Serves as a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist for the Washington DC VA Medical Center, Safety Services. The incumbent is to perform duties to support safety and health staff in regulatory compliance, research, training, program development, accident prevention, and safety surveys in a healthcare environment.

Duties

MAJOR DUTIES Prepares written procedures for implementation of safety, fire protection, and occupational health policies. Ensures that fire drills are conducted throughout the facility according to VA and local policies, assists management in developing a comprehensive Disaster Plan, and conducts disaster drills. Consult with certified professional Industrial Hygienists for the purpose of assuring facility compliance with all OSHA standards for general industry. Investigates alleged adverse incidents involving regulated materials, machinery, or other items that have an impact on employee/patient safety or occupational health, including thorough reporting of findings, related data, illustrations, analysis, and recommendations. Provides advisory services on practical use of safety resources and program compliance with safety and occupational health standards. Manages and supervises hazardous chemical spill cleanups with the medical center. Develop training plans for employees in fields of fire protection, workplace safety, occupational health, including accomplishment and documentation of training. Conducts safety and fire protection orientation classes for all employees. Develop an operating budget for the services in areas of safety, occupational health, fire protection, and industrial hygiene. Conduct administrative inspections of patient care areas for hazards associated with Environment of Care (EOC) and Life Safety Code violations. Recommends sampling strategies for the performance of environmental surveys; participates in surveys for the purpose of verifying proper completion and adequate documentation; reviews construction drawings for compliance with fire codes and other safety standards; coordinates safety and occupational health activities with medical and administrative personnel and other hospitals representatives; develop hospital responses to inquiries from other facilities, agencies, and outside sources. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD51322 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Pending Approval 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, 11/12/2023. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: To qualify for the GS-11 level, you must possess at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-09 level or higher in Federal service or comparable experience not gained through Federal service. This experience must include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements; Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management; Analyzing or evaluating new and existing jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of 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 workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects. OR, Education: Possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related, that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. (Copy of transcripts required) OR, Combination: Possess an equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience, as described above, which meets the total qualification requirement for the GS-11 grade level.(Copy of transcripts required) 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. PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: Experience as a Safety Specialist. Physical Requirements: The position is sedentary for long periods but is frequently required to make site surveys requiring prolonged standing, walking, climbing, bending, stooping, stretching, reaching, and other physical movement. Physical coordination, balance, and good health are required because the incumbent is often exposed to fire situations, construction sites, and hazardous materials. 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

Education substitution at this grade level is a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree.

IMPORTANT: 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 Washington VA Medical Center 50 Irving Street, Northwest Washington, DC 20422 US
• Name: Carla White
• Phone: 1-832-316-9423
• Email: [email protected]