Safety and Occupational Health (S&OH) Specialists, working under the guidance and direction of the S&OH Chief, will work with supervisors, union officials, and safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions at the Central Ohio VA Health Care System facilities.

Duties

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES General Safety (50%) The S&OH specialist is responsible for safety and occupational program planning and implementation. The employee assumes a lead role in the development of safety goals, policy, and procedural documentation for the Central Ohio VA Health Care System facilities. The employee works closely with facility leadership to review how safety considerations are integrated into the planning and operational activities of the facility. In addition, the employee coordinates safety activities with regional representatives and supports the development of integrated planning for all facilities within the region as necessary. The employee works with the S&OH Chief in developing goals and objectives, preparing and updating safety policies, procedures and guidelines, developing safety training curriculum and reviews proposed equipment procurement requests to insure the inclusion of necessary safety features. The employee advises senior level management officials within the assigned area on the status of the safety and occupational health programs and recommends changes in the design of work programs to meet new safety and occupational health standards. The employee confers with specialists external to the facility to identify hazards related to new laboratory equipment or other areas and to become familiar with evolving techniques and protective devices for controlling or eliminating potential safety hazards. The employee independently schedules surveys of VHACOS buildings and offices to identify and evaluate risks involving a wide variety of work environments; determines the extent to which mechanical and physical conditions comply and makes decisions regarding adherence to established safety policies and procedures. Other duties as assigned by supervisor. Fire Prevention Management (50%) Incumbent advises senior-level management within the medical center regarding status of the life safety program, and ensures that medical center life-safety planning sufficiently manages: the inspection process; contractor compliance, testing and maintaining of fire protection and life safety systems; reporting and investigating fire protection deficiencies, failures and user errors; proposing of solutions; and reviewing of proposed acquisitions for compliance with fire safety regulations. Conducts Hazard Vulnerability Analyses (HVA) to identify potential fire prevention issues that could affect the need for the organization's services or its ability to provide those services. This analysis identifies potential fire safety and hazard surveillance deficiencies and the direct and indirect effects these deficiencies may have on the health care organization's operations and the demand for its services. Independently developing medical center-wide policies and procedures (numbered memoranda, fire prevention, life safety, and hazard surveillance portion of Safety, Occupational Health and Fire Protection Manual); as well as the annual review of these documents to ensure compliance with any modifications of requirements made by any of the accrediting or regulatory bodies that govern these programs. The employee advises management officials within the assigned area on the status of the safety and occupational health programs and recommends changes in the design of work programs to meet new safety and occupational health standards. Developing, conducting, and evaluating the effectiveness of employee education programs for these programs by interpreting applicable regulations, while ensuring conflicting requirements are properly resolved. Incumbent independently develops the medical center's fire prevention plan that establishes and maintains a fire-safe environment. Life safety planning includes identifying processes for: Protecting patients, personnel, visitors, and property from fire, smoke and other products of combustion. Reporting and investigating fire protection deficiencies, failures, and user errors. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: Authorized (Ad-hoc) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Specialist/PD91105A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not 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, 08/29/2023. 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-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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Basic Requirement: The Safety and Occupational Health Management Series, 0018, has an Individual Occupational Requirement that must be met in addition to the Specialized Experience. 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 Specialized 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. 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. In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement, you must also meet the Specialized Experience below: GS-11: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 or higher in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 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. (This experience must be well documented in your resume or application package.) Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. Major study must be 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). Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond masters degree. To combine education and experience, first determine how much of the qualifying experience and education you have, as a percentage of what is required for each. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: 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). 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: Most work is performed in an office or workplace setting, and the work is sedentary in nature. There may be some walking, standing, bending and carrying of light items, occasionally carrying moderate weight items, but no specific physical demands are required to perform the work. 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Chalmers P Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic 420 North James Road Columbus, OH 43219 US
• Name: Chaunice Pollard
• Phone: 614-257-5200 X5867
• Email: [email protected]