Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Full Job Description

This entry level position is located at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Hines IL. -a Level 1a Complexity VHA Facility and is organizationally aligned under the Occupational Safety and Health Service.

The purpose of the position is to perform limited occupational hazard and safety surveys of a medical facility; study and review inspection safety records; participate as a member of survey or inspection teams that identify safety hazards and violations; and analyzing accident and injury reports.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/17/2026.

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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.

Basic Requirements: To meet the Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) for this occupational series, applicants must have one of the following listed below: 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.

OR, Certificate: 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.

In addition to meeting the above Individual Occupational Requirements, applicants must also meet the following GS-7 grade specific experience or education qualifications as described below: GS-7 Grade Requirements: Must have one of the following: Specialized Experience: One (1) or more years of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist at the GS-07 level.

To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-05 level in the Federal service in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of specialized experience include: Working with safety and occupational health programs; developing and recommending safety and occupational health policies; applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational and health requirements; and designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards.

OR, Education: Successful completion of one (1) full year of graduate level education that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Safety & Occupational Health specialist or Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.).

One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study.

If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered to satisfy the 1 year of full-time study requirement.

Superior Academic Achievement (S.A.A.) is based on (1) class standing, (2) grade-point average, or (3) honor society membership for applicants who have completed (or expect to complete within 9 months all the requirements for a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a field of study related to the safety and occupational health field.

Class Standing: Must be in the upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision, such as the College of Liberal Arts or the School of Business Administration.

Grade-Point Average (G.P.A.): Must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B" or better) as recorded on official transcript, or as computed based on 4 years of education, or as computed based on courses completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum; or 3.5 or higher out of a possible 4.0 ("B+" or better) based on the average of the required courses completed in the major field or the required courses in the major field completed during the final 2 years of the curriculum.

Election to membership in a national scholastic honor society: Membership in one of the national scholastic honor societies recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.

(Membership in a freshman honor society cannot be used).

OR, Combination Education and Specialized Experience: Applicants may have successfully completed an equivalent combination of experience and education as described above, if related to the safety and occupational health occupation, to qualify at the GS-07 level.

To calculate, identify the percentage of required education you have earned (in excess of the first 60 semester hours you earned). Then, identify the percentage of required experience you possess.

The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-07. Note: Evidence of specialized experience must be supported by detailed documentation of duties performed in positions held.

on your resume. A copy of your transcripts and/or certificate must be provided with your application package if used to substitute for experience.

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:

Serves in a developmental capacity at the GS-07 level. Key functions will be similar to those described at the full performance level of the target position.

However, during the developmental assignment, full performance range and level of selected functions will not be completely delegated to the employee until proper orientation and training have been completed and the incumbent has demonstrated the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to accomplish the work at the full performance level.

Major duties, include but are not limited to: Analyzes accident and injury reports, studies data to discover trends and mishap causes, and develops recommendations for eliminating or controlling the hazards detected.

Conducts inspections of medical facility operations where exposure and type of hazard is predictable in advance.

Participates in informal instruction sessions to provide work leaders and employees guidance on a variety of general safety and occupational health subjects including mishap prevention and safe working practices.

Performs survey work to identify an d evaluate hazardous medical facility operations and conditions and to recommend corrective procedures where the potential for injury or property damage exists.

Participates as member of a team led by a higher graded specialist to conduct a limited segment of a major inspection of medical facilities that include the use of machine guards, chemical storage areas, and a variety of related hazardous working conditions; and drafting reports of findings proposing corrective measures for unsafe conditions and hazardous work practices.

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.

Advancement through the development level to the full performance level will be recommended only after it has been determined that the incumbent meets all regulatory and statutory requirements, is satisfactorily progressing in the training, is successfully performing the currently assigned range of duties as outlined in the target position of Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, GS-0018-11, and is capable of taking on expanded duties and responsibilities with greater independence.

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 3:30pm. Telework: Not Suitable Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD03311A