This position is with the U. S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These positions are in the Directorate of Standards and Guidance (DSG), located in Washington D.C. The full performance level of this position is GS-12 This position is inside the bargaining unit. This position is NOT remote. Selectee will be expected to report to one of the offices listed above. A writing sample may be requested at the time of interview.
THE ENGINEER SERIES HAS AN INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT. ALL APPLICANTS MUST MEET THIS REQUIREMENT IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED. You must meet the "Individual Occupational Requirement" and the "Specialized Experience" as described below, to qualify for the Safety Engineer position. INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT (IOR): A. Degree: Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); OR (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR B. Combination of Education and Experience: College-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:1. Professional registration or licensure - Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.2. Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination, or any other written test required for professional registration, by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.3. Specified academic courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program.4. Related curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), applicants must meet the following specialized experience: Applicants must have 52 weeks of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level, GS-9 or GS-11, in the Federal Service. Specialized Experience is the experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform the duties of the position successfully, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Qualifying specialized experience for the GS-11 includes: Assisting with analyses, recommendations or evaluations of engineering feasibility studies. Contributing to technical assistance/guidance on safety engineering issues. Serving as a project team member in the preparation or modification of safety standards and/or guidance documents. Qualifying specialized experience for the GS-12 includes: Working knowledge of safety and occupational health standards and codes. Applying professional engineering knowledge to engineering problems in various agricultural, construction, general industry or maritime operations, processes or equipment. Identifying and/or eliminating/controlling safety and occupational health hazards by analyzing work processes and conditions in the agricultural, construction, general industry or maritime businesses.
Duties of the Safety Engineer position include, but are not limited to the following: For the GS-11: Contributing to technical assistance and guidance on safety engineering issues for OSHA's safety compliance staffs . Participating with senior level safety engineers and/or occupational safety and health specialists on technical and advisory committees, panels, boards and task forces. Assisting with technical advice and guidance and performing review within the Directorate on all aspects of routine to the most complex and unique safety standards and guidance projects. For the GS-12: Researching and providing information on new safety engineering methods or approaches for conducting investigations. Reviewing and evaluating national consensus standards and other Federal agency standards to ensure that they provide the greatest protection for employees. Assisting with on-site investigations in the broad field of safety engineering, including conducting studies, and surveying a wide range of worksite operations that frequently involve unusual, complex, or obscure hazards for which there are little or no established procedures or practices; As the employee progresses, the assignments will become more difficult and complex with less supervision.