Senior Safety Engineer at Kiira Motors Corporation

Job Description

The Senior Safety Engineer shall be responsible for leading occupational health and safety initiatives within the Workplace Safety Division by systematically identifying, assessing, and controlling workplace hazards. The role ensures the prevention of accidents, reduction of injury risks, and promotion of a proactive safety culture across the Corporation. The incumbent will drive the implementation of hazard control systems, incident management processes, and HSE training programs while ensuring continuous improvement in safety performance and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

• 1.1 Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment: Demonstrates expertise in identifying workplace hazards, conducting risk assessments, applying hierarchy of controls, and maintaining dynamic risk registers across operations.
• 1.2 Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Possesses strong knowledge of occupational health, safety, and environmental laws, ensuring full compliance, audit readiness, and timely statutory reporting requirements.
• 1.3 Training and Safety Awareness: Skilled in developing and delivering safety training programs, promoting awareness, assessing competencies, and fostering a proactive safety culture organization-wide.
• 1.4 Incident Reporting and Investigation: Proficient in managing incident reporting systems, conducting root cause analysis, implementing corrective actions, and ensuring timely closure of safety-related incidents.
• 1.5 Emergency Preparedness and Response: Capable of developing emergency plans, coordinating drills, managing response teams, and ensuring readiness of systems and equipment for effective incident response.
• 1.6 Performance Monitoring and Continuous Improvement: Experienced in tracking safety KPIs, conducting audits, analyzing trends, and driving continuous improvement initiatives within the IMS framework.
• 1.7 IMS Integration and Auditing: Competent in integrating ISO 45001, ISO 14001, and ISO 9001 requirements, conducting internal audits, and ensuring compliance with integrated management systems.
• 1.8 Leadership and Safety Culture Development: Demonstrates strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills to influence behavior and embed a positive safety culture across all levels.
• 1.9 Data Analysis and Reporting: Skilled in analyzing safety data, preparing reports, and providing actionable insights to support informed decision-making and performance improvement.
• 1.10 Project and Risk Management: Ability to integrate safety into projects, manage risks proactively, and ensure safety considerations are embedded throughout project lifecycles.
• 1.11 Integrated QHSE Management and Environmental Sustainability: Lead the alignment of occupational safety protocols with the Corporation’s broader Quality and Environmental objectives. Oversee the identification and mitigation of environmental aspects and impacts arising from safety interventions (e.g., fire suppression system chemicals or hazardous spill response). Ensure that safety-related processes support ISO 9001 quality standards by reducing operational downtime and that environmental protection measures are integrated into all emergency response and hazard control strategies to achieve holistic compliance with the Integrated Management System (IMS).
• 1.12 Any Other Duties: Any other duties assigned by your Supervisor.

Social Responsibilities

• Technical Guidance & Mentorship: Provide direct supervision, technical coaching, and professional mentorship to the Safety Engineer (K6).
• Safety Advocacy: Act as a visible champion for workplace safety, influencing behaviors on the shop floor and in administrative offices.
• Cross-Functional Synergy: Partner with Manufacturing, Facilities, and Engineering teams to ensure that safety is integrated into the design and execution of all production processes.

Emotional Responsibilities

• Analytical Rigor: Demonstrate meticulous attention to detail when assessing hazards and investigating incidents, recognizing that oversight can lead to injury.
• Composure & Decisiveness: Maintain a calm and authoritative presence during emergencies or high-pressure safety interventions.
• Ethical Fortitude: Maintain absolute integrity in reporting safety violations and incident data, ensuring that safety is never compromised for production speed.

Qualifications and Experience

• Education:
  • Bachelor’s Degree (Honours) in Health and Safety Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or Equivalent from a Recognized Academic Institution.
  • Master’s Degree in Health and Safety Engineering, Industrial Psychology, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Business Administration or Equivalent from a Recognized Academic Institution.
  • Professional Certification in Occupational Health and Safety (NEBOSH IGC or OSHA Professional).
• Experience: Applicant should have at least Five (5) Years Experience in industrial safety or QHSE management in reputable organization with demonstrated experience in hazard identification, risk assessment (HIRA), and incident investigation and reporting within a manufacturing or large-scale plant environment is highly desirable.
• Continuous Professional Development: Certificates in at least Three (3) relevant fields (Fire Safety, First Aid, ISO 45001 Lead Auditor/Internal Auditor or Hazardous Material Handling, Project Management) is an added advantage.
• Professional Membership: Registered with the Engineers Registration Board of Uganda or Equivalent.

