Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Full Job Description

This Safety and Occupational Health Specialist position is located within the Facilities Management Service at the Bedford VA Healthcare System in Bedford, Massachusetts.

It is permanent and full-time at 40 hours per week. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/02/2026.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.

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.

For a GS7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS5 For a GS9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS7 For a GS11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS9 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.

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.

In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirements above, you must possess the required specialized experience, education, or combination of experience and education as identified below: GS07 Specialized Experience: Knowledge of safety and occupational health principles, methods and standards, regulations, policies, and procedures applicable to conventional construction projects and necessary materials to help control or eliminate hazardous environmental conditions and mechanical risks to personnel.

Knowledge of established construction practices related to flooring, roofing, foundations, and interior electrical wiring of medical facility structures sufficient to identify actual and potential hazards and to explain the need for applying specific safety measures where unsafe conditions are encountered.

Skill in the interpretation of design criteria sufficient to review building plans, drawings and sketches for compliance with applicable safety standards.

OR Education: One full year of graduate level education or SAA (Superior Academic Achievement) OR Combination: You may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

GS09 Specialized Experience: Knowledge of safety and occupational health principles, methods and standards, regulations, policies, and procedures applicable to conventional construction projects and necessary materials to help control or eliminate hazardous environmental conditions and mechanical risks to personnel.

Knowledge of established construction practices related to flooring, roofing, foundations, and interior electrical wiring of medical facility structures sufficient to identify actual and potential hazards and to explain the need for applying specific safety measures where unsafe conditions are encountered.

Skill in the interpretation of design criteria sufficient to review building plans, drawings and sketches for compliance with applicable safety standards.

Knowledge of safety and occupational health principles and concepts to participate in technical safety training for supervisors and employees.OR Education: A master's degree or equivalent graduate degree in a related field OR 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in a related field OR LL.B or J.D in a related field.

OR Combination: You may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level.

GS11 Specialized Experience: Comprehensive knowledge of occupational safety and occupational health principles, techniques, practices and standards applicable to the performance of surveys in a medical environment and sufficient to identify and evaluate a variety of environmental risks.

Basic knowledge of a physical, chemical or biological field sufficient to apply standard safe practices, procedures, and equipment guides to a medical facility work environment and to aid in promoting the adoption of safe working patterns.

Knowledge of building design and construction practices in a medical facility environment sufficient to analyze plans for expansion or modification of facilities and determine the effectiveness of procedures to identify and control hazardous construction processes and equipment usage.

Practical knowledge of industrial hygiene, environmental and safety engineering, and fire protection sufficient to identify the common deficiencies found in assigned work area.

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

or equivalent doctoral degree OR three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree Or a LL.M, in related field.

OR Combination: You may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Major Duties:

The purpose of the position is to perform occupational hazard and safety surveys of a medical facility; study and review inspection safety records; plan and conduct survey or inspections that identify safety hazards and violations; and analyze accident and injury reports.

Duties include, but are not limited to: Advises senior-level management officials within the assigned area on the status of the safety and occupational health programs and recommends changes; Determines the extent to which mechanical and physical conditions comply with required or accepted standards, their adherence to established safety policies and procedures, and the effectiveness of the assigned program; Schedules surveys of medical facility laboratories, shops, and offices to identify and evaluate risk potential involving a wide variety of work environments and occupations; Prepares safety guides and internal instructions for low safety and normal safety risks encountered in an assigned area of responsibility; Directs investigations of accidents, analyzing precipitating factors and accident cause data in order to develop specific methods for prevention; Certifies laboratories or other work environments where local guidelines or standards require assurance that specific and predetermined safeguards or practices are present prior to work beginning; Instructs employees on a variety of safety and occupational health subjects including chemical, biological or physical safety, various laboratory safety needs, or ventilation requirements; and Performs other duties as assigned.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met.

Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD03436A, PD03435-A, and PD03434-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Available Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Available Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Available PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Available Notifications This position is in the Competitive Service.

Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701

or

[formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104

and

] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System.

Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.

Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action).

The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted).

In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is a National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Bargaining Unit position.