The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist serves as a member of the Associate Director's office at the James A. Haley VA Hospital with principal duties in Safety and Occupational Health.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/14/2026. .**This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) which is a minimum qualification requirement. To be considered for the position, you must ensure that the experience is reflected in your resume and/or if applicable, transcripts must be uploaded to support education requirement or substitution. 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. In addition to the IOR you must have the following as well: 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade 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: Experience in evaluating renovation and construction projects to assign Interim Life Safety Measures are necessary. Experience in performing required measures as necessary such as additional fire drills, education of staff, publication of measures taken, inspections of the construction site, etc. Experience in scheduling and conducting at minimum weekly inspections of the construction and renovation sites to ensure compliance with safety requirements. Experience in inspections and documenting deficiencies are tracked to completion. Experience in issues penetration permits, hot work, sprinkler shutdown, and fire alarm impairment permits related to the construction/renovation work. Experience in Identifying, evaluates, analyzes and recommends means for controlling a wide variety of construction safety issues. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 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. Preferred Experience : Experience applying safety and occupational health principles within a hospital, healthcare system, or similarly complex environment, including conducting Environment of Care (EOC) inspections and hazard assessments. Experience interpreting and applying OSHA, NFPA, Joint Commission, VA Directive 1605, VHA Directive 1192, and other applicable federal and healthcare specific safety standards. Experience supporting construction safety oversight, including reviewing contractor safety plans, participating in Pre Construction Risk Assessments (PCRA), Infection Control Risk Assessments (ICRA), and monitoring Interim Life Safety Measures (ILSM). Demonstrated ability to identify hazards, analyze risk trends, recommend corrective actions, and follow up on mitigation plans in collaboration with Facilities Management, Infection Prevention, Engineering, and clinical services. Experience conducting incident investigations, using root cause or similar methodologies, and preparing reports with actionable recommendations. Knowledge of life safety code requirements, fire protection systems, emergency management procedures, and utility outage response in a healthcare setting. Experience training employees and/or contractors on safety topics such as hazard communication, emergency procedures, PPE, and safe work practices. Strong communication, teamwork, and stakeholder coordination skills, including participation in committees, project meetings, or safety briefings. 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/.
Duties consist of the following, but are not limited to: Conducting and managing hazard surveillance inspections; Providing oversight for various employee safety programs including written policy, monitoring, training, and program documentation; Identifying and addressing significant safety issues in order to reduce or eliminate hazards in various work environments; Managing the accident prevention program including OSHA 300 Log, accident investigations and program documentation; Providing expert technical safety advice and guidance to senior management; Planning, establishing requirements, to execute and integrate safety concepts with VHA Directives; Following facility-issued operational instructions, procedures, processes and workplace methods; Developing initiatives for improving safety at the facility; Managing and implementing safety programs such as lockout/tagout, confined space, roof safety and forklift safety; Investigating accidents and near misses to determine cause and corrective action required; Preparing reports to analyze injuries and hazard surveillance inspections for trending patterns; Conducting construction safety inspections and evaluating project safety plans. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-4:30 PM Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD06637-T Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized