Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

The incumbent will work in the Facilities Section performing a variety of tasks related to the requirements of the area. The incumbent is responsible for the day-to-day technical administration of Safety and Occupational Health program. The incumbent will also assist in special assignments or projects as directed.Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/12/2024.
Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. 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 provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
Individual Occupational Requirement:
Basic Requirements:

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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:
  • Accident investigations; checks and analyzing accidents, illnesses, hazardous conditions and code deficiencies for the purpose of informing management and meeting report schedules.
  • Experience with administration and execution of facility safety and fire prevention programs, including preparation of all policies, reports, safety, Occupational Health and fire prevention-related correspondence.
  • Knowledge of regulations, standards, procedures, methods, and techniques applicable to a broad range of safety and Occupational Health duties in one or more specific areas of safety and Occupational Health.
  • Knowledge of safety and Occupational Health standards, industrial work processes, health care practices, compressed gases, and flammable and combustible liquids to pinpoint causal factors contributing to mishaps and resulting dangerous working conditions.
  • . OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have
  Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

  or

  3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree

  or

  LL.M., if related. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond graduate education. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grades GS-9 and GS-11. (When crediting education that requires specific course work, prorate the number of hours of related courses required as a proportion of the total education to be used.)

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Communications
• Emergency Management
• Public Safety and Security

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.
Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. 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.
Physical Requirements: This position involves the performance of inspection activities which requires frequent extensive walking, standing, bending, climbing, crouching, reaching, and lifting of a variety of moderately heavy items such as large metal lids on storage containers.
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/.Education: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.Employment Type: FULL_TIME