Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management’s website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy. This position has Individual Occupational Requirements for the 0018 Series that must be met: 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: 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. AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. The experience need not have been in the federal government. To qualify for the GS-11: Applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-09 grade level or equivalent pay band. This experience includes all the following: Ensuring occupational safety and health standards are met and maintained during construction activities regarding the building, modifying, or relocating electrical power transmission and distribution in high voltage facilities. Assisting in workplace safety training and/or hazard prevention education. Collecting and/or analyzing safety data for conformance to OSHA standards and other applicable policy or regulations. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; or a LL.M., if related. OR COMBINATION OD EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Combination of education and experience to successfully perform the duties of the position. To qualify for the GS-12:Applicants must have one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-11 grade level or equivalent pay band. This experience includes all the following: Ensuring occupational safety and health standards are met and maintained during construction activities regarding the building, modifying, or relocating electrical power transmission and distribution in high voltage facilities. Conducting safety and occupational health program elements, developing and recommending policy to senior-level management. Developing workplace safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards and to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses. “Experience” refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. 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 DEMANDS: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion related to frequent inspections and surveys requiring considerable standing, walking, climbing, bending, crouching, stretching, reaching or similar movements. Occasionally there may be a need to lift and carry moderately heavy objects. The work may require some degree of agility and dexterity when, for example, it involves inspecting rights of way, substation equipment, heavy equipment or construction sites. WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work involves regular and recurrent exposure to hazards, unpleasantness, and discomforts such as moving machine parts, shielded radiation sources, irritant chemicals, acid fumes, physical stresses, high noise levels, adverse weather conditions, lead, asbestos and rugged terrain, Protective equipment and clothing may be needed, including hardhat, metatarsal shoes, earmuffs or plugs, goggles, respirators and/or gloves.
This position is part of the WAPA-UGP-Upper Great Plains. As a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, you will be planning, developing, and directing activities of the Regions Safety and Occupational Health programs and providing guidance to managers, supervisors, and employees in accomplishing objectives of the Safety program. **This is not a remote position. The selectee will be required to be physically present at the Bismarck, North Dakota duty location.**