Summary The position is in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS) in the Occupational Safety and Health Service. The VA Medical Center is located in Salt Lake City, Utah with 9 community clinics located spanning across 125,000 square miles. The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist is an integral member of a Safety and Health program ranging from fire safety to radiation safety and industrial hygiene. Responsibilities Duties include but are not limited to: Conducts independent inspections/studies, analyzing findings, and preparing various reports. Studies and surveys performed involve determining compliance with various established criteria, evaluating exposures and advising on control measures and changes in work procedures to comply with established health and safety requirements and providing information for evaluation purposes. Responsible for development, oversight, and execution of appropriate worksite evaluations and preventative intervention with timely recommendations and corrective actions provided to requesting employees and management. Reviews safety and occupational health activities for evidence of compliance with prescribed requirements. Works with supervisors, internal customers, small business owners, employees, contractors and the safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions. Must have a general knowledge of safety and occupational health methods, practices, principles and procedures to perform effectively. Promote a wide variety of training activities designed to achieve awareness of safety hazards and corresponding preventive procedures. Carry out inspections, investigating, recording, analyzing, and reporting. Develops and implements programs, policies, and procedures to meet program, policy and facility goals. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework: This position may be authorized for telework on an Ad-Hoc basis only. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD11936A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Requirements Conditions of Employment 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 position requires moderate physical activity in assisting with assembly and installation of ergonomic equipment. Walking, stooping, standing, bending and occasional lifting of moderately heavy items is required. Computer work requires long periods of sitting. The position requires stamina and concentration as well. There may be a certain amount of mental strain related to meeting established deadlines and frequent oversight and regulatory reviews/surveys. 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) As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial 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 period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 04/10/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. 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. INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS (IOR) BASIC REQUIREMENTS: You must meet one of the following Education or Experience Requirements: EDUCATION: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- 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. OR SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: 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. The Individual Occupational Requirements above, you must possess the required specialized experience, education, or combination of experience and education as identified below: GS-11 GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Must meet one of the following: EXPERIENCE: Applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-9) which provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience participating in the resolution of difficult safety surveillance program issues; supporting promotional and educational functions, reviewing safety policies and procedures, and carrying out required administrative functions in support of the safety program; using data techniques to identify and analyze safety and occupational health data and problems sufficient to recommend necessary changes that solve complex problems and challenges; following policies, directives, regulations, operating procedures, information flow, and prevailing safety and occupational health practices in government agencies and in the private sector sufficient to evaluate and recommend adoption of new or enhanced approaches; conveying policy and concepts to technical and nontechnical managers, project partners, and other germane parties through written and oral communication. OR EDUCATION: Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-11 level which is the completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree which provided the knowledge skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist. OR COMBINING EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: Occupational Safety in either a clinical setting or construction. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: Physical Requirements: The position requires moderate physical activity in assisting with assembly and installation of ergonomic equipment. Walking, stooping, standing, bending and occasional lifting of moderately heavy items is required. Computer work requires long periods of sitting. The position requires stamina and concentration as well. There may be a certain amount of mental strain related to meeting established deadlines and frequent oversight and regulatory reviews/surveys. The work involves the frequent performance of surveys and onsite visits to laboratory and maintenance shops necessitating prolonged periods of walking and standing. The work involves the frequent performance of onsite visits to clinical sites on campus or at the CBOCs (Community Based Outpatient Clinics) or contracted facilities. 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 A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. 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 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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.
