Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Clarification from the agency

This is a Merit Promotion announcement for current career and career conditional Bureau of Reclamation employees.

Some of the major duties you will perform include but are not limited to the following:

• As a developmental Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, learns and applies fundamental OSHA and RSHS requirements while assisting with facility safety inspections using standardized checklists.
• Assists with basic hazard recognition tasks during facility walkthroughs, documenting observations for supervisory verification
• Observes and assists with basic occupational health monitoring activities under direct, continuous guidance.- Assists in gathering and organizing factual materials (photographs, logs, statements) for accident investigations led by senior staff.- Assists with basic contractor safety documentation intake and filing; compares submittals against a standard checklist under direct supervisory review.
• Records observations of potential contractor safety concerns for supervisory verification before any communication to contract staff.
• Assists in the logistics and setup of safety training sessions and helps prepare training materials under supervisory direction.

Duties will be developmental in nature when filled below the full performance level.

Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit https://www.e-verify.gov/.
• Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
• You must pass a physical examination.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 11/05/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

Minimum Qualification Requirements: To qualify for this position, all qualification requirements, including time-in-grade restrictions and any selective factors, by the closing date of this announcement. There is no education substitution for Time in Grade requirements.

BASIC INDVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENT (IOR) - GS-0018: A. Major study (Undergraduate and Graduate Education) -- 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-
B. 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. These examples are not all inclusive.
-OR-
C. 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.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT: To qualify for the position (in addition to meeting the basic IOR requirement above), your resume must clearly describe specialized experience that demonstrates the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities as follows:GS-07: In order to qualify for the GS-07 grade level, your resume must demonstrate at least one year of full-time specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-05 grade level or pay band in the federal service or public sector.

To qualify at the GS-07 grade level, you must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to at least the GS-05 level in federal service but not limited to: 1) Applying a general knowledge of OSHA or related safety and occupational health standards or codes to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and health requirements; 2) Analyzing or evaluating new and existing safety inspection jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of hazards; 3) 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.

Volunteer Experience: 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.

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), the responses you provide on the application questionnaire, and the result of the additional assessment(s) required for this position. To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process.

Your resume must not exceed 2 pages. Only the document submitted as the "Resume" under the Documents section will be used to determine your qualifications/eligibility and for rating purposes. In the event you submit more than one resume, only the latest submission will be reviewed.

In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires successful completion of the USA Hire Assessment, if required.

All qualified non-competitive applicants and the best-qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration.

Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration or your score may be lowered. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position.

Current or former displaced Federal employees who are surplus, displaced, or involuntarily separated have special priority selection rights under the Agency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) or the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (ICTAP). To be considered under CTAP/ICTAP, you must be well-qualified, score at least 85 (i.e., meet the minimum qualification requirements, including any selective placement factors; education, and experience requirements), and be able to perform the duties of the position upon entry.

The following documents are required and must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) -11/05/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement:

1. Resume which includes a list of all significant jobs held and duties performed, with dates in month-year format (include month/day/year format if needed for 52 weeks of experience), and indicate hours worked per week (or full-time). Your resume must clearly show how long you have held each grade/rank. Resumes must not exceed two single-sided pages and resumes longer than two pages will not be accepted. The minimum font size is 10-point for all body text. All resumes must maintain a minimum 0.5-inch margins on all sides to ensure readability and prevent excessive content compression. Including supplemental pages or attachments disguised as resume extensions are prohibited and will not be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications. Your 2-page resume must contain information sufficient to make a valid determination that you fully meet the specialized experience requirements. If you have federal experience, you should include series, and grade for each position held, and if experience is part of a career ladder position, you must clearly distinguish the job duties and length of time working for each grade level. More information on how to write a Federal Resume: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include
2. Complete All Required Assessment(s).
3. Performance Appraisals and Awards: You must submit your most recent performance appraisal showing the official rating of record and signed by a supervisor dated within the past 18 months. If unavailable, a written explanation is required (including if any prior performance appraisals/evaluations were at an acceptable level). Performance awards dated within the past 5 years may also be submitted for due weight consideration.
4. Must possess and maintain a valid driver's license throughout employment.
5. All College Transcript(s), if qualifying based on education.
6. Eligibility Documentation:
   • Current and former Federal employees must submit latest SF-50 (i.e. Promotion, Separation, Within Grade Increase (WGI)) showing tenure 1 or 2 in block 24, grade, and if applicable, an additional SF-50 showing the highest grade or promotion potential held. Time in grade will be determined by reviewing your resume and required SF-50s. If your SF-50 showing highest permanent grade held has an effective date within the past year, your resume must clearly show that you held that grade for one year. Do not submit award SF-50s.
   • Interagency Career Transition (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP): You MUST submit proof of eligibility including 1) copy of the agency notice, e.g., RIF Separation Notice, Notice of Proposed Removal, etc.; 2) SF-50s (Notifications of Personnel Action) showing career/conditional tenure competitive status, promotion potential and duty location; and 3) your most recent performance appraisal. To exercise selection priority, displaced or surplus Federal employees must be well qualified. For more information visit: USAJOBS Help Center - Career Transition Programs (CTAP, ICTAP, RPL).

Failure to submit any of the above-mentioned required documents will result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

Do not submit photographs with your application package. Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents.

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