Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Full Job Description

This position is located in the Safety Section of the Facilities Management Service at the VA Medical Center in Lyons, NJ.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS GS-11: One year of specialized 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.

This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. ~OR~ A Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree with a 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.

Transcripts required. ~OR~ An equivalent combination of specialized experience and higher level graduate education as described that demonstrates your ability to perform the duties of the position.

Experience must be detailed in your resume and transcripts required.

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:

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** Leads technical, administrative, or professional work involving managing, administering, operating or supporting services and programs related to the operation and safety of Federal Facilities; Leads periodic workplace inspections to locate any safety/fire hazards or potential hazards, and assists in developing plans for improvement as necessary; Documents results of inspections and directs corrective action as necessary; Follows up to ensure correction of all deficiencies found; Conducts fire drills in accordance to ensure adequate training of all personnel in reading fire alarm code locations, evacuation procedures and the use of portable fire extinguishers; Investigates the cause of the fires occurring at the medical center and recommends solutions to control or eliminate the recurrence of the same type of fire; Detects and eliminates common hazards such as excess trash accumulation, improper storage of flammable liquids, and blocked fire exits; Checks fire lanes and fire exits, signage, at all off-site areas for possible unsafe conditions; Acts as a liaison to external Fire Departments, or other federal, state, or local emergency service; Coordinates, shares, and disseminates, occupational and construction safety, hazard communications, and emergency management programs, and/or implementation information to appropriate program participants, project officers, etc.; Reviews engineering drawings, blueprints, and building specifications to ensure that building maintenance and repair, modifications, renovations, and new construction projects incorporate general safety and fire-safety standards/criteria; Leads accident investigations, analyzing precipitating factors and accident cause data to develop specific methods for prevention, work process modifications and recommending corrective or remedial safety measures; Coordinating long-term studies of unsafe working conditions with appropriate supervisors; Conducting surveys for potentially hazardous working conditions and recommending corrective measures to be taken; Developing and updating as required standard operating procedures for safety issues; Conducting routine inspections of portable fire extinguishers, emergency safety showers and emergency eye washes, and other safety related equipment/items; Performs related duties as required.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized.