Transport health and safety inspector

Transport health and safety inspector article illustration

Description

Transport health and safety inspectors are responsible for maintaining safety standards, reducing risk to company, staff and customers and achieving industry standards. They evaluate existing security systems to determine potential risks in all transport sectors such as road and sea transport, and develop policies and procedures that minimise the risk to properties, employees and computer systems.

The duties of a transport health and safety inspector may include:

  • Conducting inspections and audits of various modes of transportation, including railways, roads, and waterways.
  • Analyzing technical data and reports to identify safety issues and recommend corrective measures.
  • Ensuring compliance with safety standards, regulations, and laws.
  • Conducting accident investigations and reporting findings to relevant authorities.
  • Providing advice and guidance on safety matters to transportation operators and other stakeholders.
  • Collaborating with other professionals, including engineers, health and safety specialists, and regulators.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to transport health and safety inspector:

transportation safety manager
road transportation health and safety director
road occupational health and safety manager
road health and safety risk assessor
road transport health and safety manager

Working conditions

Transport health and safety inspectors usually work for governmental agencies. They work in a variety of environments, including offices, laboratories, and on-site inspection locations. They may work in different weather conditions and irregular hours, including weekends and holidays, depending on the nature of the inspection. The job may also involve travel to various locations for inspections and audits.

Minimum qualifications

Transport health and safety inspectors need to have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as transportation engineering, occupational health and safety, or a related field. Many employers also require candidates to have work experience in the transportation industry or in a related field, such as health and safety or engineering. In addition, obtaining certification from a professional organization, such as the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), can increase chances of landing a job in this field.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Transport health and safety inspector is a Skill level 3 occupation.

Transport health and safety inspector career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to transport health and safety inspector.

environmental health inspector
hazardous materials inspector
tourism contract negotiator
accommodation manager
aviation data communications manager

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of transport health and safety inspector. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of transport health and safety inspector with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

tourist animator
recycling specialist
environmental programme coordinator
online sales channel manager
pricing specialist

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of transport health and safety inspector.

  • SA8000: Know Social Accountability (SA) regulations, a global standard to guarantee the basic rights of workers; provide healthy and safe working conditions.
  • Health and safety measures in transportation: The body of rules, procedures and regulations related to health and safety measures intended to prevent accidents or incidents in transportation.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of transport health and safety inspector.

  • Prepare audit activities: Prepare an audit plan including both pre-audits and certification audits. Communicate with the different processes in order to implement the improvement actions that lead to certification.
  • Perform risk analysis: Identify and assess factors that may jeopardise the success of a project or threaten the organisation’s functioning. Implement procedures to avoid or minimise their impact.
  • Assess transport risks: Identify health and safety risks for the transport sector.
  • Adhere to OHSAS 18001: Know and follow the standards of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. Strive to implement practices that reduce the risk of accidents in the workplace.
  • Encourage teams for continuous improvement: Empower teams to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and then drive the process to improve the results.
  • Manage health and safety standards: Oversee all personnel and processes to comply with health, safety and hygiene standards. Communicate and support alignment of these requirements with the company’s health and safety programmes.
  • Develop environmental policy: Develop an organisational policy on sustainable development and compliance with environmental legislation in line with policy mechanisms used in the field of environmental protection.
  • Consider ergonomic aspects of urban transportation: Consider ergonomic aspects of urban transportation systems, affecting both passengers and drivers. Analyse criteria such as access to entrances, exits, and stairs of transport units, ease of displacement within the unit, access to seats, seat space for the user, form and material composition of the seats and the backrests, and the distribution of seats.
  • Monitor legislation developments: Monitor changes in rules, policies and legislation, and identify how they may influence the organisation, existing operations, or a specific case or situation.
  • Manage vehicle cleaning plan: Manage a vehicle cleaning plan, implement quality assurance and set cleaning standards, look after materials and equipment, comply with the fleet health and safety principles.
  • Conduct environmental surveys: Conduct surveys in order to collect information for analysis and management of environmental risks within an organisation or in a wider context.
  • Maintain updated professional knowledge: Regularly attend educational workshops, read professional publications, actively participate in professional societies.
  • Develop appropriate health and safety measures in accordance with available resources: Develop measures to enhance health and safety matters, considering the available resources. Carry out a cost benefit analysis to find the proper balance between ensuring health and safety and the cost of these measures.
  • Have a high level of safety awareness: Ensure high levels of safety awareness; use personal protection equipment; communicate with staff members and provide advice on health and safety issues.
  • Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
  • Foster compliance with health and safety rules by setting an example: Set a personal example to colleagues by following HSE rules and implementing them in daily activities.
  • Develop a health and safety prevention plan for road transport: Develop a prevention plan to avoid potential risks for health and safety from occurring.
  • Develop contingency plans for emergencies: Compose procedures outlining specific actions to be taken in the event of an emergency, taking into account all the risks and dangers that could be involved, ensuring that the plans comply with safety legislation and represent the safest course of action.

ISCO group and title

3257 – Environmental and occupational health inspectors and associates


References
  1. Transport health and safety inspector – ESCO
  2. Featured image: By Oregon Department of Transportation – Talking security, CC BY 2.0
Last updated on April 26, 2023

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