Environmental Health and Safety Specialist Job Description
Template content and a ready-to-use advert paragraph to help you hire an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist. Designed for UK employers recruiting someone to manage workplace health and safety and environmental compliance across sites or operations.
What does a Environmental Health and Safety Specialist professional do?
A practical specialist who assesses risk, ensures legal compliance, leads investigations and delivers training to protect people, assets and the environment.
Environmental Health and Safety Specialist job description template
Use this employer-ready example as a starting point, then replace the placeholders and adjust the content so it accurately reflects your vacancy.
Environmental Health and Safety Specialist
About the role
[Employer name] is seeking an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist to join our team in [Location]. You will lead site-level safety and environmental compliance, run risk assessments and audits, investigate incidents, and deliver training and controls to reduce risk. This role reports to [Line manager title] and requires a practical approach to regulatory compliance and continuous improvement. Salary: [Competitive / Insert range].
Key responsibilities
- Plan and carry out EHS inspections, audits and risk assessments across sites and activities.
- Develop, review and maintain safety and environmental policies, procedures and permits.
- Investigate accidents, incidents and near-misses; produce clear reports and corrective action plans.
- Coordinate statutory compliance (eg. reporting, monitoring and record keeping) with regulators and internal stakeholders.
- Deliver toolbox talks, induction and role-specific EHS training to staff and contractors.
- Support implementation of control measures, behavioural safety initiatives and hazard reduction projects.
- Monitor EHS performance metrics; prepare management reports and trend analysis.
- Advise project and operations teams on safe working methods, permits-to-work and COSHH control.
Essential skills and experience
- Proven experience in a health, safety or environmental role within industry, construction, manufacturing or similar operations.
- Good practical knowledge of UK health, safety and environmental legislation and duties (for example Health and Safety at Work Act, COSHH, RIDDOR).
- Ability to carry out risk assessments, inspections and incident investigations and to produce clear, actionable reports.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence site teams and contractors.
- Comfortable working on-site with occasional travel between locations and the ability to work independently.
- Right to work in the UK.
Desirable
- NEBOSH Certificate or equivalent health and safety qualification.
- Membership of a professional body (eg. IOSH) or working towards membership.
- Experience with ISO 45001 and/or ISO 14001 implementation or audits.
- Previous exposure to regulatory permitting, environmental monitoring or remediation projects.
- Familiarity with contractor management, permit-to-work systems and confined space procedures.
- Basic competency in data analysis and producing management information (Excel or similar).
What we offer
- [Pension scheme – employer contribution %]
- [Annual leave allowance + bank holidays]
- [Structured training and professional development budget]
- [Employee assistance programme / wellbeing support]
- [Company sick pay policy / healthcare contribution]
- [Flexible working or hybrid working options — specify arrangements]
How to apply
Apply with your CV and any additional information requested. Make the interview process, closing date and any assessment stages clear where known.
Use this as a starting point rather than a final advert. The strongest version will reflect the real role, salary, location, systems, responsibilities, benefits and working arrangements.
What is an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist role?
An Environmental Health and Safety Specialist implements and maintains workplace health, safety and environmental programmes to protect employees, contractors, property and the surrounding community. The role involves carrying out inspections and risk assessments, investigating incidents, ensuring regulatory compliance and delivering training. Specialists work closely with operations and engineering teams to design practical controls and support continuous improvement in EHS performance.
Compliance
Ensure day-to-day compliance with UK H&S and environmental regulations and manage statutory reporting.
Risk and Incident Management
Identify hazards, conduct investigations and deliver corrective actions to reduce recurrence.
Training & Culture
Deliver practical training, inductions and campaigns to raise standards and encourage safe behaviours.
Performance
Monitor metrics, produce management reports and support projects that reduce risk and environmental impact.
Typical Environmental Health and Safety Specialist responsibilities
Responsibilities should reflect the real scope of the vacancy rather than every task someone in this profession might ever complete.
Plan and carry out EHS inspections
Plan and carry out EHS inspections, audits and risk assessments across sites and activities.
Develop
Develop, review and maintain safety and environmental policies, procedures and permits.
Investigate accidents
Investigate accidents, incidents and near-misses; produce clear reports and corrective action plans.
Coordinate statutory compliance (eg. reporting
Coordinate statutory compliance (eg. reporting, monitoring and record keeping) with regulators and internal stakeholders.
Deliver toolbox talks
Deliver toolbox talks, induction and role-specific EHS training to staff and contractors.
Support implementation of control measures
Support implementation of control measures, behavioural safety initiatives and hazard reduction projects.
Monitor EHS performance metrics; prepare
Monitor EHS performance metrics; prepare management reports and trend analysis.
