To qualify for a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist your resume and supporting documentation must support:
A. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular competencies to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To qualify at the GS-09 level, applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 level or equivalent under other pay systems in the Federal service, military or private sector. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including minimum qualifications, and any other regulatory requirements by the cut-off/closing date of the announcement. Creditable specialized experience includes:
- Investigates mishaps involving worksites, machine and equipment operations, environmental conditions, spills, work practices, protective devices and equipment, and safety procedures to control unsafe acts and hazardous conditions.
- Inspects worksite, machine and equipment operations, environmental conditions, work practices, protective devices and equipment, and safety procedures; records and photographs apparent violations of standards for use as evidence of existing hazards.
- Recommends measures to eliminate or control hazardous practices and conditions which may cause mishaps; prepares supplemental written safety procedures for application to local organizational components.
B. Education Substitution: Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Education must be from a college or university accredited by an organization approved by the U.S. Department of Education. See http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx. If using education to meet basic qualifications, YOU MUST SUBMIT A TRANSCRIPT as supplemental documentation. To qualify based on education in lieu of specialized experience, you must possess: master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related, in one of the following fields of 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.
C. Combination: Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for grade levels GS-09, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-09.
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, religious, 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.