Safety & Occupational Health Manager

Full Job Description

The position serves as the Safety & Occupational Health Manager for the VISN 15 Heartland Network, responsible for management of the Safety and Occupational Health Program including Safety, GEMS, Radiation Safety, and Industrial Hygiene through developing, planning, administering, organizing, evaluating, analyzing data, and developing performance improvement activities when data has indicated a need for improvement.

Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/16/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 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 meeting the Basic Requirement above, you must also meet the following Specialized Experience requirements.

GS-13 GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience are: Plan, organize, direct, operate and evaluate a safety and occupational health program for warehousing, Healthcare, steam plant, transportation, and equipment maintenance operations; interpret engineer drawing sufficient to identify possible hazardous conditions; managing safety or occupational health program elements; develop and recommend safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management; train workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects and work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Communication Leadership Interpersonal Skills Public Safety and Security Environmental Reasoning Self-Management Technical Competence Teamwork 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: Work is generally sedentary with significant regular and recurrent walking, standing, stooping, climbing, and carrying of moderately heavy objects when conducting onsite evaluations within medical centers and other off-station locations such as Community Based Outpatient Clinics and administrative buildings.

Personal Protective Equipment may be required for some environments. Employee may also be involved with emergency response incidents or accident investigations.

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/.

Major Duties:

The Safety and Occupational Health Manager is responsible for program planning, development and execution of the Network Environmental, Safety, Occupational and fire Protection programs.

Provides expert and authoritative advice, consultation and guidance on safety and occupational issues regarding OSHA, Joint Commission, EPA, NFPA, VA policies, sanitation and infection control requirements, and other pertinent regulatory and directive requirements relating to the operation of the Medical Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

Duties include, but are not limited to: Develops local policies, regulations, and procedures related to safety, occupational health, and environmental management.

Directly responsible for the VISN's Safety, and Occupational Health program, including but not limited to, ensuring that rounds are conducted as required, deficiencies are entered in the tracking database and monitored for completion, and trends are analyzed and brought forth to the Environment of Care Council (EOCC).

Conducts annual Environment of Care rounds validation at each facility within the Network. Reviews Mental Health Environment of Care (MHEOC) compliance as part of the VISN multi-disciplinary team.

Develops and implements an accident prevention program that includes a reporting system, reviews injury and illness reports, ensures that reports are entered in a timely manner and that incidents are investigated, and corrective action is taken.

Provides consultation and guidance for Industrial Hygiene, Water Safety, and Green Environmental Management Systems (GEMS) programs in collaboration with the VISN GEMS program manager.

Responsible for the review of construction/renovation, minor improvement and non-recurring maintenance projects to ensure incorporation of compliant fire/safety features.

Conducts Annual Workplace Evaluations (AWE) at each VA facility within the Network; tracks deficiencies to ensure timely completion.

Develops both short- and long-range plans for the program by coordinating the administrative needs of the Program Serves on various VISN committees and management of on-site meetings with other agencies and program officials.

Sets priorities and prepares schedules for completion of work.

Conducts training related to various safety programs Evaluates facility employee complaints related to safety programs that cannot be resolved at the local level.

Performs Other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CST Telework: Ad-hoc Only Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Manager/PD103440 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized