Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Summary What General Information Do I Need To Know About This Position? GS-11 Salary: $83,265 (Step 01) to $108,251 (Step 10); GS-12 Salary: $99,800 (Step 01) to $129,742 (Step 10); NOTE: First time hires to the Federal Government are typically hired at the Step 01. Open to current or former Federal employees: USGS-DEN-26-12898899-ST-DLA Duties As a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist within the Geology, Geophysics, & Geochemistry Science Center some of your specific duties will include: Provides and coordinates training. Maintains applicable standards and regulations including hazardous waste storage and disposal policies. Responsible for scheduling or conducting safety inspections. Reviews job hazard analysis and field safety/communication plans. Identifies hazards and ensures abatement of hazards has been performed. Evaluation of accidents, investigations, and reporting. Serves as the centers primary contact for establishing required safety training and receives, distributes, and maintains safety information material. Organizes Center safety committee and trains the Center collateral duty safety program coordinators. Operates a government owned or leased vehicle as an incidental driver. Requirements Conditions of employment Key Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. Citizens. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. Selectee may be subject to serving a one-year probationary period. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Other Information. Selectee must provide a valid state driver's license & safe driving record. Are There Any Special Requirements For This Position? You will be required to operate a government-owned or leased vehicle in the performance of your official duties. Applicants for this position must meet the following requirements:(1) possess a valid State license, and (2) possess a safe driving record. If selected, you will be required to provide proof of a valid State license & a copy of your driving record. Because this position requires travel for official business, the selectee will be required to apply for a charge card within 30 calendar days of appointment. Individuals who have delinquent account balances from a previous Government charge card will be required to satisfy their existing obligation before a new card can be issued. A background investigation will be required for this position. Continued employment will be subject to the applicant's successful completion of a background security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. Throughout the recruitment and hiring process we will be communicating with you via email; therefore, it is imperative that the email address you provide when applying for this vacancy remains active. Should your email address change, please notify the point of contact identified in the vacancy announcement as soon as possible so that we can update our system. CONTINUED IN QUALIFICATIONS SECTION Qualifications CONTINUED FROM REQUIREMENTS SECTION Conditions of Employment for this Position: As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1- year probationary period during which your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest will be evaluated. This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will 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. Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. 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: Definitions: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Specialized experience is 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 to be filled. Examples of qualifying specialized experience may include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements. Developing or 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. UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION: A year of undergraduate education is 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours or the equivalent of college study. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent was a prerequisite. GRADUATE EDUCATION: In the absence of specific graduate program information, a year of graduate education is 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours of graduate level college course work, or the number of credit hours the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. FOR GS-11: At least one year of appropriate professional experience in safety and occupational health that is directly related to the duties of the position to be filled is qualifying if it is equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal service and if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position. Examples of experience includes providing safety and occupational health services, such as, but not limited to, administering previously developed health and occupational safety programs for individual laboratories, reviewing laboratory safety procedures and guidelines, researching personal protective equipment (PPE), learning from team members on how to make technical recommendations regarding unsafe practices, work environments, or procedures, providing hazard recognition training, arranging for safety training for field operations, tracking and recording the completion of require safety training courses, tracking the purchase, storage, usage, and disposal of hazardous or volatile chemicals and materials, and overseeing compliance for safety procedures for both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. The complexity of this work may require modification and adaptation of standard procedures, methods, and techniques, and the development or adaptation of new methods and techniques to address novel or obscure problems for which guidelines or precedents are not substantially applicable. FOR GS-12: At least one year of appropriate professional experience in safety and occupational health that is directly related to the duties of the position to be filled is qualifying if it is equivalent to at least the GS-11 level in the Federal service and if it equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position. Examples of experience includes providing safety and occupational health services, such as but not limited to, developing and administering health and occupational safety programs for different science centers and individual laboratories, recommending and reviewing laboratory safety procedures and guidelines, researching and making recommendations on personal protective equipment (PPE), conducting job hazard analyses (JHAs), developing and providing hazard recognition training, conducting, identifying and arranging safety training for field operations, tracking and recording the completion of required safety training courses, tracking the purchase, storage, usage, and procuring the disposal of hazardous or volatile chemicals and materials, and overseeing compliance for safety procedures for both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. The complexity of this work may require modification and adaptation of standard procedures, methods, and techniques, and the development or adaptation of new methods and techniques to address novel or obscure problems for which guidelines or precedents are not substantially applicable. You must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements for the position by the closing date of the announcement. Education 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. Education completed in colleges or universities outside the United States may be used to meet the above requirements. You must provide acceptable documentation that the foreign education is comparable to that received in an accredited educational institution in the United States. For more information on how foreign education is evaluated, visit:https://www.usgs.gov/human-capital/how-foreign-education-evaluated-federal-jobs Additional information Other Information: This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies in the advertised office or other U.S. Geological Survey offices in the local commuting area. Applicants who include vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language or information in their application package will be ineligible for further consideration for this position. Identification of promotion potential in this announcement does not constitute a commitment or an obligation on the part of management to promote the employee selected at some future date. Promotion will depend upon administrative approval and the continuing need for and performance of higher-level duties. Under Executive Order 11935, only United States citizens and nationals (residents of American Samoa and Swains Island) may compete for civil service jobs. Agencies are permitted to hire non-citizens only in very limited circumstances where there are no qualified citizens available for the position. USGS employees are subject to Title 43, USC Section 31(a) and may not: (a) have any personal, private, direct or indirect interest in lands or mineral wealth of lands under survey; (b) have any substantial personal, private, direct or indirect interests in any private mining or mineral enterprise doing business with the United States; or (c) execute surveys or examinations for private parties or corporations. The application contains information subject to the Privacy Act (P.L. 93-579, 5 USC 552a). The information is used to determine qualifications for employment, and is authorized under Title 5, USC, Section 3302 and 3361. DOI uses E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. To learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, please visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify. As part of the application process, a series of four short essay questions will be included. Applicants must certify that their own words were used to answer the questions. Applicants who apply under this job opportunity announcement agree to have their application, associated documents and applicable personal information shared with other Bureaus/Offices within the Department of the Interior (DOI) who have vacancies within the same occupational series, grade, full performance level and in the same geographic location(s), including within the same metro/commuting area. Applying to this announcement does not replace the need to apply to other job opportunity announcements for which you wish to receive consideration. Agency Benefits: USGS has determined that the duties of this position are suitable for telework and the selectee may be allowed to telework in accordance with the DOI Telework policy and with supervisor approval. The official worksite for the selectee is the duty station identified in this vacancy announcement. The selectee will typically report to this duty location on a regular and recurring weekly basis. For additional information on our internal telework policy, please reference the Department of the Interior Telework Handbook at: https://www.doi.gov/telework/policies. Working for the U.S. Geological Survey offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; health, life, dental, vision, and long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, and participation in the Federal Employees Retirement System. 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. Benefits 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. Review our 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.