The VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) is a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Tertiary Care healthcare facility serving more than 85,000 unique Veterans and over 800,000 outpatient Veteran visits each year in Oregon and Southwest Washington, with 292 combined inpatient beds. The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist works with supervisors, union officials, and safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions.

Duties

This position is required to assist the Safety Manager in the development and implementation of a comprehensive safety, fire protection and industrial hygiene program. He/she shall implement the routine scheduled preventive maintenance and inspection program on building fire service equipment, conduct NFPA required fire drills, and assist the Industrial Hygienist in collecting, transporting, and storing of hazardous waste (chemicals) throughout the Medical Center complex. In this capacity, he/she shall assist the SSO in providing limited general administrative supervision of specific program elements such as preventative maintenance, construction safety, training employees, etc. He/she is responsible for assuring a safe and healthful work and care environment is maintained by conducting work site assessments and physical plant inspections. Close interaction with employees, supervisors and department chiefs is required and coordination of recommendations to elevate unsafe conditions is essential. He/she must stay abreast of current regulations, standards and guidelines that pertain to a complex environment of care. He/she is responsible for ensuring services are conducted by outside vendors regarding fire system upgrades/routines maintenance. A wide range of technical review and interpretation of codes and standards may apply throughout the many disciplines in this complex care environment. He/she has the authority to initiate actions to correct safety and health deficiencies via work orders, and/or generate request for station level projects. He/she is responsible to assist in the development and delivery of fire safety and health related 4 for all levels within the medical center. He/she assists in the collection and disposal of hazardous materials as requested by the SSO or Industrial Hygiene. Provides technical and administrative support fifty percent of the time to the Industrial Hygienist, and fifty percent of the time to the Safety Manager. Guidelines include agency Fire and Safety and Industrial Hygiene Manuals, JCAHO standards, OSHA regulations, National Fire Protection Codes, and VHA Directives. Incumbent selects and applies the appropriate technical criteria, which frequently requires adaptation to meet the needs of the medical center. Determines adequacy of fire and safety equipment, and trains personnel in safety practices and emergency response. Work results affect the adequacy of the installations fire protection and safety and occupational health program. Specific duties are outlined below: Administers the medical center's hazardous waste program to inventory, label, and collect regulate hazardous wastes from various satellite storage locations. Informs generators of proper packaging and labeling requirements. Stores these wastes according to compatibility in the waste storage sheds and arranges for quarterly pick up by the contract disposal firms. Conducts DEQ required hazardous waste shed weekly inspections as outlined in the Industrial Hygiene Manual. Maintains organized records of these reports, and takes appropriate action when necessary. Consults with the Industrial Hygienist (IH) when regulatory issues arise. Performs workplace health assessments as directed by the Industrial Hygienist. Assists in responding to employee reports of unsafe or unhealthful working conditions. Becomes competent in chemical spill response. Assists the IH in emergency spill response and may provide spill response when the IH is not available. Accompanies OSHA, EPA, or other occupational health and safety inspectors on inspections of the VA facility. Assists the Emergency Manager in performing/conducting disaster drills that related to chemical decontamination. Assists the IH in the development of the environmental health and safety programs. Assists the Safety Officer (SO), IH or RSO in other safety related tasks as directed by them. Required to perform routine scheduled preventive maintenance and inspection on building fire service equipment. Is a member of the Hospital wide decontamination team, response to internal and external threats that may result in patient decontamination. Maintains files, both on paper and in the computer as directed by the Safety Manger, or IH. Materials typically included are: forms used and records of surveys, inventories, quarterly fire suppression and fire drill response reports, etc. Ensures that fire response by staff is adequate in all departments of the Medical Center Complex. Take actions to correct deficient areas. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Specialist/PD20800-O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet time-in-grade and specialized experience requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 07/22/2024. 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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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 Requirement: All applicants must meet the basic requirements as listed below: 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 specialized experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Ability to read and interpret fire code Ability to work on ladders and in confined spaces Walking up to 5 miles per day for inspections Familiarity with tools and maintenance practices Troubleshooting skills Basic familiarity with mechanical, electronic, hydraulic and pneumatic devices Familiarity with MS Office (Excel and Word most important); OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed: a master's or equivalent graduate degree; OR 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree; OR an LL.B; OR J.D. in a related field that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position; OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Applicants must have successfully completed graduate level education with a major appropriate to the position (in excess of the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. For example, 6 months of experience at GS-7 plus 1 year of graduate-level education may qualify you for this GS. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Compliance InspectionComputer SkillsHazardous Materials 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: Works in tiring positions such as prolonged walking, standing, stooping and kneeling. Work is also accomplished from hard to get at locations and ladders and requires working in attic spaces and under buildings in confined spaces. Walks throughout the Medical Center including research laboratories and occasionally lifts heavy containers of hazardous waste that is collected for disposal. The work requires walking, bending, standing, lifting. Considerable walking is often necessary, such as in performing routine surveys, or when activities of the Safety Office must be coordinated with other organizations within the Medical Center. 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 VA Portland Health Care System 3710 Southwest US Veterans Hospital Road Portland, OR 97239 US
• Name: John Buan
• Phone: 503-220-8262 X59964
• Email: [email protected]