Advise project
Advise project and operations teams on safe working methods, permits-to-work and COSHH control.
Environmental Health and Safety Specialist skills and experience to look for
Keep the essential list focused on what the person really needs to perform the role. Move useful-but-trainable experience into desirable criteria.
Usually worth prioritising
- Proven experience in a health, safety or environmental role within industry, construction, manufacturing or similar operations.
- Good practical knowledge of UK health, safety and environmental legislation and duties (for example Health and Safety at Work Act, COSHH, RIDDOR).
- Ability to carry out risk assessments, inspections and incident investigations and to produce clear, actionable reports.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence site teams and contractors.
- Comfortable working on-site with occasional travel between locations and the ability to work independently.
- Right to work in the UK.
Useful where relevant
- NEBOSH Certificate or equivalent health and safety qualification.
- Membership of a professional body (eg. IOSH) or working towards membership.
- Experience with ISO 45001 and/or ISO 14001 implementation or audits.
- Previous exposure to regulatory permitting, environmental monitoring or remediation projects.
- Familiarity with contractor management, permit-to-work systems and confined space procedures.
- Basic competency in data analysis and producing management information (Excel or similar).
See our guide to what to include in a job advert before publishing.
How to write a Environmental Health and Safety Specialist job advert
Small role-specific details can make the advert much easier for suitable candidates to assess.
State the scope clearly
Specify whether the role covers a single site, multiple sites or regional responsibilities and any travel expectations.
Name the core priorities
List the top 3–5 day-to-day duties (for example audits, incident investigations, training) so applicants know what success looks like.
Be explicit about the level
Indicate reporting lines, whether the role requires supervisory responsibilities and the degree of autonomy expected.
Highlight development opportunities
Mention support for professional qualifications or career progression to attract candidates wanting long-term growth.
Environmental Health and Safety Specialist salary considerations
Pay for an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist in the UK varies by sector, location and level of responsibility. Employers should set salary expectations based on the complexity of the role, required experience and local labour market.
depending on experience
- Use a genuine range
- Separate variable pay
- Avoid “competitive” alone
- Match salary to seniority
What Environmental Health and Safety Specialist candidates will want to know
Practical details can influence whether a suitable candidate applies, even when the title and salary are attractive.
Is the role site-based or office/hybrid?
Candidates need clarity on where they will spend most of their time and whether they will need to travel between sites.
Who will I report to and who reports to me?
Experienced applicants want to know reporting lines and whether they will manage a team or work as an individual contributor.
What resources and budget will I have?
Information about training budgets, contractor support and equipment influences a candidate's ability to deliver improvements.
Are there shift patterns, on-call duties or overtime expectations?
Clear guidance on working hours and emergency/onsite response duties avoids surprises during interview and onboarding.
How is EHS performance measured?
Candidates expect to know the metrics they will be accountable for (eg. LTIs, audit scores, permit compliance).
Where to post a Environmental Health and Safety Specialist job
For this role combine broad UK job boards and LinkedIn with sector-specific channels (for example engineering, manufacturing or construction job sites) and professional networks such as IOSH groups. Use local recruitment networks and specialist EHS forums to reach practical site-based candidates, and consider targeted multi-board distribution for roles requiring niche experience or multi-site oversight.
Related health, safety & environment (ehs) / compliance job descriptions
Recruiting for a slightly different role? These templates may be a closer fit.
Environmental Health and Safety Specialist job description FAQs
Do I need to make NEBOSH or IOSH membership mandatory?
NEBOSH and IOSH are valuable and often desirable, but they are not universally mandatory. Consider making them desirable and offer support for candidates working towards these qualifications unless the role requires immediate chartered-level membership.
How should I assess practical competence?
Ask for examples of past inspections, incident investigations and implemented controls. Practical assessment during interview (walkthrough or case study) helps verify hands-on ability.
What checks should I run for this role?
Standard pre-employment checks include right-to-work, employment history and references. Additional checks can include driving licence verification if site travel is required and any sector-specific checks relevant to regulated environments.
Should I advertise salary or leave it as competitive?
Providing a clear salary range improves response quality and speeds recruitment. If you cannot publish a range, describe seniority and benefits clearly to set expectations.
How do I attract candidates with site experience?
Highlight practical site duties (audits, permits, training delivery), working environment (indoor/outdoor, PPE requirements) and provide examples of the typical hazards they will manage.
Ready to publish this vacancy?
Use this template to create a tailored advert and publish across the channels that best match your sector and candidate profile. If you prefer wider reach, consider multi-board distribution or specialist EHS job sites to target experienced practitioners quickly.
