This position, located at the Oklahoma City VA HCS, serves as the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist and acts under the authority of the Chief, Environment of Care, Directors Office.

Duties

Major duties of this position, but are not limited to... 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. Responsible for safety program planning and implementation. He/she completes regulatory program documentation and leads facility self- assessments, inspections, and other safety-related investigations. Is considered a subject matter expert in safety, protection, regulatory compliance, and other areas. is responsible for contributing to the overall safety of employees, patients, and visitors. Independently administers safety and occupational health programs to assure compliance with applicable standards and requirements to include the Safety Management System (SMS). Independently confers with safety and occupational health 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. Schedules surveys of VA 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. Prepares written procedures for implementation of safety, fire protection, and occupational health policies. Evaluates contractor's safety and occupational health programs, and provides subject matter expert interpretations of national and VA standards to CORs (Contracting Officer's Representative). Recommends work stoppage in cases of extreme hazards, which require immediate corrective actions. Coordinates interpretation of standards with VISN as well as Central Office Safety and Fire Protection Engineers. Identifies key policy issues, designs, analyses, evaluates alternatives, and makes recommendations to management official on safety program policy implementation; additionally, recommends modifications/revisions to large Medical Center policies/procedures/guidelines. Provides guidance to medical center on OSHA Safety and Health Standards for General Industry, NFPA, National Fire Codes, requirements of The Joint Commission, EPA guidelines, current industrial hygiene practices, and other governing agency requirements. Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Specialist/PD131210 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): 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, 08/02/2024. 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 GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level. 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 Requirement:This position has the following Individual Occupational Requirement: 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. Example of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to...OR, 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/education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level of GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to... Must understand and be able to apply a comprehensive knowledge of safety and occupational health principles, methods and standards, regulations, policies, and procedures applicable to a broad range of safety and occupational health duties in one or more specific areas of safety and occupational health. The employee is required to have technical knowledge sufficient to analyze safety design features and specifications and to develop new methods and procedures to identify or control hazardous construction processes and equipment usage. Must understand psychological and physiological factors sufficient to evaluate the relationship of an individual to the working environment and to motivate individuals to perform in a safe manner. Knowledge and skills must be sufficient to manage a safety and occupational health program with diverse hazards, achieving compliance with regulatory provisions and effectively communicating multiple safety and occupational health practices and procedures to staff personnel. Knowledge of safety, occupational health, and industrial hygiene principles, practices, procedures, and regulations applicable to the performance of the full range of complex safety includes a working knowledge of OSHA Safety and Health Standards for General Industry, NFPA, (National Fire Codes), requirements of The Joint Commission, EPA guidelines, current industrial hygiene practices, and other governing agency requirements. Education: Applicants may also qualify for this position at the GS-11 level based on their education. Applicants must have successfully completed 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 also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond the graduate level of education. Preferred Experience: Experience in observing environmental conditions and employee performance patterns to identify hazards, detect risks, and determine causal relationships; developing abatement recommendations for safety and occupational health hazards; searching for clues, studying variables, questioning witnesses, and retracing sequences to uncover the sources of reported injuries and illnesses; assuring the validity of data collected, accurate documentation of occurrences and data summaries, and maintenance of program information; examination of available data to identify possible sources of losses experienced, determining critical factors prior to occurrence, and recommendation of alternative adjustments to eliminate or minimize losses from injuries and illnesses; defining terminology, writing summaries, and preparing summary documentation related to safety and occupational health. knowledge in fire and life safety requirements and general safety and regulatory requirements regarding occupational health and safety You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementCommunicationCompliance InspectionEnvironmental EngineeringPlanning and Evaluating 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. Physical Requirements: Survey or inspection work requires regular and recurrent physical exertion, such as frequent 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 Oklahoma City VA Health Care System 921 Northeast 13th Street Oklahoma City, OK 73104 US
• Name: Wyolene Varner Finch
• Phone: 678-592-7734
• Email: [email protected]