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: Assisting in the management of safety program and applying knowledge of safety and health standards, laws, codes, policies for employees engaged in a broad range of high hazard functions directly related to the construction, operation and maintenance of 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 OF 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: The ability to manage key elements of a safety program with minimal guidance from the Safety Manager. Serves as a technical expert for safety and health standards, laws, codes, policies for employees engaged in a broad range of high hazard functions directly related to the construction, operation and maintenance of facilities. 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. Time-in-Grade: Current career or career-conditional GS employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional GS employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current career or career-conditional federal employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
This position is part of the WAPA-SNR-Sierra Nevada Region. As a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, you will assist the Regional Safety and Occupational Health Manager in planning, developing, and directing activities of the Regions safety, and occupational health programs and provides guidance to managers, supervisors, and employees. **This is not a remote position. The selectee will be required to be physically present at one of the duty location(s) identified.**