Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Summary

These positions serve as Safety & Occupational Health Specialists in the Safety and Emergency Management Service of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS), Palo Alto, CA.. The employees are responsible for an assigned area of the medical center involving a wide variety of high-risk operations, facilities, and environmental conditions, including building inspections and accident investigations.

Duties

• ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** These positions involve a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-12. At the GS-9 and GS-11 grade levels, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-12. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher-level work, and availability of funds. Duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: Conducts safety and fire protection surveys, community care homes, nursing homes, and satellite clinics; Anticipates, identifies and evaluates hazardous conditions and practices of federally contracted facility maintenance and vertical/horizontal construction projects, utilizing experience, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and other information sources for all constructions projects; Accountable and responsible of the safety and fire protection for all phases of a project from inception to closure; Inspects construction projects to determine compliance with applicable occupational safety standards; Develops hazard control designs, methods, procedures and programs in support of established facilities and future construction and by evaluating and assessing the probability and severity of loss events and accidents; Performs periodic on-site surveys for assigned organizations; Prepares reports and ensures appropriate action/follow-up is taken; Measures, audits and evaluates the effectiveness of hazard controls and hazard control programs using written and graphic materials, presentations, and other communication media; Reviews all accident reports to determine root cause; Analyses for trends in accidents and areas where improvements can be made in safety; Reviews all safety plans to ensure compliance with JCAHO requirements and hospital policy; Investigates fires, motor vehicle collisions and other accidents involving damage or loss to government owned property, personal injury, or death to employees and/or visitors; Develops and provides technical safety training to supervisors and employees using a wide variety of materials, publications, exhibits, protective devices, and visual aids; Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved

Qualifications

To qualify for this position at the GS-9 grade level, you must meet one of the following: GS-9 Specialized Experience: Possess one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-7) in Federal Service that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, GS-9. Qualifying specialized experience includes 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. These assignments would have been performed of a more limited scope and with less independence than the full performance level, and be performed under supervision, consulting with the supervisor when problems are encountered. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and ending dates AND hours worked per week. OR GS-9 Education: A master's or equivalent degree OR successful completion of two (2) full years of graduate level education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. The major study must be in safety or occupational health field (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or a degree in another related field 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. This education must have been obtained at an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without transcripts. OR GS-9 Combination: An equivalent combination of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience, as described above, which meets the total experience requirements for this grade level. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must meet one of the following: GS-11 Specialized Experience: Possess one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-9) in Federal Service that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, GS-11. Qualifying specialized experience includes 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. At this level, assignments would have been performed with little or no supervision, consulting with the supervisor when unusual problems are encountered. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and ending dates AND hours worked per week. OR GS-11 Education: A Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree OR LL.M., if related. The major study must be in safety or occupational health field (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or a degree in another related field 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. This education must have been obtained at an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without transcripts. OR GS-11 Combination: An equivalent combination of successfully completed higher level graduate education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience, as described above, which meets the total experience requirements for this grade level. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without transcripts. To qualify for this position at the GS-12 grade level, you must meet the following: GS-12 Specialized Experience: Possess one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11) in Federal Service that has equipped the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the duties of a Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, GS-12. Qualifying specialized experience includes all specialized experience listed above for the GS-9 and GS-11 grade levels. At this level, assignments would have been performed independently, with no supervision, only consulting with a supervisor if/when unusual problems are encountered. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented in your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and ending dates AND hours worked per week. 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/.

Requirements

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 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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) - See "Required Documents" below for details. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. There is no educational substitution at the GS-12 grade level. 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/. Physical Demands: The work involves the frequent performances of surveys and on-site visits to laboratories and maintenance shops necessitating prolonged periods of walking, standing, climbing, and lifting. The specialist is frequently exposed to mechanical hazards ranging from power tools to operating machinery, and chemical and biological hazards while performing laboratory and maintenance shop surveys, emergency response and patient decontamination duties. The employee may be required to do frequent driving. Will regularly lift heavy material and equipment, squat, bend and stand for hours at a time.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include the initial online assessment and submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section above. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13064579. The application process is as follows: To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on the announcement closing date, 09/23/2026. After submitting the online application, you will be notified whether or not you are required to take additional online assessments through the USA Hire Competency Based Assessment system. This message will be delivered to you via email notification. The email may be routed to your "Spam" or "Junk" folder. IMPORTANT: If you are asked to take the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be presented with a unique URL to access the USA Hire system. Access to USA Hire is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Be sure to review all instructions prior to beginning your USA Hire Assessments. Click here for Computer System Requirements. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue at a later time, you can re-use the URL sent to you via email and also found in your USAJOBS account under the "Track my application" link for the corresponding application. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. Visit the USA Hire Applicant Resource Center for practice assessments and assessment preparation resources at https://support-usahire.opm.gov/hc/en-us. To view the announcement status or your application status: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit.