Serves as a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist for the Central Texas Veteran Health Care System. Plans, organize, administers & coordinates a diverse medical, research, & occupational health program. As a safety specialist, he/she would issue local directives & procedures establishing technical & administrative safety & occupational health requirements for clinical laboratories, research laboratories, health care facilities, industrial/maintenance operations, construction, & transportation.

Duties

Principal Duties and Responsibilities Plans and schedules periodic surveys of facility activities and operations to identify and evaluate risk potential involving a wide variety of work environments and occupations. Ascertain the degree 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 specific program. Independently schedules' surveys of contracted Nursing Homes, Community Residential Care Homes, Halfway Homes, and Outpatient Clinics. Recommends solutions to safety and life safety deficiencies found during the survey of these facilities. Documents findings, granting approval or disapproval and advises senior level management of findings. Independently schedules, conducts, and critiques fire drills throughout the medical facility as required by VA and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to insure staff readiness in the event of a fire emergency. Evaluates staff response during drills and prepares appropriate reports. Schedules, coordinates, and assists in the testing and inspections of fire hydrants, fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm system, portable fire extinguishers, emergency exit release devices, personal protective equipment and other life safety equipment, devices, and systems. Maintains appropriate records of tests, inspections and fire drills. Investigates and analyzes accidents and hazardous conditions to determine the cause and contributing elements. Prepares complete reports of accident circumstances; maintains records and evaluates accident data to detect trends and common patterns. Consults with and assists supervisors as needed to determine appropriate corrections or remedial safety measures to reduce reoccurrence. Reports incident occurrences, trends and corrective actions to the Safety Committee and Accident Review Board. Serves as a member of the accident review board conducting investigations of all lost work day incidents, recommending corrective action and abatement plan schedules. Participates in management meetings involving private contractors to serve as a resource for safety and life safety related information in the development of construction, renovation, repair and maintenance projects. Reviews and evaluates project specifications and drawings for compliance with JCAHO, OSHA and NFPA codes. Organizes, plans and conducts a comprehensive medical facility safety education program through new employee orientation, service lectures, facility wide training classes, and supervisor-employee discussions. Meeting with safety sub-committees as requested or determined necessary through accident review. Participates in safety working session to develop, write, coordinate and administer policy memorandum relating to various areas of safety including disaster plans, evacuation plans, personal protective equipment, fire regulations and environmental safety. Insure service safety plans and procedures meet CTVHCS safety standards through policy review, inspections, fire drills and accident review. Actively participates in Emergency Preparedness Planning and coordinates with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Department of Defense (DOD) during joint exercises. Schedules drills and critiques for improvement in emergency procedures. The SHOS assists the Industrial Hygienist in implementing a day to day program. In the absence of the Industrial Hygienist, the SHOS performs basic industrial Hygienist tasks which include environmental monitoring, handling or disposal of toxic, flammable, corrosive, and other hazardous wastes. Environmental monitoring is performed using basic IH equipment to determine potential unsafe exposures. Communicates with Safety personnel from other VA facilities, OSHA inspectors, and local fire department to control or eliminate potential safety hazards by becoming familiar with the latest safety techniques and protective devices. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Compressed tour - 9 hour days and one 8 hour day per pay period (two weeks). Tours beginning as early as 0700. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD030440 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, 11/03/2023. 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. INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS (IOR): 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) OR, Experience. 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, 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 meeting the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) above, 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-09 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. OR, Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond a graduate degree as described above. Note: Only post-graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Safety Engineering Civil Engineering Health Risk Analysis Fire Management Information Management 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. Work is performed in both office and field environment and requires frequent walking, standing, climbing and bending. Must be able to move and/or lift light-weight to medium equipment, containers, caging and other laboratory inventory. 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 Ph.D or Ph.D equivilent is required for this position.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

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

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 Central Texas Health Care System 1901 Veterans Memorial Drive Temple, TX 76504 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]