Summary The Facility Safety and Occupational Health Manager is located in the Office of the Director at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, IL. This position plans, directs, coordinates, and evaluates agency programs requiring the application of unusual or complex criteria to eliminate or control serious hazards encountered in the construction, operation, and maintenance of a wide variety of facilities including inpatient wards, clinics, and laboratories. Responsibilities Plans, develops, directs, and coordinates a comprehensive hospital occupational safety and health (OSHA), industrial hygiene, and emergency management programs Ensures medical center activities meet or exceed compliance with applicable environmental, public health, and resource protection laws and regulations Prepares policy memoranda related to hospital safety, occupational health, and emergency management Conducts periodic program evaluations and performance of the safety, occupational health, and emergency management program Prepares reports of evaluations for management review Conducts walk-through inspections of worksites, noting which operations could constitute potential health problems Takes environmental samples where ceiling limits have been established, taking note of suspected hazards Arranges for shipment of samples to laboratory for analysis and performs limited in-house sample analysis. Prepares reports of inspection findings, to include recommendations to alleviate hazardous conditions Provides extensive technical advice to medical center personnel on a wide range of occupational health issues Follows-up to ensure that required abatement measures are completed Inspects hospital buildings, grounds, operations of physical plant facilities, and motor vehicle operations Investigates accidents (including fires) involving personnel and/or significant damage to machinery, tools materials, or equipment Analyzes investigation findings, prepares reports, and recommends measures to eliminate similar accidents Consults with medical center services regarding @types of protective apparel and equipment needed to protect personnel from harmful work environmental factors Reviews drawings and specifications for VA or private contractors for construction and/or renovation to determine compliance with standards and regulations and makes recommendations for changes to eliminate hazards or improve safety requirements Performs special studies and participates in the development of hospital policy concerning health hazards and possible approaches to their control Performs other related duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00 pm Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Manager (Temporary Promotion)/PD234260 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/trial period 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 dentification 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) Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/12/2025. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 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. 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. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accident Investigation Decision Making Emergency Management Hazardous Materials Health Physics Personnel Security and Safety Safety Engineering Technical Credibility 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: There may be frequent walking, standing, climbing, crawling, or bending during walk-through inspections of worksites. 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 There is no educational substitution at this 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/. Additional Information This is a temporary promotion which requires supervisory approval. You may get this in writing via email and just upload a copy of that email. 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.
