Safety and Occupational Health (S&OH) Specialists work with supervisors, union officials, and safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions at the Central Ohio VA Health Care System facilities. Specialists perform work in inspecting environmental conditions and employee performance patterns to identify safety hazards, detect risks, and determine causal relationships; develop recommendations for all safety and industrial health hazards.

Duties

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Duties include, but are not limited to: General Safety (50%) The employee works with the S&OH Chief in developing goals and objectives, preparing and updating safety policies, procedures and guidelines, developing safety training curriculum and reviews proposed equipment procurement requests to insure the inclusion of necessary safety features. The employee 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. The employee confers with specialists external to the facility to identify hazards related to new laboratory equipment or other areas and to become familiar with evolving techniques and protective devices for controlling or eliminating potential safety hazards. The employee independently schedules surveys of VHACOS buildings 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. The employee 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. The employee trains other employees and lower grade occupational safety 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. The employee participates in VHACOS facility Safety, Accident Review Board (ARB), and Environment of Care (EOC) committees. The incumbent is primarily responsible for conducting life safety inspections of Community Residential Care Program homes, Medical Foster Homes, Adult Daycare Centers, Homeless Shelters and Community Nursing Homes. Responsible for the coordination, development and maintenance of these inspections. This will require extensive coordination, recordkeeping, planning, organizing and educational efforts. Fire Prevention Management (50%) Independently developing medical center-wide policies and procedures (numbered memoranda, fire prevention, life safety, and hazard surveillance portion of Safety, Occupational Health and Fire Protection Manual); as well as the annual review of these documents to ensure compliance with any modifications of requirements made by any of the accrediting or regulatory bodies that govern these programs. Developing, conducting, and evaluating the effectiveness of employee education programs for these programs by interpreting applicable regulations, while ensuring conflicting requirements are properly resolved. Incumbent independently develops the medical center's fire prevention plan that establishes and maintains a fire-safe environment. The incumbent independently is responsible for the inspection and coordination of testing of fire protection systems, and comprehensive safety hazard surveillance to identify and evaluate potential hazards and risks associated with patient care and research areas and a wide variety of work environments and occupations at (VHACOS) facilities. The incumbent independently develops policy regarding Interim Life Safety Measures (ILSM), based on a variety of references that must be evaluated independently to ensure compliance with each of the regulatory entities, evaluates various situations to determine the need for an ILSM, and works with construction and other parties to ensure successful ILSM plans are instituted. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm Telework: Available (Ad hoc) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD91105A 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, 06/17/2024. 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-9. 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 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 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 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: GS-9 Grade Requirements 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 principles, methods, and techniques to minimize unsafe conditions and hazards, Ability to manage a safety and occupational health program with diverse hazards, achieving compliance with regulatory provisions, Ability to effectively communicate multiple safety and occupational health practices and procedures to staff personnel. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. OR, Combination: Applicants may combine education and experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Applicants must have at least 1 full year in excess of graduate level education combined w/ education. The total percentages of graduate level education & experience must equal at least 100%. GS-11 Grade Requirements Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 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 principles, methods, and techniques to minimize unsafe conditions and hazards, Advising senior level management officials within the assigned area on the status of the safety and occupational health programs and recommendations, Directing investigations of accidents, analyzing precipitating factors and accident cause data in order to develop specific methods for prevention, Training other employees and lower grade occupational safety and industrial hygiene staff, providing instruction on a variety of subjects, including chemical, biological, or physical safety topics. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related OR, Combination: Applicants may combine education and experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Applicants must have at least 2 full year in excess of graduate level education combined w/ education. The total percentages of graduate level education & experience must equal at least 100%. 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; etc). 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: There may be some walking or bending during infrequent walk-through inspections of worksites. 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 Chalmers P Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic 420 North James Road Columbus, OH 43219 US
• Name: Chaunice Pollard
• Phone: 614-257-5200 X5867
• Email: [email protected]