Skills and Competencies

• Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment: Expert in systematic hazard identification, risk evaluation techniques, hierarchy of controls application, and maintaining dynamic risk registers across operations.
• Legal Compliance: Strong knowledge of occupational safety laws, regulatory requirements, compliance audits, reporting obligations, and ensuring adherence to national and international standards.
• Training and Awareness: Skilled in developing safety training programs, conducting awareness sessions, assessing competency gaps, and promoting a proactive safety culture across all organizational levels.
• Incident Reporting and Investigation: Proficient in incident reporting systems, root cause analysis, corrective actions, documentation, and ensuring timely closure to prevent recurrence of workplace incidents.
• Emergency Preparedness and Response: Competent in developing emergency plans, conducting drills, coordinating response teams, ensuring equipment readiness, and continuously improving organizational emergency response capabilities.
• Environment Management Compliance: Understanding of environmental management, including identification & assessment of environmental aspects and impacts, and pollution mitigation strategies.
• Performance Monitoring and Improvement: Experienced in tracking safety KPIs, conducting audits, analyzing trends, implementing improvements, and driving continuous enhancement of the occupational health, safety & environment management system
• Integrated Management Systems (IMS) Proficiency Expertise in the requirements and cross-functional application of ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment), and ISO 45001 (Health & Safety). Ability to conduct integrated audits and utilize quality management tools (such as Six Sigma or Lean) to improve safety outcomes. Strong understanding of environmental sustainability, including waste-to-wealth initiatives and the reduction of the industrial carbon footprint within the safety lifecycle.

Monthly Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Senior Safety Engineer

• Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment:
  • KPI: Hazard Identification Rate: Number of hazards identified per month compared to planned inspections and risk assessment schedules (Target: 100% coverage).
  • KPI: Risk Assessment Completion Rate: % of operational activities with documented and approved risk assessments (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Hazard Mitigation Rate: % of identified hazards with implemented and verified controls in the risk register (Target: ≥95%).
• Legal Compliance:
  • KPI: Regulatory Compliance Rate: % Adherence to applicable safety and environmental legal requirements (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Compliance Audit Findings Closure: % of regulatory and internal audit findings closed within agreed timelines (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Statutory Reporting Timeliness: % of reports submitted to regulators within required timelines (Target: 100%).
• Training and Awareness:
  • KPI: Safety Training Coverage: % of employees trained on safety procedures and IMS requirements (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Training Effectiveness Score: Average post-training assessment score or competency evaluation (Target: ≥85%).
  • KPI: Safety Awareness Participation Rate: % of staff participating in safety campaigns, toolbox talks, and awareness sessions (Target: ≥90%).
• Incident Reporting and Investigation:
  • KPI: Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR): Number of recordable incidents relative to hours worked (Target: Zero).
  • KPI: Incident Reporting Rate: % of incidents and near misses reported within 24 hours (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Investigation Closure Rate: % of incident investigations completed and corrective actions closed within defined timelines (Target: 100%).
• Emergency Preparedness and Response:
  • KPI: Emergency Drill Compliance: Number of emergency drills conducted versus planned schedule (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Emergency Response Time: Average time taken to respond to simulated or actual emergencies (Target: Continuous improvement).
  • KPI: Equipment Readiness Rate: % of emergency equipment inspected and fully functional (Target: 100%).
• Performance Monitoring and Improvement:
  • KPI: Safety Audit Score: Average score from internal and external safety audits (Target: ≥90%).
  • KPI: Corrective Action Closure Rate: % of audit and inspection findings closed within agreed timelines (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Continuous Improvement Implementation Rate: % of identified improvement initiatives implemented successfully (Target: ≥90%).
• Integrated Management System (IMS) & Sustainability:
  • KPI: IMS Process Integration Rate: Percentage of Safety Operating Procedures (SOPs) that explicitly incorporate relevant Quality and Environmental control measures (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Environmental Impact Mitigation: Percentage of safety-related incidents (including drills) where environmental containment or spill prevention protocols were successfully executed (Target: 100%).
  • KPI: Quality-Safety Synergy: Reduction in production downtime caused by safety-related non-conformances through the implementation of preventive quality-driven safety controls (Target: 10% reduction YoY).
  • KPI: Integrated Audit Performance: Completion of assigned internal IMS audits covering Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment within the quarterly schedule (Target: 100%).