Safety And Occupational Health Specialist

This position is located within the Location Support Staff unit for USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Pullman, Washington.
In this position, you will develop and coordinate safety, health and environmental management programs in an office setting or research laboratory environment.Qualifications: Applicants must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of the announcement including time-in-grade restrictions, specialized experience and/or education, as defined below.
Time in grade:
Current federal employees applying for a promotion opportunity must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirement of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.
GS-09
Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-09 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-07 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience managing safety, health, or environmental management programs in an office or research laboratory environment; coordinating annual safety inspections for offices, laboratories, or equipment; and providing informal instruction to employees regarding health and safety procedures.
OR
Education: Successful completion of a master's or equivalent graduate degree 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; or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related.
OR
A combination of the graduate level education and specialized experience as described above.
GS-11
Specialized Experience: Specialized experience is experience directly related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience must be described for each grade level advertised. The specialized experience requirements for this position are: Qualifying experience for GS-11 includes one year of specialized experience comparable to GS-09 which is directly related to the work of this position and which has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. For this position, specialized experience is experience developing and coordinating safety, health, or environmental management programs in an office setting or research laboratory environment; initiating and coordinating regular inspection and maintenance of safety equipment, offices and laboratories; and developing and conducting routine training presentations related to health and safety for new and existing employees.
OR
Education: Successful completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree 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; or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related.
OR
A combination of the graduate level education and specialized experience as described above.
Physical Demands
A significant amount of work is performed in an office environment. However, inspection of facilities frequently involves climbing ladders, working on roofs, etc., and crouching and crawling under structures. There may be need for the incumbent to lift and carry moderately heavy objects.
Working Environment
Although most work is performed in an office, on-site inspections involve exposure to hazardous chemicals, moving equipment, heights, closed spaces, etc. A fair degree of potential risk is involved. The incumbent is required to wear protective clothing/equipment at times.
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 and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.Education: This position does not have an education qualification requirement.
Employment Type: FULL_TIME