To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/03/2025.
Permanent Employee Status: If you are unsure if you have permanent employee status to be considered for this position, you can verify your status by referring to Box 24 on your most recent SF-50. The box must have a 1 or 2 in order to be considered for this position.
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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9.
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?.
In addition to the Time-in-Grade Requirements, you must also meet the Individual Occupational Requirement below:
Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): You must meet one of the following basic requirements below to be eligible for the GS-0690, Industrial Hygiene job series. The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation.
Applicants must meet one of the following Basic Requirements:
- A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science;
~OR~
- A bachelor's degree in a branch of engineering, physical science, or life science that included 12 semester hours in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours of courses in any combination of chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology, or industrial hygiene;
~OR~
- Certification from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH). Note: You must submit a copy of your certification with your application. Certification cannot be credited without documentation.
Please note: Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable. For engineering degrees to be acceptable, the curriculum must be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) as a professional engineering curriculum.
In addition to meeting one of the Basic Requirements above, applicants must also meet one of the grade specific requirements listed below: 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-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization in the Federal Service that has given you the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of an Industrial Hygienist, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Examples of Specialized experience includes but is not limited to:
- Uses new developments to solve novel or obscure problems and an ability to extend and modify existing techniques are necessary in solving a variety of occupational health problems.
- Recognized by the agency as being an expert in the broad practice of industrial hygiene.
- Serves as an agency expert and to make decisions or recommendations that significantly affect the context, interpretation or development of agency policies or programs concerning industrial hygiene matters.
- Conduct industrial hygiene studies, to develop sampling or control methods and to provide expert advice to facility staff in a broad range of industrial hygiene matters.
- Research technical publications and applies technical knowledge to healthcare environmental and occupational health issues.
~OR~
- Possess 3 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or equivalent doctoral degree in a course of study directly related to this position. Note: Transcripts required.
~OR~
- Combination of specialized experience and successfully completed graduate level education beyond a Master's degree (36 semester hours) in a course of study directly related to this position.
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.
Basis for Selection: Selections for positions will be based on the objective evaluation of the candidates' total qualifications for the position. "Qualifications" means the combination of experience, training, education, skills, knowledges, abilities, personal characteristics, and merit factors deemed to be pertinent to successful performance.
Physical Requirements: The work requires the employee to carry a good deal of equipment and involves walking, standing, bending, climbing or crawling during surveys.
Work Environment: Work is usually performed in an office setting, although there may be occasional exposure to industrial hazards during infrequent walk-through surveys that are conducted as part of a larger study. During surveys, the incumbent is subjected to all the risks and discomforts association with industrial activities of the agency. This exposure requires the use of protective clothing and equipment, including respirators, hardhats, ear protectors, and safety shoes. The incumbent may encounter exposure to hazardous materials including biological, chemical, and radioactive agents, thereby requiring wear of designated protect clothing/equipment.