Safety and Occupational Health Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), with 1 vacancy in San Diego, CA. This position is also announced under vacancy number NMFS-26-13057955-ST, which is open to Status Candidates. You must apply to both announcements if you want to be considered for both.

Duties

• As a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, you will perform the following duties: Plan, coordinate, and execute the organization's facilities, safety, and occupational health program, to analyze and advise on changes in policies and resources that affect program objectives. Review standards and codes, publications on work processes, and current industrial problems and make recommendations to senior leadership on required changes to standards and policies. Identify and ensure that environmental and occupational operations (including highly hazardous control activities) are documented, in place, monitored and controlled, such as Material Safety Data Sheet or Safety Data Sheet data. Lead inspections to ensure the effectiveness of occupational safety requirements in the work environment, and to assess the degree of compliance. Conduct facility safety inspections of reportable and non-reportable mishaps involving personal injury accidents, property damage, and cases of occupational illnesses or findings. Identify unsafe conditions, practices, or hazards. Report findings, assign risk assessment codes, recommend corrective actions, and conduct follow-up inspections. Collect data and research information for annual updates to the Environmental Health and Safety Action Plan, to ensure environmental compliance and reports are complete. Contribute to and communicate with Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) leadership regarding the Safety Action Plan. Collaborate with management on program changes or alternative courses of action on policy or procedural changes that may result in the modification of new and existing safety and occupational health management techniques, operations, activities and improvement on environmentally responsible operations. Advise management on more complex safety risks encountered and in risk assessments, analyze operating practices to minimize safety risk and incidents, and identify risk mitigation strategies. Submit and manage status of work orders on behalf of SWFSC. Facilitate meetings, review responses to data calls for accuracy and completeness, and report on the Facilities Working Group, Safety, Environmental, and Security Committee, Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health Manager. Brief new employees on emergency management procedures and develop, implement and conduct formal classroom training on compliance procedures, legal, regulatory, and procedural guidance. NOTE: The duties are at the full performance level of the ZA-3 the ZA-2 is the developmental leading to such performance. This position will be filled under the DOC Alternative Personnel System (CAPS). Under CAPS, positions are classified by career, pay plan, and pay band. The ZA-2 is equivalent to the GS-07/09. The ZA-3 is equivalent to the GS-11/12. The Full Performance Level (FPL) is the ZA-3.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements in the vacancy announcements are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook, which contains federal qualification standards. This handbook is available on the Office of Personnel Management's website located at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ EDUCATION: There is no positive education requirement for this position. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade level in the Federal Service. Specialized experience is experience that has equipped the applicant with the particular competencies/knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. This experience need not have been in the federal government. 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. To qualify at the ZA-2 or GS-07 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZA-1 or GS-05 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Reviewing hazards and unsafe conditions and practices for occupational health or safety inspections or surveys. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: One full year of graduate-level education in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene) or 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 SUPERIOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: Demonstrated by a related bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with one of the following. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your application clearly states how you meet one of the provisions below (you must attach a copy of your transcripts showing completed degree and, if applicable, proof of national Scholastic Honor Society membership): A grade point average (GPA) of 2.9 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses, or those completed in the last 2 full years of undergraduate study; A GPA of 3.5 or higher based on a 4.0 scale for required courses completed in a major field of study, or those courses completed in a major field of study during the last two years of undergraduate study; Class standing of upper third of the graduating class in the college, university, or major subdivision of the college; Membership in a national Scholastic Honor Society certified by the Association of College Honor Societies, excluding freshman honor societies. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements. To qualify at the ZA-3 or GS-11 level: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Applicants must possess one full year (52 weeks) of specialized experience equivalent to the ZA-2 or GS-09 in the Federal service. Specialized experience MUST include all of the following: Participating in safety and occupational health inspections and surveys for facilities; and Evaluating operating practices or identifying risk mitigation strategies to minimize safety risk and incidents. OR SUBSTITUTION OF EDUCATION: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene) or 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 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or LL.M., if related. OR COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: A combination of successfully completed graduate-level education and specialized experience may be used to meet the total experience requirements. Note: Only graduate-level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience.

Requirements

Key Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. Citizens. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by background investigation. More requirements are listed under Qualifications and Additional Information. Must be registered for Selective Service, if applicable (www.sss.gov) Qualification requirements must be met by closing date of the announcement. Additional Considerations: One year probationary period may be required. Payment of relocation expenses (PCS) is not authorized. Payment of relocation incentives OR recruitment incentives may be authorized. Note: Relocation incentives are for current federal employees only. This position requires Low Risk Security Clearance. Background investigation will be required. Continued employment is subject to applicant's successful completion of security investigation and favorable adjudication. Failure to successfully meet these requirements will be grounds for termination. *Note: A one year probationary period will be required unless you are a current Department of Commerce (including NOAA) employee and are in the same line of work and with no more than a 30 day break in service. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, for those required to serve a 1-year probationary period, 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; 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. 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.

Education

College Transcript: If you are qualifying based on education, submit a copy of your college transcript that lists college courses detailing each course by the number and department (i.e., Bio 101, Math 210, etc.), name of accredited institution, course title, number of credit hours and grade earned. You must submit evidence that any education completed in a foreign institution is equivalent to U.S. education standards with your resume. You may submit an unofficial copy of the transcript at the initial phase of the application process. If course content cannot be easily identified from the title of the course as listed on your transcript, you must submit an official course description from the college/university that reflects the content at the time the course was taken. Note: Your college transcript is used to verify successful completion of degree, or college course work. An official college transcript will be required before you can report to duty. 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: OPM Foreign Education Evaluation.

How to apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the blue "Apply Online" button. If you are not a registered USAJOBS user, please create a new account and follow the instructions to complete your application process. If you are a registered user, login to access your existing USAJOBS profile. As a registered user, select a stored resume and select one or more of your stored documents to attach to your application. Check the "Certification" box and click the "Apply for this position now!" button located at the bottom of the screen. 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. If you experience technical difficulties during the online application process, please contact the USAJOBS helpdesk To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.