Summary The Bay Pines VA Healthcare System (BPVAHCS) Safety & Occupational Health Specialist is assigned to the Office of Safety & Emergency Management. This specialist utilizes his/her own initiative with minimal supervision in planning, scheduling, and conducting periodic on site surveys for assigned organizations. Responsibilities Duties include, but are not limited to: Serves as technical advisor to the Occupational Safety & Health Manager on a full range of Occupational Safety & Health issues. Develops technical guidance and organizational promotional materials, training tools and reports. Instructs employees, and contract employees, in a comprehensive training program highlighting areas of concern. Directs PMI work of all related safety and fire protection systems and equipment to ensure these systems are maintained. Prepares and reviews safety instructions and guides that are relevant to current or planned contracts. Reviews Healthcare System regulations, supplements, and pamphlets to ensure safety criteria is in compliance with accepted national standards. 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 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD08057A and PD08056A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/23/2025. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience GS-07: I have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties the Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-05) in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience where you were able to assist the Occupational Safety & Health Manager and other Selection employees in the planning, development, and implementation of a comprehensive Occupational Safety & Health Program; including such elements as using a broad working knowledge or regulations, laws and guidelines in making decisions about when and how to apply guidelines to emergent and non-emergent situations. Specialized Experience GS-09: I have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties the Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-07) in the Federal service. Specialized experience is experience where you were able to assist the Occupational Safety & Health Manager and other Selection employees in the planning, development, and implementation of a comprehensive Occupational Safety & Health Program; including such elements as environmental monitoring, record keeping, medical surveillance, personal protective equipment, waste disposal, investigations, and training, with limited assistance. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week. OR, Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study in a subject area related to the position to be filled. For the GS-07, you must have one (1) full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement. For the GS-09, you must have a Master's degree or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Compliance Inspection Customer Service (Clerical/Technical) Public Safety and Security 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work involves the frequent performance of surveys and on-site visits throughout the Healthcare system and maintenance shops necessitating prolonged periods of walking and standing. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. 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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. 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.