This position is located at the Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital System in Hines, IL (578)- a Level 1a Complexity VHA Facility, and is organizationally aligned under the Office of the Director. Primary purpose of this position is to investigate and analyze a variety of problems or conditions in the workplace which may adversely affect the health of workers and to provide or recommend ways of eliminating problems.

Duties

Major duties of this position include, but are not limited to: Confers with safety and occupational health specialists to identify techniques and devices for controlling or eliminating safety hazards. Ensures laboratories are appropriately decommissioned. Works in conjunction with Research Safety Officer to ensure adherence to procedures when closing laboratories, disposing of chemicals, redistributing VA equipment, and decommissioning radioactive equipment. Reviews vacated labs to assure compliance and provide an approval from Safety Section. Chairperson of Hazardous Waste and Material Management Subcommittee, to include preparing agenda, conduct meeting, distribute meeting minutes, orient new members and advise committee on regulations regarding laboratory safety and conduct. Provides safety information to various internal and external committees. Prepares quarterly and annual reports regarding Industrial Hygiene program. Annually reviews safety manual/chemical hygiene plan for Pathology, Laboratory, and Medicine Services (PLMS), to include review of Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for chemicals in service, service line, and product lines; applicable hospital policies; basic safety guides, etc. Maintains master inventory of on-hand chemicals and monitors chemical inventories of various laboratories. Monitors chemical inventory, discards chemicals, and ensures chemicals are appropriately stored, i.e., labeled properly, sealed securely, etc. Manages industrial hygiene equipment within Safety Section to include performing annual inventory, advising on repair, and arranging disposal. Reviews and determines need for replacement equipment and ensures availability of adequate space and resources. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:00am to 3:30pm Position Description Title/PD#: Industrial Hygienist/PD04231A Physical Requirements: The work includes frequent inspections or surveys of industrial workplaces, requiring the employee to carry a considerable amount of equipment, and involve a good deal of walking, standing, bending, and climbing. Work Environment: During inspections or surveys, there is regular exposure to all of the hazards and discomforts to which the workers are subjected, including a wide range of toxic chemicals, physical stresses, and safety hazards., The employe must use a variety of protective equipment and clothing, such as respirators, ear plugs, gloves, coveralls, hard hats, etc.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/18/2024. 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. Basic Requirements: Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. Note: Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable. Applicants must meet one of the following Basic Requirements: A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science. OR A bachelor's degree in a branch of engineering, physical science, or life science that included 12 semester hours in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours of courses in any combination of chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology, or industrial hygiene. OR Certification from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH). Reminder: A copy of your transcript(s) and/or certification must be included in your application package to receive credit for meeting this basic requirement. In addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirements you must meet one of the following specialized experience and/or education requirements for this occupation and grade level. Specialized Experience: You must possess at least one (1) year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the federal service, that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Industrial Hygienist position, and that is typically in or related to the duties of this position. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Demonstrated technical experience and knowledge of occupational safety, industrial hygiene and environmental standards, policies, and procedures; proven technical knowledge of the operation of clinical laboratories and duties of laboratory personnel; expertise and working knowledge of industrial hygiene programs and use of equipment to include confined space, indoor air quality monitoring, respirator program, hazardous materials and waste management, waste characterization, IH monitoring, medical surveillance, ethylene oxide, waste anesthetic gases, mold, hearing conservation, underground and above ground storage tanks, and compressed gases; professional knowledge and skill applicable to the performance of industrial hygiene duties related to a wide range of industrial settings.) OR Education: Applicants must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or LL.M. obtained in an accredited college or university, with a major field of study directly related to the position being filled. 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 one (1) year of full-time study If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. OR Combination: Applicants may also possess combination of specialized experience and successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Industrial Hygienist position. Note: Only education in excess of 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education may be used to qualify at the grade 11 level. Evaluation of Experience: Qualifying experience involves the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls. Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well- being of workers; and the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment. Evaluation of Education: All science or engineering courses offered in fulfillment of the above requirements must be acceptable for credit toward the completion of a standard 4-year professional curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in science or engineering at an accredited college or university. For engineering degrees to be acceptable, the curriculum must be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) as a professional engineering curriculum. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer Service (Clerical/Technical)Decision MakingProject ManagementPublic 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. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Edward Hines Junior Hospital 5000 South 5th Avenue Hines, IL 60141 US
• Name: Patricia Reynolds
• Phone: 727-710-2678
• Email: [email protected]