Clarification from the agency

Open to current VA employees and CTAP eligible applicants.

• Conducts safety surveillance audits and inspections according to the required standards and regulations and depending on the degree of hazard.
• Obtains immediate corrective action of conditions, which are of imminent danger to life or limb.
• The incumbent Investigates hazardous conditions, equipment, practices, etc. to identify and analyze the nature and severity of hazards and possible remedial actions (i.e., elimination, correction, or protection).
• Ensures corrective actions are initiated and consults with facility and medical center subject matter specialists and managers about changes in work processes and proposed methods to eliminate unnecessary risks and control hazardous conditions.
• Investigates or assist investigators in investigating accidents/mishaps, obtains witness statements, photographs the accident scene, records circumstances and extent of injuries, estimates cost of property damages, and prepares a report of findings which includes recommendations to correct unsafe acts or conditions.
• Independently schedules surveys of the Research office and laboratory areas to identify and evaluate the potential for risk, The incumbent determines if existing conditions comply with accepted JCAHO and local standards, which safety policies and procedures apply and if the procedures and policies are adequate to cover all hazards.
• The incumbent certifies that specific safety practices are in place prior to beginning work.
• The incumbent processes report's on accidents identified within the Research Service, assuring compliance with medical center policy.
• Reviews the procedures for access to the facility to ensure access is restricted to authorized personnel.
• Advises higher-level management on the status of the safety and occupational health programs and recommends changes in the design of work programs to meet new safety and occupational health standards.
• Instructs employees on a variety of safety and occupational health topics to include chemical, biological, or physical safety, various laboratory safety needs, and ventilation requirements.
• Instructs and assists research investigators in preparing and submitting biohazard statements for their associated grant proposals.
• Identifies possible hazards, determines its use, any storage requirements, its bio-safety level, and necessary safety precautions to advise investigators in preparing grant proposals.
• The incumbent investigates procedures and policies for unknown/unfamiliar chemicals and hazards and reports findings to Research management for action. Approves final biohazard statements.
• Plans, develops, implements, and promotes safety campaigns, education materials, and training programs; selects appropriate medium (i.e. lecture, safety meetings, posters, video, brochures, training assembly, etc.) for all research personnel, both paid and unpaid employees. (Approximately 125-350 employees) that ranges from basic orientation in the general laboratory for new technicians, to more detailed, recurring instruction for the more experienced personnel.
• Documents employee's training progress to ensure regular attendance and compliance with JCAHO accrediting regulations.
• Works with research administrative staff and laboratory personnel in the establishment of realistic safety requirements and compliance with applicable directives and regulations.
• Works with processing plans for records and the record systems to handle, control, operate, store, check and retrieve data. Updates the required trainings as needed in Forms and Templates and tracks and approves training thru completion.
• Writes/prepares safety guides and instructions for risks encountered in Research laboratories and offices to keep employees informed and safe.
• As coordinator and Executive Secretary for the Sub-Committee on Research Safety, reviews issues prior to presenting them at the meeting.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD211580
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized.
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement evaluation is required. The incumbent is required to make recurring inspections and investigations in all areas inside and outside of the Medical Center and at other locations where VA patients are housed. These inspections and investigations involve climbing, crawling into cramped spaces, crouching, working around moving machinery, considerable walking, standing and bending while occasionally lifting up to 100 pounds. A degree of agility and dexterity is required for inspections and investigations in and around construction sites.
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/17/2026.

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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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.

Selective Factors/Selective Placement Factors (SPF) are knowledge, skills, abilities, or special qualifications that are in addition to the minimum requirements in a qualification standard but are determined to be essential to perform the duties and responsibilities of a particular position. Applicants who do not meet a selective factor are ineligible for further consideration.

SPF: Possess knowledge to apply safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principals, theories, practices and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety.

You may qualify based on your specialized experience and/or education or certification 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. 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.

OR,

Undergraduate or Graduate Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have undergraduate or graduate education which includes 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,

Certification: 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.

AND

GS-11 Education and Specialized Experience Qualification: To qualify as a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist GS-11 you must have the below qualifying education, combination education/specialized experience.

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

OR

Combination Education & Specialized Experience: Specialize experience and education beyond 2 years of graduate education.

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/.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
- Resume
- Most recent SF-50 (Dated 01/02/26 for recent pay adjustment) if you are a current or former Federal employee
ATTENTION: You may need to submit more than one SF-50 if we cannot verify you meet time-in-grade (TIG) by your most recent SF-50 dated 01/02/26 or later. For example, if your most recent SF-50 is a General Adjustment, we need your most recent SF-50 dated 01/02/26 and another SF-50 to verify TIG. Examples of SF-50s for TIG verification include your last within-grade increase or promotion to highest grade held. Promotion shows when you started the grade level and a within-grade increase verifies you were at that grade level for at least one year. Failure to provide your most recent SF-50 dated 01/02/26 or later and other SF-50s to verify TIG will result in you being disqualified. We cannot verify time-in-grade based only on the grade and step you are currently on.
- CTAP/ICTAP documentation if applicable
- Transcript(s) if applicable
- If prior military service, include all copies of your DD-214 or proof of service, as well as proof of disability if applicable.


The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please make sure you have included other documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), documentation to support Veterans Preference claims, or ICTAP/CTAP documentation (for displaced Federal employees). You will not be contacted for additional information.

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action (if applicable for Time in Grade and/or Eligibility):

• Most recent SF-50 if you are a current or former Federal employee
• An SF-50 showing 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
• Award 50's do not provide sufficient information and will not be accepted for the purpose of verifying time-in-grade.
• Examples of appropriate SF-50's include:
  • Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or
  • Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or
  • SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the position.

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