Duties

Summary

This position is located at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), Smithsonian Institution. The employee is responsible for overseeing and coordinating a comprehensive SERC safety and occupational health program.
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Responsibilities

As the Safety & Occupational Health Specialist, the incumbent would perform the following duties:

• Provides technical advice on the management of the safety program for staff, visitors, volunteers, and students at a biological and chemical laboratory and outdoor science research complex.
  
• Conducts inspections periodically and at random to ensure compliance with the various aspects of chemical laboratory and hazardous materials safety, fire safety, electrical safety, outdoor hazard safety, office building safety, and maintenance operation safety to determine service ability..
  
• Notifies supervisors on the findings of scheduled or unscheduled inspections, citing appropriate standards, regulations, laws, guidelines, etc., and including informational and action memoranda regarding discrepancies, safety and health programs and other related activities.
  
• Provides training, assistance and encouragement to resolve hazards encountered by reviewing hazards and violations noted and advises supervisors of obligations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Smithsonian and SERC criteria and regulations..
  
• Consistently articulates safety and health practices to advance the accident prevention program.
  

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
11

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
• May need to complete a Probationary Period
• Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
• Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on the web at http://www.opm.gov/qualifications.

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-09 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system. For this position Specialized experience is defined as identifying and evaluating risk potential involving a variety of environments and occupations using a knowledge of safety and occupational health management principles, practices and procedures and the wide range of laws and regulations; promoting safety programs and principles in a variety of environments to a variety of employee and visitor groups; assessing new procedures to identify and control hazardous operations, conditions and equipment.

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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Or Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or LL.M. 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 a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards . Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Education

Please review Education Requirements listed under Qualifications Tab.

Additional information

Flexible Spending Accounts - https://www.fsafeds.com/
Health Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.asp
Leave - http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/index.asp
Life Insurance - http://www.opm.gov/insure/life/index.asp
Long Term Care Insurance - http://www.ltcfeds.com
Retirement Program - https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your resume will be used to evaluate your experience, education, and/or training that address the competencies below:

Knowledge of and ability to plan, direct and manage a safety and occupational health program for a biological and chemical laboratory and outdoor research facility.

Ability to inspect, evaluate, and apply safety and occupational health standards as it relates to a biological and chemical laboratory and outdoor research facility (or similar).

Knowledge of and Occupational Health and Safety Act and ability to provide training, assistance and consistent communication to diverse staff and students on safety and occupational health and hazards for a biological and chemical laboratory and outdoor research facility (or similar).

Ability to present safety and occupational health information to management.

BASIS OF RATING: Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a Human Resources Specialist. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your application and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of this position. If, after the Human Resources Specialist reviews your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that the score you have received is not a true reflection of your qualifications and/or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect the information you provided that support your abilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA): If you are applying for a VEOA appointment, you must be a veteran and must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed 3 or more years of active service. ("Active Service" under this law means active duty in a uniformed service and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.) A veteran who is released under honorable conditions shortly before completing a 3-year tour is also eligible.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities: The following links contain information on the eligibility requirements to be considered under a noncompetitive appointing authority:

• Primary Appointing Authorities for Career and Career-Conditional Appointments
• Hiring Authorities for Veterans
• People with Disabilities

Important Note:

The review of your resume will determine your final rating and should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

Your application package should include the following documents:

• Resume - Your resume can be uploaded and attached to your application or created using the USA Jobs on-line resume builder. If you want to receive full credit for relevant experience your resume MUST contain the job title (including the occupational series and grade if it is Federal), duties, starting and ending dates (month and year), hours worked per week, and salary.

USAJOBS has guidance on how to ensure that you submit a complete resume: If you have not written a Federal resume before, you may watch this Resume Writing Tutorial video on the USAJOBS YouTube channel , or read through a helpful Resume Writing FAQ article on the USAJOBS Help Site to learn what details you should, and should not, include in your resume. If any of the above information is not included in your resume we may not be able to fully credit you for your experience.

• Detailed resume created in the USAJOBS Resume Builder.
• Proof of prior federal service such as the latest SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action
• Unofficial school transcripts, if the position has an education requirement or if you are using education to qualify. If selected for the position, you must provide an official transcript before appointment.
  
• Proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study, if applicable.
• A recent performance evaluation
• Proof of Veteran's Preference - DD214 (Member 4 Copy) if you are requesting a special appointment authority, such as VRA or VEOA
• Proof of severe disability if you are requesting special placement consideration
• Proof of eligibility for a military spouse appointment, such as a permanent change station military order
• Proof of eligibility for any other special appointing authority not specifically mentioned here.