The incumbent serves as a safety and occupational health manager in the Safety and Emergency Management Service of the VA Northern California Health Care System (HCS). The employee is responsible for an assigned area of the HCS involving a wide variety of high-risk operations, facilities, and environmental conditions..

Duties

Major duties include but are not limited to: Conducts safety and fire protection surveys at the HCS, community care homes, nursing homes, and satellite clinics. Recommends measures to eliminate or control hazardous practices and conditions, which may cause mishaps. Prepares supplemental written safety procedures for application by local personnel. In managing the Safety personnel resources, the incumbent must be creative, tactful, fair, and impartial. To effectively meet the needs of the Hospital, it is necessary to establish a constructive workplace environment that maximizes morale and efficiency. He/ She will periodically hold staff meetings to solicit the flow of ideas and suggestions. Additionally, the incumbent will encourage and support on-the job training and broaden employee training to provide back-up skills by cross-training. Maintains accountability for developing, implementing, managing, and monitoring a comprehensive Safety Program as defined by agency policy which meets the Safety, and Life Safety Requirements of both the Department of Veterans Affairs and The Joint Commission (TJC). Supervisory responsibilities include planning, coordinating, scheduling, and reviewing work. Establishes and develops guidelines, assigns duties on a selective basis, sets priorities, and assures deadlines are met. Provides technical assistance to subordinates and has authority to review, accept, amend, or reject their work. Initiates formal requests for filling vacancies, interviews, and makes selection of applicants, orients. new employees, effects reassignments, conducts informal training of subordinates, approves all leave including vacation schedules, handles complaints, holds corrective interviews with employees, and initiates disciplinary actions when necessary. Establishes performance standards and prepares formal evaluations of employee performance. Keeps employees informed about the policies, procedures, and goals of management as they relate to work of the service. Is cognizant of EEO regulations and practices to ensure fair treatment of staff and equal opportunity when making selections under the Merit Promotion system. Performs periodic on-site surveys for assigned organizations. Inspects construction projects to determine compliance with applicable occupational safety standards, i.e., (Interim Life Safety Measures, location of exits and stairs, floor load capacity, aisle space, adequacy of sprinkler systems, safety features on storage tanks containing flammable and volatile liquids and the adequacy of scaffolding erected to facilitate painting of buildings). Supervises technicians during afterhours. The incumbent may be required to work some evenings and nights at each division to supervise fire drills and training. Develops and provides technical safety training to supervisors and employees using a wide variety of materials, publications, exhibits, protective devices, and visual aids. Promotes safety campaigns through oral presentations at the Safety Committee meetings, posting safety displays and publishing mishap prevention articles. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: May be AD-HOC eligible Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD2874-O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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, 09/05/2023. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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. Basic Requirement: Degree: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: major study 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) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology. OR 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 experience include: managing safety or occupational health program elements; developing and recommending safety; 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, procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards; and developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses. OR 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-12. Applicants may also qualify for higher grade levels based on their education and/ or experience (NOTE: PROOF OF CERTIFICATION MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH APPLICATION MATERIAL). In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, the applicant must also possess: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 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. 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accident InvestigationCompliancePublic Safety and SecurityTechnical 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 performances of surveys and on-site visits to laboratory and maintenance shops necessitating prolonged periods of walking, standing, climbing, and lifting. The specialist is frequently exposed to mechanical hazards ranging from power tools to operating machinery, and chemical and biological hazards while performing laboratory and maintenance shop surveys, emergency response and patient decontamination duties. The incumbent may be required to do frequent driving. 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 VA Northern California Health Care System 10535 Hospital Way Mather, CA 95655 US
• Name: Sydnee Holmes
• Phone: 504-635-8084
• Email: [email protected]