This position is located in the Mechanical Shop of the VA Medical Center in Canandaigua, NY.
Physical Effort: Works is frequently performed in confined areas in and around boilers and support equipment, and on catwalks and ladders. The work requires moderate to strenuous effort and long periods of walking, standing (including on concrete floors), climbing (including ladders), bending, and crouching. The employee shall frequently lift and carry boiler parts and chemical supplies weighing up to (50 pounds) unassisted and occasionally items weighing over (50 pounds) with assistance of other workers or weight handling equipment. Moderate physical effort is necessary to turn valves and controls. Working Conditions: Work is performed indoors and/or outdoors, and the employee is subject to prevailing weather conditions. Workers are subject to high temperatures, constant noise, rotating machinery, soot, dirt, grease, chemicals, oil, and fumes in the work area, and is subject to cuts and abrasions from the use of tools and equipment, and burns from acids, caustics, hot water, steam, and contact with piping and boilers. The employee is required to follow prescribed safety practices and use safety equipment such as face shields, gloves, hard-toe shoes, respirators, and protective clothing. Some of these safety items may be uncomfortable to wear and may be worn or used for long periods. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualifications. For this position, the job element method is used to match what you, the applicant, can do against what the work calls for. Your knowledge, skills and abilities will be compared to the knowledge, skills and abilities (called job elements) needed for success. Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element (WG-2 and higher only; screen-outs are not applicable to WG-1). Applicants who appear to meet the screen out element are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated from consideration. The potential eligibles are rated against the remainder of the job elements. While a specific length of training and experience is not required, your responses to the questionnaire must be supported by detailed descriptions of your experience on your resume. You will be rated on the following Job Elements as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Dexterity and Safety Equipment Assembly, Installation, Repair Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading) Measuring Instruments Operation of Equipment/Machinery Technical Practices Without more than normal supervision IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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; religious; 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.
Training in operations of both the boiler plant and wastewater treatment plant: how to prepare the boiler for inspections and safety testing, the process of switching over from one fuel source to another (gas to oil), how to re-start the plant from a loss of power, the proper steps in switching softeners and regeneration of softener, lock out tag out procedures associated with plant operations, testing of boiler water and condensate return water, and the proper procedures of sounding fuel oil tanks and sounding alarms; Starting, securing, regulating, stopping, and performing routine operator maintenance on the boiler and other equipment; Making regular rounds of areas where machinery and equipment are located to take an record readings from draft and temperature gauges and meters, PCC 3 controllers, and steam flow transmitters; Performing testing to determine such things as sedimentary characteristics and flow rates, adjustments for pH, and the proper amounts of chemicals to add to precipitate heavy metals; Learning the process to take down a primary or secondary settling tank, the proper way of entering information into the daily log and recording the results of readings in standardized reports designed to meet state and Federal regulations, and how to operate the carter sludge pump and perform routine maintenance on it; Modifying the content of water using chemical and filtration systems and maintaining the therapeutic pool as needed by testing the pool water for proper PH and chlorine levels, adding acid if needed, back-flushing sand filters, adding make up water to pool, and taking readings of water temperature and air temperature; Performs related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:00am-3:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized.