Supervisory Safety and Occupational Health Specialist (Assistant Chief of Safety)

Full Job Description

This position will serve as the Assistant Chief of Safety (in the Safety Department) responsible for providing management, supervision and support to the Chief of Safety's vision, leadership, and policy for Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center and associated Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

Serving as a recognized expert in all policy matters related to industrial hygiene, life safety, joint commission, environmental management, and emergency response.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/25/2026.

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.

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/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, Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M., if related.

OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond beyond the graduate level.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Public Safety and Security Technical Competence 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. 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 work requires regular and recurring field visits, investigations.

Some physical exertion, such as extended periods of standing, recurring bending, crouching, stooping or the lifting of moderately heavy objects.

May be required to lift equipment or supplies weighing up to 50 lbs.

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:

The Assistant Chief works with supervisors, union officials, and safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions, while performing supervisory and non-supervisory work.

Duties include but are not limited to: Inspecting - observing environmental conditions and employee performance patterns to identify hazards, detect risks, and determine casual relationships; developing abatement recommendations for safety and occupational health hazards; construction safety, workplace violence, industrial hygiene, environmental management, and research safety.

Investigating - searching for clues, studying variables, questioning witnesses, and retracing sequences to uncover the sources of reported injuries and illnesses.

Recording - assuring the validity of data collected, accurate documentation of occurrences and data summaries, and maintenance of program information.

Analyzing - examination of available data to identify possible sources of losses experienced, determining critical factors prior to occurrence, and recommendation of alternative adjustments to eliminate or minimize losses from injuries and illnesses.

Reporting - defining terminology, writing summaries, and preparing summary documentation related to safety and occupational health, environmental compliance and workplace violence.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday -Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm.(Subject to change based on agency need.) Telework: This position may be authorized for Ad-hoc telework.

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

Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Safety and Occupational Health Specialist (Assistant Chief of Safety)/PD112190 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized