The incumbent will perform Safety, Environmental and Occupational Health support work in Safety Service. Incumbent will independently perform Safety and Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene functions at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) Northwest Health Care Center (NWHCC) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient clinics and community-based contract clinics at locations in the San Antonio, Texas area.

Duties

Independently performs inspections/evaluations of full scope of workplaces and occupations at Northwest Health Care Center, outpatient clinics, and other Veteran placement facilities. Studies the results of inspections, determines compliance/need for correction, develops corrective plans of action. Investigates accidents, incidents, and potential hazards that fall within the scope of safety and occupational health. Maintains environment of care (EOC) program Performance Logic (PL) database. Gives guidance to management users of PL. Manages and reports data from PL database. Schedules, performs, documents monthly fire extinguisher checks, suppression system and extinguisher inspections, alarm tests and drills. Utilizes a number of measurement techniques and instruments to assess environmental exposures. Performs air quality and safety assessments upon request. Works with Facilities/Engineering and Environmental Management Services on a comprehensive workplace EOC program. Shares data and cooperatively develops solutions. Organizes/directs bi-weekly Environment of Care Rounds through Northwest Health Care Center and outpatient clinics and offices; maintains rounds database; reports findings, compliance and remediation. Performs back-up support to other specialists (safety and industrial hygiene) as needed. Provides technical advice to employees at all levels to ensure facility compliance to a multitude of federal, state and local regulations. Develops and conducts general, life safety, and work-site-specific training programs for employees. Develops and organizes events and educational activities, such as Safety Month fairs, seasonal safety posters, ergonomic safety training, etc. Tracks ergonomic requests, performs evaluations, maintains equipment, advises customers of scope and limitations of ergonomics program. Supports facility's Lock Out/Tag Out program, Confined Space program, and Ergonomics program. Develops data and graphical reports for presentation in several Safety and Health Care System meetings/boards/councils. Represents Safety in external committees (such as Patient Safety and Internal Readiness), for safety issues, including reporting. Applies accident investigation and root cause analysis to track and identify trends. Records and monitors expenditures in time, equipment, resources to project needs and budget for each fiscal year. Completes work quickly and accurately using VistA/DHCP, Microsoft Office products, and various other data/information retrieval systems. 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. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday / 0800 - 1630 Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD003660 and PD003670 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/16/2024. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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: Education: 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 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. In addition to the above IOR, you must qualify with grade requirements below: GS-7 Grade Requirements: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience include: Independently performs inspections/evaluations of full scope of workplaces and occupations at Northwest Health Care Center, outpatient clinics, and other Veteran placement facilities, Studies the results of inspections, determines compliance/need for correction, develops corrective plans of action, investigates accidents, incidents, and potential hazards that fall within the scope of safety and occupational health, schedules, performs, documents monthly fire extinguisher checks, utilizes measurement techniques, organizes/directs bi-weekly Environmental Care rounds, provides technical advice, develops and conducts general, life safety and work-site specific training programs for employees, develops and organizes events and educational activities, tracks ergonomic requests and performs evaluations of the ergonomic program. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one full year of graduate level education (18 semester hours) or superior academic achievement (S.A.A.). 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond a bachelor's degree. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) 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. Specialized experience includes: Knowledgeable of safety and occupational health principles, practices, procedures and standards applicable to a full range of complex safety and occupational health management responsibilities at a multi-facility health care system and requiring the planning, organizing, directing, operating and evaluation of a safety and occupational health program related to modern medical care and compliant with the Joint Commission; Knowledgeable of medical fire and construction standards, methods, practices, techniques, materials, equipment, and utility systems sufficient to determine compliance with life safety standards and devise hazard control measures applicable to health care facilities and supporting buildings; managing the implementation of construction safety programs and reduces the potential for injuries and illnesses to patients, employees, and visitors from unsafe construction activities conducted by contractors and VA employees, including operations and maintenance crews and permanent construction crews; AND directing all construction safety program activities and recommends and implements interim life safety measures (ILSM) as needed. OR QUALIFICATION INFORMATION IS CONTINUED IN "EDUCATION" INFORMATION BELOW.

Education

QUALIFICATION CONTINUED GS-9:
Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D. Major Study in 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. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED)
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 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED).

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: Inspection work requires frequent visitations to areas that are cramped, noisy, or where temperature extremes or inclement weather conditions exist. Such inspection work may require long periods of standing, crouching, stretching, reaching, lifting and other physical movement. Since areas are sometimes under construction, or not easily accessible, incumbent should have fair degree of coordination to prevent injury. Incumbent will occasionally be required to lift and move heavy or awkward objects, usually not exceeding 50 lbs.

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: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

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/.

Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) is based on:
1. class standing: applicants must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration, based on completed courses.;
2. grade-point average: a-3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on their official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or b-3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum, or
3. honor society membership as outlined by the Association of College Honor Societies. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work.

Contacts

• Address Audie L Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital 7400 Merton Minter Boulevard San Antonio, TX 78229 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]