Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Summary

This position is assigned to the Engineering Service and works directly with the Industrial Hygiene & Safety Manager. The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist is responsible for conducting safety inspections for comprehensive safety, fire prevention, fire protection, and/or fire inspection programs for the Health Care System and its Community Residential Care Program to maintain compliance with safety codes, standards, and regulations.

Responsibilities

Duties typically include but are not limited to:

• Investigates alleged adverse incidents that have an impact on employee/patient safety.
• Reviews proposed/required corrective actions ensure hazard abatement.
• Consults with certified, professional Industrial Hygienists to assure compliance with OSHA standards.
• Recommends sampling strategies for environmental surveys and participates in surveys to validate completion and results.
• Coordinates safety and occupational health activities with staff and representatives.
• Develops hospital response to inquires from other facilities, agencies and outside sources.
• Prepares monthly, quarterly and annual occupational safety and health reports.
• Serves as a representative of the IH & Safety Manager and provides support to committees and supports compliance rounds and inspections.
• Reviews placement and relocation of fire Life Safety devices to ensure compliance with regulations.
• Prepares written procedures for implementation of safety, fire protection, and occupational health policies.
• Assists in the preparation and management of Safety and Industrial Hygiene contracts.
• Reviews construction drawings for compliance with fire codes and other safety standards.
• Conducts safety or compliance inspections.
• Develops specialized operating practices for construction, workplace safety, and occupational health.
• Ensures that fire drills are conducted, assists in developing a comprehensive Disaster Plan and disaster drills.
• Conducts administrative inspections of workplaces for hazards and occupational safety and fire code violations.
• Conducts administrative inspections of patient care areas for hazards and Life Safety Code violations.
• Conducts inspections of adult Community Placement Home Facilities and makes recommendations and follow-up inspections.
• Develops, tracks, and records training/ plans for fire protection, workplace safety, and occupational health.
• Conducts safety and fire protection orientation classes for all employees, supervisors, and services as requested.
• Gives presentations or briefings.
• Reviews reports, documents, records, data, or other materials to verify completeness, correctness, consistency, compliance, or authenticity.
• Searches for and extracts information from files, documents, reports, publications, recordings, or other materials.
• Uses computer systems or applications to access, create, edit, print, send, retrieve, or manipulate data, files, or other information.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level of GS-9 without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Specialist/PD402150, PD402160, and PD402170
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position.

Supervisory status

No

Promotion Potential

9

Requirements Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/16/2021.

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05, and for a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07 level. 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.

You may qualify based on the occupational requirements, and/or additionally by your specialized experience and/or education as described below:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• GS-05:
• General Experience: 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.
• Education: 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree in a major of 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
• Certification: 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.

• GS-07:
• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. 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 or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses.
  • 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.
• OR
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of graduate level education in a major course of study stated above.
• OR
• Superior Academic Achievement: : For persons who have completed (or expect to complete within 9 months) all the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. S.A.A. is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership.
• OR
• Combination: Combinations of successfully completed post-bachelor's education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for GS-7. This may be computed by first determining your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level.

• GS-09:
• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. 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. This experience includes the GS 07 specialized experience in addition to the following:
  • Developing safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards.
  • 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.
• OR
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.B. or J.D., if related in a major course of study stated above.
• OR
• Combination: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education beyond 1 full year and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for GS-9. This may be computed by first determining your total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level.

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

• Analysis and Problem Solving
• Decision Making
• Reasoning
• Safety Engineering
• Technical Competence

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: The incumbent is sedentary for long periods but is frequently required to make site surveys
requiring prolonged standing, walking, climbing, bending, stooping, stretching, reaching, and other physical movement. Because the incumbent is often exposed to fire situations, construction sites, and hazardous materials, physical coordination, balance, and good health are required.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.