The Safety & Occupational Health Specialist is located at the Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center and is assigned to the Office of the Medical Center Associate Director under the technical direction of the Chief, Safety & Emergency Management Service. As a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, the incumbent functions as the liaison between the Medical Center, patients, staff and the community it serves regarding patients' rights and advocacy.

Duties

The duties of the position include, but are not limited to: Developing recommendations for improving safety at the facility. Making fire and safety recommendations on construction projects. Providing technical assistance on safety and occupational health issues to employees and managers. Performing accident investigations for incidents occurring on campus. Reviewing all accident reports for completeness. Analyzing accident and safety violation data in order to develop methods of prevention. Performing inspections of the hospital, community-based outpatient clinics, contract nursing homes, and residential care homes. Participating in special studies and investigation related to occupational health problems, complaints, or suspected occupational medical conditions related to environmental factors or stress. Conducting safety training for facility leadership and employees. Program manager of the Environmental Rounds process utilizing the Performance Logic rounds software. Working knowledge of human motivational techniques sufficient to apply the principles to diverse employee population and a wide variety of environments to achieve safe working conditions. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level 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 7:00 am - 3:30 pm Compressed/Flexible: Not eligible Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD10989A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): 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, 09/04/2023. Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR): This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement from OPM. An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for entry into this job series, and it is something that can't be waived. The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. To qualify for the GS-0018 occupational series, applicants MUST meet one of the requirements below: IOR: Education - Posses undergraduate or graduate degree in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that include or is 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 included) OR; Experience - Have 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 following education (experience must be well demonstrated within the resume): 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; Certification - Have a 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 meeting the minimum requirements. Grade Requirements - In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement, applicants must also meet grade requirements. GS-07 Requirements 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. 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 educationas described below: 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: assisting on investigations for incidents within the facility campus, identifying safety deficiencies during inspections in the hospital, community based outpatient clinics, contract nursing homes and residential care homes, assisting in safety training courses for facility leadership and employees. (This experience must be supported by your resume to be creditable.). OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 (one) full year of graduate level education. NOTE: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.). 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 graduate level education. OR, Superior Accademic Achievement ****Qualifications continued below.*****

Education

Qualifications continued:

GS-09 Requirements

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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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 educationas described below:

• 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: performing investigations for incidents within the facility campus, conducting safety inspections and analyzing violations and deficiencies within the hospital, community based outpatient clinics, contract nursing homes and residential care homes, conducting in safety training courses for facility leadership and employees. (This experience must be supported by your resume to be creditable.). OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a masters or equivalent graduate degree OR; 2 (two) full years of graduate level education OR; LL.B. or J.D., if related. NOTE: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.). 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 graduate level education.

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

• Safety Engineering
• Analysis and Problem Solving
• Technical Credibility
• Accident Investigation

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: 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/.

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 Columbia VA Health Care System 6439 Garners Ferry Road Columbia, SC 29209 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]