Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Full Job Description

The position is in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS) in the Occupational Safety and Health Service.

The VA Medical Center is located in Salt Lake City, Utah with 9 community clinics located spanning across 125,000 square miles.

The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist is an integral member of a Safety and Health program ranging from fire safety to radiation safety and industrial hygiene.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/10/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS (IOR) BASIC REQUIREMENTS: You must meet one of the following Education or Experience Requirements: EDUCATION: 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.

The Individual Occupational Requirements above, you must possess the required specialized experience, education, or combination of experience and education as identified below: GS-11 GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Must meet one of the following: EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-9) which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist.

Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience participating in the resolution of difficult safety surveillance program issues; supporting promotional and educational functions, reviewing safety policies and procedures, and carrying out required administrative functions in support of the safety program; using data techniques to identify and analyze safety and occupational health data and problems sufficient to recommend necessary changes that solve complex problems and challenges; following policies, directives, regulations, operating procedures, information flow, and prevailing safety and occupational health practices in government agencies and in the private sector sufficient to evaluate and recommend adoption of new or enhanced approaches; conveying policy and concepts to technical and nontechnical managers, project partners, and other germane parties through written and oral communication.

OR EDUCATION: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-11 level which is the completion of a Ph.D.

or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree which provided the knowledge skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist.

OR COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: Occupational Safety in either a clinical setting or construction.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Physical Requirements: The position requires moderate physical activity in assisting with assembly and installation of ergonomic equipment.

Walking, stooping, standing, bending and occasional lifting of moderately heavy items is required. Computer work requires long periods of sitting.

The position requires stamina and concentration as well. There may be a certain amount of mental strain related to meeting established deadlines and frequent oversight and regulatory reviews/surveys.

The work involves the frequent performance of surveys and onsite visits to laboratory and maintenance shops necessitating prolonged periods of walking and standing.

The work involves the frequent performance of onsite visits to clinical sites on campus or at the CBOCs (Community Based Outpatient Clinics) or contracted facilities.

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:

Duties include but are not limited to: Conducts independent inspections/studies, analyzing findings, and preparing various reports.

Studies and surveys performed involve determining compliance with various established criteria, evaluating exposures and advising on control measures and changes in work procedures to comply with established health and safety requirements and providing information for evaluation purposes.

Responsible for development, oversight, and execution of appropriate worksite evaluations and preventative intervention with timely recommendations and corrective actions provided to requesting employees and management.

Reviews safety and occupational health activities for evidence of compliance with prescribed requirements.

Works with supervisors, internal customers, small business owners, employees, contractors and the safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions.

Must have a general knowledge of safety and occupational health methods, practices, principles and procedures to perform effectively.

Promote a wide variety of training activities designed to achieve awareness of safety hazards and corresponding preventive procedures.

Carry out inspections, investigating, recording, analyzing, and reporting. Develops and implements programs, policies, and procedures to meet program, policy and facility goals.

Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework: This position may be authorized for telework on an Ad-Hoc basis only.

Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD11936A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.