Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Full Job Description

This position is in Facilities Management Service located at the Salisbury NC VA Coastal Healthcare System within VISN 6 Mid-Atlantic Healthcare Network.

The incumbent in this position serves as a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist and provides daily technical and administrative first line supervisory duties to staff within the service.

S/he is responsible for developing various safety and occupational health programs, as well as provides consultation and training as needed.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/02/2026.

Driver's License Requirement: Applicants must possess a current valid state driver's license.

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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below.

Basic Requirement for an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met to qualify for entry into this occupational series for positions at the GS-07 grade level and above, and it is something that cannot be waived.

In addition to the education and/or specialized experience below, applicants must meet the IOR for this position.

INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year experience: 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.

Training Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse.

OR, INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR 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, INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION: Possess a 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 and above.

Applicants may also qualify for higher grade levels based on their education and/or experience.

Minimum Qualifications: In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) above, applicants must also meet the minimum qualifications below for this position.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade, GS-07, in the Federal Service.

Specialized experience is defined as 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; and work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Communications Customer Service Fire Management Flexibility Hazardous Materials Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Problem Solving Reading Comprehension Reasoning Safety Engineering Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Preferred Experience: Safety 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.

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:

Performs developmental assignments intended to broaden skills and provide practical experience leading to progressively more complex assignments performed under progressively less supervision.

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 and 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 directly related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8am - 4:30pm .Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD014720