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 incumbent performs various duties to assess work practices, identify hazards and assess their potential for harm to employees.

The incumbent provides necessary technical assistance to managers and supervisors to achieve safe and healthful working conditions.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/06/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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 You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 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.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Undergraduate and Graduate Education 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.

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 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: 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.

The work environment is often in the office or meeting room setting. There may be instances where evaluations are required in the operations and maintenance workplace.

Work Areas are adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. In addition, there are outdoor assignments which may expose the incumbent to wind, sunshine, heat, rain, and snow.

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:

Major duties include but are not limited to: Conducting independent inspections/studies, analyzing findings, and preparing various reports.

Reviews safety and occupational health activities for evidence of compliance with prescribed requirements of the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The Joint Commission (TJC) other safety and occupational health standards (e.g.

American Conference of Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), American National Standards Institute, (ANSI), National Electric Code (NEC)) The incumbent works with supervisors, union officials, small business owners, employees, contractors and the safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions.

Safety and occupational health work is also characterized by the need to develop educational material and techniques.

Safety and occupational health specialists often promote a wide variety of training activities designed to achieve awareness of safety hazards and corresponding preventive procedures.

Knowledge of human motivational techniques sufficient to apply the principles to a wide variety of employee population and environments to achieve safe working conditions.

Has advanced skill to perform and interpret specialized ergonomic evaluative procedures related to employee work environments and associated job-related tasks.

Demonstrates thorough professional knowledge in orthopedic, neurological, medical, surgical, psychosocial, and functional disabilities and their impact on ergonomics in the workplace.

The incumbent independently manages the facility-wide Ergonomic request system with consistent timely response to all submitted requests.

The incumbent ensures that methods, deadlines, and quality of service have all been met. Performance to objectives is reviewed monthly with the Occupational Health and Safety Manager.

Continuous improvement projects assist the incumbent in performance improvement.

Guidelines are agency manuals, regulations and directives, safety standards, safety clauses in procurement contracts, fire protection guides, standard textbooks, professional journals, and manufacturing association publications.

The safety and occupational health specialist uses judgment in selecting, interpreting, and applying established criteria which may not be clearly applicable to all operating situations particularly those concerning the use of experimental laboratory procedures.

Serves as a facilitator in coordinating initiatives and consensus building activities among clinical team members with widely divergent backgrounds including Logistics, Engineering, Contractors, Program Managers, Biomedical Engineering, clinical staff, and end users of ergonomic equipment to align workplace needs with an ergonomic work environment.

The incumbent is expected to use tact and diplomacy in dealing with difficult contacts and ensure that projects are completed in a timely manner.

Work Schedule: 7:30am-4:00pm, Monday-Friday Telework: This position has authorized Ad-Hoc telework Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD137850