This position is under Safety and Emergency Management service located at the Salisbury VAMC in the Safety and Industrial Hygiene Section of Engineering Service with duty at the Charlotte Health Care Center. The incumbent serves as a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist for the Medical Center and Primary for the Kernersville and Charlotte HCC's. The incumbent works with safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to: Administers safety and occupational health programs to assure compliance with applicable standards and requirements. Advises senior level management officials within the assigned area on the status of the safety and occupational health programs and recommends changes in the design of work programs to meet new safety and occupational health standards. Conducts all respiratory fit testing, employee monitoring, fire drills, ergonomic evaluations and general hazard assessments. Works with the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in scheduling and conducting disaster drills. They also provide guidance to HCC service chiefs in the development of service level emergency plans. Confers with safety and occupational health specialists external to the facility to identify hazards related to new laboratory, imaging, surgical and other equipment or other areas and to become familiar with evolving techniques and protective devices for controlling or eliminating potential safety hazards. Works in conjunction with other employees including safety and occupational specialist and industrial hygiene staff, providing instruction on a variety of subjects, including chemical, biological, or physical safety topics. He/she adapts various available media to fit special and unique training requirements and participates in the development of novel or innovative safety training and promotion activities. Accident prevention, inspection fire and safety conditions and equipment, investigating and compiling data on fire incidents and providing information on fire and safety standards and techniques based off VHA Directives and policies as well as all federal, state, and local standards. Directs investigations of accidents, analyzing precipitating factors and accident cause data in order to develop specific methods for prevention. He/she also consults with specialists from related occupations concerning work process modifications and recommends corrective or remedial safety measures. Develops standards operating procedures to reduce or eliminate occupational health hazards. Schedules and offices to identify and evaluate risks involving a wide variety of work environments; determines the extent to which mechanical and physical conditions comply, and makes decisions regarding adherence to established safety policies and procedures. Participates in the facility Safety, Accident Review Board (ARB), and Environment of Care (EOC) committees. Works with the medical center Industrial Hygienist to insure Safety Data Sheets (SOS) are accurate and available for staff. Coordinates with HCC services to insure that Hazardous Waste is properly handled and stored. Works with waste contractors to facilitate timely and appropriate disposal. VA HCC liaison with the town of Kernersville and Charlotte with regards to the FOG (fats, oils and grease) program and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm; subject to change based on the needs of the facility Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD018080 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved 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, 04/12/2024. 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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) must be met: A. 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, B. 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, C.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. In addition to the IOR, You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of safety and occupational health concepts, principles, techniques, practices, laws, and regulations sufficient to participate in a difficult safety surveillance program issues, to support promotional and educational functions, review safety policies and procedures, and carry out required administrative functions in support of the safety program. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successful completion of a master's or equivalent graduate degree, successfully completed two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, LL.B or J.D. if related. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation. 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 the first year) and specialized experience, as described above, to meet the total requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify, a copy of your transcript is required. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationsFire ManagementHazardous MaterialsProblem SolvingSafety Engineering 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: Survey or inspection work requires regular and recurrent physical exertion, such as frequent prolonged standing, walking, climbing, crouching, and stretching in the performance of inspection and survey duties and occasional lifting of moderately heavy objects. 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 WG Bill Hefner Salisbury VA Medical Center 1601 Brenner Avenue Salisbury, NC 28144 US
• Name: Mark Johnson
• Phone: 318-272-2896
• Email: [email protected]