Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one (1) year of specialized experience in or related to safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience includes: Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management; Managing safety or occupational health program elements; 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 SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION FOR EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required) – Successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. Major study must be in 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. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. OR COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE (Transcript Required) – Combination of successfully completed graduate education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Employee Development Health Risk Analysis Project Management Writing IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. 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; religious; 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. Physical Requirements/Working Conditions: Survey or inspection work requires regular and recurrent physical exertion, such as frequent standing, walking, climbing, crouching, and stretching in the performance of inspection and survey duties and occasional lifting of moderately heavy objects. The work environment involves frequent exposure during inspections and surveys of industrial hazards and unpleasant environmental conditions within the VA. This may include high levels of noise, toxic substances, equipment and machinery, dust, fumes or adverse weather conditions requiring the use of protective clothing and safety devices in some situations. Personal protective equipment may be required when conducting surveys and investigating hazardous operations. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management’s website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.
Serves as a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, within the VA Medical Center, Eastern Colorado Health Care System planning, scheduling, and conducting difficult inspections in establishments and worksites where there is a strong probability of encountering hazardous work processes and materials, and unsafe environmental conditions, involving a substantial number of employees.