Safety and Occupational Health Specialist at the Kerrville Division (KD), and serves as a recognized expert in safety, occupational health and ergonomics, life safety, and fire protection. The incumbent has the responsibility for developing policies, goals, and plans for execution of activities; evaluating programs; and providing advice to field activities, private contracting companies, and other Agencies which have participating or related programs.

Duties

Major Duties: Independently performs inspections/evaluations of full scope of workplaces and occupations at Kerrville Campus, outpatient clinics, and other Veteran placement facilities. Studies the results of inspections, determines compliance/need for correction, develops corrective plans of action. Investigates accidents, incidents, and potential hazards that fall within the scope of safety and occupational health. Maintains environment of care (EOC) program Performance Logic (PL) database. Gives guidance to management users of PL. Manages and reports data from PL database. Schedules, performs, documents monthly fire extinguisher checks, suppression system and extinguisher inspections, alarm tests and drills. Utilizes a number of measurement techniques and instruments to assess environmental exposures. Performs air quality and safety assessments upon request. Works with Engineering and Environmental Management Services on a comprehensive workplace EOC program. Shares data and cooperatively develops solutions. Organizes/directs bi-weekly Environment of Care Rounds through main campus and outpatient clinics and offices; maintains rounds database; reports findings, compliance and remediation. Performs back-up support to other specialists (safety and industrial hygiene) as needed. Provides technical advice to employees at all levels to ensure facility compliance to a multitude of federal, state and local regulations. Develops and conducts general, life safety, and work-site-specific training programs for employees. Develops and organizes events and educational activities, such as Safety Month fairs, seasonal safety posters, ergonomic safety training, etc. Tracks ergonomic requests, performs evaluations, maintains equipment, advises customers of scope and limitations of ergonomics program. Supports facility's Lock Out/Tag Out program, Confined Space program, and Ergonomics program. Develops data and graphical reports for presentation in several Safety and Health Care System meetings/boards/councils. Represents Safety in external committees (such as Patient Safety and Internal Readiness), for safety issues, including reporting. Applies accident investigation and root cause analysis to track and identify trends. Records and monitors expenditures in time, equipment, resources to project needs and budget for each fiscal year. Completes work quickly and accurately using VistA/DHCP, Microsoft Office products, and various other data/information retrieval systems. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Compressed/Flexible: Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD3308-0 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, 10/13/2023. 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-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. Individual Occupational Requirements: 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 Experience: Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): 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. 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 1. evaluating and applying methods and equipment to the practice of ergonomics and occupational health, particularly in dealing with problems not readily resolved by standard methods. 2. identifying hazards or instances of noncompliance, and is knowledgeable with the corresponding standard and its intent to determine and initiate corrective action. 3. writing policies, based on the governing laws, regulations, directives, industry practices, and the unique needs of the health care system, in areas such as accident/incident investigation, ergonomics, safety communication, recognition of unsafe and unhealthful conditions, hand and portable power tool safety, lockout/tagout procedures, machine guarding, prevention of workplace violence, reporting workplace injury and illness, and safety training requirements. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). 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 a combination of education and experience as described above. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accident Investigation Compliance Inspection Risk Management Problem Solving Communications Technology Application 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 is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. 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.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Contacts

• Address Audie L Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital 7400 Merton Minter Boulevard San Antonio, TX 78229 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]