDPR, Equality Act, Health and Safety at Work Act.
• Ability to respect the views of others, to show empathy, listen and support the team.
• Able to adapt behaviour according to the needs of others to encourage an open and honest dialogue.
• Maintains good relationships with internal and external customers and staff; relates well to people at all levels of an organisation.
• Keeps up to date with the latest advances and practices within Occupational Health.
• Ability to produce concise OH reports that provide referring managers with enough information to support our employees, within agreed timescales.
• Is able to work as an autonomous practitioner without the need for constant guidance.
• Understands the need for personal resilience and seeks to find solutions to challenges.
• Shows unbiased treatment towards others and creates equal opportunities for all people.
• Acts consistently in accordance with clear ethics and values.
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of the need to follow clinical guidance and best practice at all times.
• The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English.
• Sound knowledge of and commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion.
• Proven knowledge and experience of using Occupational Health (OH) Systems such as EOPAS and Cohort.
• Experience of creating OH guidance, policies and procedures.
• Recent post qualification experience in taking venous blood samples and administering vaccines.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.