Summary The Occupational Safety and Health position is assigned to the Veterans Benefits Administration Central Office (VBACO) and is responsible for advising VBA facilities on implementing Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) programs to meet regulatory and internal VA requirements. The position supports VBACO, District Offices (DO), and Regional Offices (RO) with the development of safety goals, programs, policy, and procedural documentation. Responsibilities Specific duties include: Conducts assessments and investigations of facilities within the Administration and provides advisory support and specialized training to safety staff throughout the nation. Applies expert knowledge of OSH laws and regulations to independently assist VBA facilities with developing and implementing various OSH programs (e.g., ergonomics, construction safety, fire safety, electrical safety, hazard communication, etc.). Maintains an effective OSH program that includes prevention, investigation, and appropriate reporting of workplace injuries and illnesses. Reviews all worker injury and illness incidents, conducts accident investigations using root cause analysis, and recommends preventive measures to reduce reoccurrence. Knowledge of OSH to prepare written technical documents and guidance materials for VBA facilities. Manage and ensure the necessary OSH programs and/or systems are in place to address safety issues and potential risks. Participates in VBA Safety Committees and national-level Safety Committees within the VA. They may be asked to represent the Manager at various meetings to present or discuss OSH topics. Independently develop and provide training as well as standard operation procedures (SOPs) to VBA personnel on various OSH programs and/or topics. Conducts facility inspections and writes inspection reports to ensure compliance with OSH laws and regulations. Monitors and tracks abatement of unsafe or unhealthy working conditions. Recommends corrective solutions/actions to ensure prompt abatement of unsafe working conditions. Evaluates architectural drawings, engineering construction drawings, and other facility renovation plans for compliance with occupational safety principles, life safety, etc. Performs workplace hazard assessments and risk assessments as required. Promotion Potential: GS-13 Work Schedule: Full time, Monday through Friday Compressed/Flexible: At the discretion of Agency. Telework: Yes; At the discretion of Agency. Virtual: This is not a Virtual Position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist; #41186-1 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement: 02/05/2024. 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. To verify your eligibility, you must submit a copy of your most recent Notification of Personnel Action, Standard Form 50 (SF-50). The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. You must provide a copy of your most recent SF-50 that indicates proof of status, and shows Time in Grade (for example, you were a career or career-conditional employee) and identifies your position title, series, grade, step, salary, tenure, and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). 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 also submit your most recent promotion or within-grade increase in addition to your recent SF-50. If you previously held a higher grade, you must also submit any SF-50 showing that grade. DO NOT submit Award SF-50's and/or General Adjustment SF-50's as they cannot be used to prove time-in-grade. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12 level. MINIMUM QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENT: You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: BASIC REQUIREMENTS: Education Undergraduate and 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; 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. OR; Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): 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. 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. AND; Agency Required Specialized Experience: At the GS-13 Grade Level, experience must demonstrate specialized experience at the GS-12 or equivalent grade level. Specialized experience will consist of all of the following fields in occupational safety and health to include: Experience with accident investigations, fire safety, electrical safety, construction safety, ergonomics, injury and illness recordkeeping, hazard communication, and root cause analysis; Experience performing workplace hazard assessments and risk assessments; Experience conducting facility inspections/surveys and writing inspection reports; Experience reading architectural drawings, engineering construction drawings, and other facility renovation plans; Experience communicating results of complex analysis both orally and in writing to a diverse audience. Combining Education & Experience: If you do not fully meet the length of experience and education described for a specific grade level (e.g. have six months of experience and some coursework but not a degree), the two can be combined to total 100% of the requirement. Click here for more information. 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; 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. Full vs. Part-Time Employment: Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per week. Part-time experience will be credited on a pro-rated basis; when including part-time employment in your resume you must specify the average hours worked per week. Physical Requirements: There may be frequent walking, standing, climbing, crawling, or bending during walk-through inspections of worksites. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at http://://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be credited towards qualifications. Provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. All education claimed by applicants will be verified upon appointment. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript to receive credit. Additional Information VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. 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. It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document. If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.