Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement:11/08/2024. TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENT: Applicants who are current Federal employees, former Federal employees applying for reinstatement, or a current federal employee applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment must meet time in grade requirements. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. NOTE: This does not apply to Non-Federal Applicants, or applicants applying for consideration under Non-Competitive Authority (i.e…. “30% or more Disability”, VRA, and/or Schedule A). To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50). You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 that indicates proof of status, and shows Time in Grade (for example, you were a career or career-conditional employee) and identifies your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must also submit your most recent promotion or within-grade increase in addition to your recent SF-50. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50’s and/or General Adjustment SF-50’s as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level. BASIC INDIVIDUAL REQUIREMENTS: You must meet one of the following basic requirements: Individual Occupational Requirements Safety and Occupational Health Management Series 0018 (opm.gov) Education Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study — safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology. OR Experience General Experience (for GS-5 positions): Experience in scientific or technical work that provided an understanding of the basic principles and concepts of the safety and occupational health field. Creditable general experience must have demonstrated the achievement of knowledge equivalent to the education described above. Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): Experience in or related to safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements. Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management. Applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and health requirements. Developing safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards. Developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses. Analyzing or evaluating new and existing jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of hazards. Designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards. Inspecting or surveying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems for compliance with established safety and occupational health policies or standards and to identify potential new hazards. Training of workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects. Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse. OR Certificates Certification as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or Certified Health Physicist (CHP), or similar certification that included successful completion of a written examination meets the requirements for GS-5. Applicants may also qualify for higher grade levels based on their education and/or experience. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience as described below: GS-13 Grade Level: Specialized Experience: 1 year equivalent to at least next lower grade level Specialized experience will consist of all of the following fields in occupational safety and health: Knowledge of accident investigations, fire safety, electrical safety, construction safety, ergonomics, injury and illness recordkeeping, hazard communication, and root cause analysis Experience performing workplace hazard assessments and risk assessments Experience conducting facility inspections/surveys and writing inspection reports Experience reading architectural drawings, engineering construction drawings, and other facility renovation plans Ability to communicate results of complex analysis both orally and in writing to a diverse audience Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week. Physical Requirements: Position is sedentary. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management’s website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.
The incumbent is assigned to the Veterans Benefits Administration Central Office (VBACO) and is responsible for advising facilities on implementing Occupational Safety and Health programs to meet regulatory and internal VA requirements. The incumbent supports VBACO with the development of safety goals, programs, policy, and procedural documentation. The incumbent conducts assessments and investigations of facilities and provides advisory support and specialized training to safety staff.