Job Summary

The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist plans, schedules, and conducts inspections in establishments and worksites where there is a strong probability of encountering hazardous work processes and materials, and unsafe environmental conditions, involving a substantial number of employees.

Job Description

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/24/2026. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeds at the GS-09. 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 apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: INDIVIDUAL OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Education: Undergraduate or Graduate education with a major 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. -OR- 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 position duties. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements; developing or 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 work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse. In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirement above the following is the specialized experience or education to qualify for this position at the GS-9 or GS-11 grade levels. Specialized Experience GS-9: One (1) or more years of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist at the GS-9 level. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-07 level in the Federal service. Specialized experience is defined as, experience requiring knowledge of safety and occupational health programs; developing and recommending safety and occupational health policies; applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational and health requirements; and designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards. -OR- Education GS-9: A masters or equivalent graduate degree or successfully completed two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or a LL.B. or J.D., with a major in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), obtained in an accredited college or university, may be substituted for specialized experience to qualify for this position at the GS-9 grade level. The education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position.Transcripts Required. -OR- Combination Education and Specialized Experience GS-9: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the position, may be substituted to meet the experience requirements of the position. Transcripts Required. Specialized Experience GS-11: One-year specialized experience at the GS-9 grade level. Specialized experience is experience in or directly related to safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. Examples of specialized experience include: Managing safety and occupational health programs; developing and recommending safety and occupational health policies; applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational and health requirements; and designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards. -OR- Substitution of Education for Experience: Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, obtained in an accredited college or university, or LL.M., with a major in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), may be substituted for specialized experience to qualify for this grade 11 position. Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree must demonstrate knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent one (1) year of full-time study. If that number cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours will be considered an academic year of graduate study. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. NOTE: Transcripts Required. -OR- Combining Education and Experience: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist may be used to meet experience requirements for this position. NOTE: Only education in excess of 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education may be used to qualify at the grade 11 level. Transcripts Required. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork