This position serves as the Chief of the Occupational Safety and Health service for the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System. The position is responsible for directing, planning, developing, implementing, and assessing accountability and oversight of the healthcare system's Safety and Occupational Health, Fire Protection, Industrial Hygiene, and Construction Safety programs. A Relocation/Recruitment Incentive may be authorized for this position.

Duties

Major duties include but are not limited to: Overseeing, monitoring, and evaluating facility safety program, staff, and activities. Advising the Medical Center leadership on matters related to environmental compliance, occupational safety and health, environment of care, emergency management, and industrial hygiene. Instructing employees and supervisors in their responsibilities with respect to safety programs. Evaluating the effectiveness of safety management programs, projects, and functions. Planning courses of action to resolve hazardous conditions and unsafe work practices. Identifying safety issues, collects reports, investigates accidents and incidents. Assisting in coordinating and participating in Environment of Care activities. Making recommendations for structural changes and seeking approval to bring the facility into compliance for Life Safety Code, National Fire Alarm & Signaling Code, Healthcare Facilities Code, The Joint Commission, Ascellon, and Comprehensive Accreditation Rehabilitation Facilities. Identifying risks and designing safeguards that aid in preventing, controlling, and mitigating the effects of fires. Performing risk assessment on construction and maintenance activities in accordance to NFPA Life Safety Code. Participating in short- and long-term development, implementation, and maintenance of policies and procedures. Representing the organization at various network and national functions, committees, and task forces. Inspecting facilities, machinery, construction sites, and safety equipment to identify and correct potential hazards. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm. Schedule may be adjusted to support facility needs. Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Manager/PD038380 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: May be required.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/26/2024. 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. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. (This is separate from your experience and is mandated by statutory and regulatory requirements.) For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 must qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationsPublic 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. Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion related to frequent inspections and surveys requiring considerable standing, walking, climbing, bending, crouching, stretching, reaching or similar movements. Occasionally, there may be a need to lift and carry moderately heavy objects. The work may require some degree of agility and dexterity when, for example, it involves inspecting construction sites. The work is performed over a large main campus, six community-based outpatient clinics, two veteran's centers, on-site residential treatment programs, nursing home units, and contracted community residential care and grant per diem facilities which must be inspected by the Safety Program. Work Environment: The work involves regular and recurrent exposure to hazards, unpleasantness, and discomforts such as moving machine parts, irritant chemicals, fumes, physical stresses, high noise levels, adverse weather conditions, and high temperatures from steam lines. Protective equipment and clothing may be needed, including hard hat, metatarsal shoes, earmuffs or plugs, goggles, respirators, and gloves. 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

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Northampton VA Medical Center 421 North Main Street Leeds, MA 01053 US
• Name: Thomas Rock
• Email: [email protected]