Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Summary

This position is located on a National Forest and/or Grasslands.The incumbent is the Safety Manager for the assigned duty location.

For additional information about the duties of this position, please contact Debby Gonzales at View email address on click.appcast.io.

The closing date for this announcement has been extended to 7/13/2026. This meets all National Association of Government Employees (NAGE) Collective Bargaining Agreement.

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Duties

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• Duties listed are at the full performance level.
• Conduct on-site occupational health surveys and inspections of field operations and facilities.
• Provide advice and guidance on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and the Forest Service Safety Handbook.
• Conduct follow-up analysis to determine the effectiveness of safety recommendations.
• Develop and maintain Forest Service safety plans and job hazard analyses.
• Assist working groups to ensure that safety and health considerations are met.
• Participate as an advisory member on the leadership team, advising management officials on the status of the safety and occupational health program.
• Develop reports and briefing summaries to identify accident and other health and safety trends.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Males born after 12/31/1959 must be Selective Service registered or exempt.
• Subject to satisfactory adjudication of background investigation and/or fingerprint check.
• Per Public Law 104-134 all Federal employees are required to have federal payments made by direct deposit to their financial institution.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit e-verify.gov

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards.

Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary.

Basic Requirement:

GS-0018: Major related to 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 experience in safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position.

In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must also possess experience and/or directly related education in the amounts listed below.

Specialized Experience Requirement:

For the GS 09 : You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS 08 in the Federal service.

Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Conducting or organizing safety training in the field or classroom; and/or l eading or participating in after action incident reviews or facilitated learning analyses; and/or experiencing, certifying, and training in using mechanized equipment such as chainsaws, ATVs, snow machines, radios, and other equipment and resources used in natural resource management; and/or preparing and implementing project job hazard analyses; and/or participating in the applications of risk management principles in the development or implementation of projects or field operation.

OR a 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., in one or more of the following disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology;

OR an appropriate combination of specialized experience and education (only graduate education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to qualify applicants for this grade level in one or more of the following disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology).

For the GS 11: You must have one year specialized experience equivalent to the GS 09 in the Federal service.

Specialized experience is defined as one or more of the following: Participating or assisting in the development and implementation of a unit safety and risk management program; and/or c oordinating, conducting; and/or organizing training in the field or classroom related to safety and risk management; and/or organizing, leading and/or participating in accident investigations, after action reviews or facilitating learning analyses; and/or reviewing, preparing and implementing project job hazard analyses.

OR a 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 an appropriate combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond what is required for a master's degree, i.e., more than 36 semester hours leading to a Ph.D.

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.

TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENT: If you are a current federal employee in the General Schedule (GS) pay plan and applying for a promotion opportunity, you must meet time-in-grade (TIG) requirements of 52 weeks of service at the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled. This requirement must be met by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

This job does not have an education qualification requirement.

Additional information

Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) or Reemployment Priority List (RPL): To exercise selection priority for this vacancy, CTAP/RPL candidates must meet the basic eligibility requirements and all selective factors. CTAP candidates must be rated and determined to be well qualified (or above) based on an evaluation of the competencies listed in the How You Will Be Evaluated section. When assessed through a score-based category rating method, CTAP applicants must receive a rating of at least 85 out of a possible 100.

Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA) provides current or former temporary and term employees the opportunity to compete for permanent competitive service positions. Individuals must have more than 24 months of service without a break between appointments of two or more years and the last temporary or term appointment must have been with the Forest Service. Service must be in the competitive service and have been at a successful level of performance or better. Part-time and intermittent service will be credited only for time actually worked. Non-pay status such as leave without pay is credited for up to six months in a calendar year; anything beyond six months is not credited. Applicants are responsible for providing sufficient information/documentation to determine if the 24 month criteria is met.

If you are selected for a position with further promotion potential, you will be placed under a career development plan, and may be non-competitively promoted if you successfully complete the requirements and if recommended by management. However, promotion is not guaranteed.

This position is not eligible for telework.

The Forest Service may use certain incentives and hiring flexibilities, currently offered by the Federal government, to attract highly qualified candidates. Additional Information is available on the OPM Website.

A recruitment or relocation incentive, or reimbursement of relocation expenses may be authorized at the discretion of management in accordance with agency policy.

This is a bargaining unit position and is represented by either NFFE, AFGE, or NAGE.

Positions filled from this announcement may be a bargaining or a non-bargaining unit position represented by either NFFE, AFGE or NAGE.

Forest Service daycare facilities are not available.

Government Housing may be available.

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.

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.