Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Summary

The Safety and Occupational Health Management provides the planning, coordinating, and evaluating for the safety program. The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist ensures that the Safety Service office functions efficiently and effectively by carrying out assigned duties.

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Duties

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Duties 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 nurse.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Work Schedule is subject to change based on agency need.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/ PD99387S, PD99388S, and PD99389S

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Critical Skills Incentives (CSI): Not Approved

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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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
• 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 ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification 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)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/21/2026.

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 7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 5.
• For the GS 9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS 7.
• For the 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. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience:
  • Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization .
    • To qualify for the GS 7 position you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. OR,
    • To qualify for the GS 9 position you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. OR,
    • To qualify for the GS 11 position you must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS 9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have
  • For GS 7 (1) year of graduate level educations or superior academic achievement. OR,
  • For GS 9 (2) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. OR,
  • For GS 11 (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education stated above.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

Additional information

The Trainee requires specialized knowledge of the principles, practices, and methods of work relating to Safety & Occupational health Specialist programs. The trainee applies knowledge of one or more or functional areas of environmental protection work but does not require full professional competence in environmental protection work but does not require full professional competence in environmental engineering science.

This knowledge entails: An understanding of Safety & Occupational Health laws and evaluate Safety laws and regulations; knowledge of how to plan; organize, implement, and evaluate Safety programs; practical knowledge of Safety Occupational Health Specialist and related disciplines, the means survey work to identify and evalute hazardous and non-hazaedous industrial work operations and conditions and to recommend corrective procedures where the potential for injury or property damage exists.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.