Serves as the Bay Pines VA Health Care System (BPVAHCS) Industrial Hygienist (IH) assigned to the Office of Safety and Emergency Management and reporting to the Director, Office of Safety and Emergency Management (002SEM), 10000 Bay Pines Boulevard, Bay Pines, FL.

Duties

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Services as a standing committee member to the Environment of Care Committee, Research Safety Committee, and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the Research and Development Services. Initiates, develops, coordinates, and maintains a compliant, effective and sustainable respirator fit test program. Conducts industrial hygiene inspections of all work areas to determine compliance with standards set by OSHA, VA and other regulatory agencies. Works closely with the Chief Engineer and staff in assessment and making of recommendations for control of work place hazards. Prepares specifications and purchase documents for contracting/purchasing of laboratory services to analyze hazardous materials. Requests immediate action from VA management to correct conditions which might be expected to cause serious illness,injury or death to employees, patients or the public. Accompanies Inspectors, auditors, and surveyors from, primarily, USDOUOSHA. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Pinellas County Division of Air Quality, T JC, VISN8, OIG, VACO-ORO, etc. Updates and advises the Occupational Health (OH) Specialist and the Occupational Health Nurse as to medical surveillance requirements for employees working with hazardous materials as determined by OSHA. Liaises and team works with OH Specialist, OH Nurse, Senior Safety Specialist. and OWCP Specialists during workplace rounds. Develops policies, programs and procedures designed to improve workplace conditions and thereby reduce the incidence of illness or injuries and resulting Federal Employee Compensation Act Claims (FECA). Recommends or prescribes controls to eliminate or modify facility or workplace conditions, operations or other factors which may result in illness or injury to persons and damage to property or the environment. Serves as the primary consultant to all Services in the Hazard Communication Program. Annually reviews and continually maintains the centralized Hazardous Chemical/Material inventory for BPVAHCS. Develops or makes available training programs designed to inform management, supervisors and employees of potential hazardous exposures and conditions. Engages in and successfully completes required training and certification for applicable Asbestos training in the State of Florida. Seeks IH/OH training to remain competent and/or certified in the IH/Safety disciplines. Advises local union representatives prior to initiation of staff or personnel monitoring. Compiles and maintains an inventory of all Hazardous and Critical Locations. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am, - 4:30pm Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Industrial Hygienist/PD10770A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/01/2023. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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. This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) Education Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science; Or A bachelor's degree in a branch of engineering, physical science, or life science that included 12 semester hours in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours of courses in any combination of chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology, or industrial hygiene; Or Certification from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene(external link). Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable. Experience Qualifying experience involves the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls. Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well-being of workers; and the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment. 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-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Reviews Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Health Standards as received from VA, OSHA, T JC, EPA, Florida DEP, and other regulatory/accrediting agencies, and advise management of methods to comply with the standards. Develops and maintains necessary equipment, procedures, and responses necessary to mitigate and control releases of hazardous materials at Bay Pines Station. Coordinates this effort with the Emergency Manager, GEMS Coordinator, VA Police, and Chief Engineer. Liaises with the Chief, Seminole Fire Department (HAZWOPER Response Team). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analysis and Problem SolvingPublic Safety and SecurityQuality Assurance 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: Duties of the position require considerable walking, climbing, prolonged standing, and crouching, while carrying sampling equipment and measuring devices. Personal protective equipment must, on occasion, be worn. The incumbent is required to drive motor vehicles. 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

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address CW Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 10000 Bay Pines Boulevard Bay Pines, FL 33744 US
• Name: Tiana Simms
• Phone: 904-475-5830
• Email: [email protected]