This Safety and Occupational Health Specialist position is located in the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System, in Leeds, MA. The purpose of the position is to perform occupational hazard and safety surveys of a medical facility, study and review inspection safety records, plan and conduct survey or inspections that identify safety hazards and violations, and analyze accident and injury reports. A Relocation/Recruitment Incentive may be authorized for this position.

Duties

Major duties include but are not limited to: Prepare safety guides and internal instructions for low safety and normal safety risks encountered in an assigned area of responsibility; identifies the need for higher level risk guides or instructions. Advise 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. Periodically confers with safety and occupational health specialists at universities, hospitals and research organizations to identify hazards related to new medical equipment and to become familiar with evolving techniques and protective devices for controlling or eliminating potential safety hazards. Perform special environmental monitoring tasks using a variety of instruments to determine potentially unsafe exposures. Coordinates long-term studies of unsafe work conditions with appropriate supervisors. Instruct employees on a variety of safety and occupational health subjects including chemical, biological or physical safety, various laboratory safety needs, or ventilation requirements. Adapts various available media to fit special and unique training requirements and participates in the development of novel or innovative safety training and promotion activities. Independently schedule surveys of medical facility laboratories, shops, and offices to identify and evaluate risk potential involving a wide variety of work environments and occupations; determines the extent to which mechanical and physical conditions comply with required or accepted standards, their adherence to established safety policies and procedures, and the effectiveness of the assigned program. Certify laboratories or other work environments where local guidelines or standards require assurance that specific and predetermined safeguards or practices are present prior to work beginning. Direct investigation of accidents, analyzing precipitating factors and accident cause data in order to develop specific methods for prevention. Consults with specialists from related occupations concerning work process modifications and recommends corrective or remedial safety measures. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Compressed/Flexible: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Specialist/PD034720 Relocation/Recruitment Incentive: May be 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, 09/04/2023. 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. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. (This is separate from your experience and is mandated by statutory and regulatory requirements.) 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 must 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-9 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; 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. (Must be reflected on your resume) OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a 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. The degree must be in a field that will equip the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position being filled. My major study is 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.(Transcripts must be provided). 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 the defined education and experience to qualify for a GS-11 level. This may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the GS-11 grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the GS-11 grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for the GS-11 grade level. (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. Unofficial transcripts are required.). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accident InvestigationCompliance InspectionCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Technical Competence 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: The work involves the frequent performance of surveys and onsite visits to laboratory and maintenance shops necessitating prolonged periods of walking and standing. 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 Northampton VA Medical Center 421 North Main Street Leeds, MA 01053 US
• Name: Thomas Rock
• Email: [email protected]