Description:
The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist serves South Texas Veterans Healthcare System (STVHCS). Serves as an expert in safety, occupational health and ergonomics, life safety, and fire protection in the STVHCS. Responsible for developing policies, goals, and plans for execution of activities; evaluating programs, and providing advice to field activities, private contracting companies, and other Agencies which have participating or related programs.Requirements:
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/07/2026.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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.
Safety and Occupational Health Specialist series has Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) that must be met. One of the following Education/Experience/Certificates must be met to qualify for this series:
- Education: I possess undergraduate and graduate education with a major study in 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. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR
- Experience : Specialized Experience (for positions above GS-5): 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. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: 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 and working in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse. OR
- Certificates: Certification as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or Certified Health Physicist (CHP), or similar certification that included successful completion of a written examination meets the requirements for GS-5. Applicants may also qualify for higher grade levels based on their education and/or experience.
- Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: must be knowledgeable with the occupational health standards and its intent to determine and initiate corrective action for instances of noncompliance; evaluating and applying methods and equipment to the practice of ergonomics and occupational health, particularly in dealing with problems not readily resolved by standard methods; analyzing facts and principles to resolve occupational health, safety, and ergonomic issues; AND has sufficient knowledge of NFPA, OSHA, VA, The Joint Commission (TJC), and EPA regulatory codes to apply these standards to control hazardous situations in existing facilities as well as new construction areas, which supports continued survey readiness.
- Compliance Inspection
- Problem Solving
- Risk Management
- Technology Application
- Communication
- Compliance
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/ .
Feb 2, 2026;
from:
usajobs.gov