Remote Occupational Health And Safety Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Summary
Serves as the Safety and Occupational Health Specialist for the New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System, in this role supporting safety and health staff in regulatory compliance, research, training, program development, accident prevention and safety surveys in a healthcare environment.
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Duties
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Major duties include:

• Assumes a lead role in the development of safety goals, policy, and procedural documentation for a facility.
• Advises management officials within the assigned area on the status of the safety and occupational health programs and recommends changes in the design of work programs to meet new safety and occupational health standards.
• Conducts Environment of Care Safety and Health inspections of private homes used in the grant per diem.
• Ensures facility construction and maintenance projects, designs, and specifications comply with OSHA, VA, VHA, and VISN OSH requirements.
• Confers with safety and occupational health specialists external to the facility to identify hazards related to new laboratory equipment or other areas and to become familiar with evolving techniques and protective devices for controlling or eliminating potential safety hazards.
• Schedules surveys of VA buildings and offices to identify and evaluate risks involving a wide variety of work environments; determines the extent to which mechanical and physical conditions comply, and makes decisions regarding adherence to established safety policies and procedures.
• Directs investigations of accidents, analyzing precipitating factors and accident cause data in order to develop specific methods for prevention.
• Trains other employees and lower grade occupational safety and industrial hygiene staff, providing instruction on a variety of subjects, including chemical, biological, or physical safety topics.
• Performs audits and inspections for Annual workplace Inspections (Occupational Safety and Health Administration Inspections) and Environment of Care Safety and Health inspections of worksites to assure compliance, prepare reports and findings, and develop corrective actions, at all NMVAHCS facilities to include all Community Based Out-Patient Clinics, Contract Community Based Out-Patient Clinics, private homes used in the VA community Residential Care Program and halfway houses and homes used in the VA "homeless veterans" program.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:00am - 3:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Safety and Occupational Health Specialist/PD50159A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Requirements
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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
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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 identification 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, 06/15/2026.
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.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Basic 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. 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.
    • Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse.
• GS-11 Grade Level Requirements
  
  • Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. To be creditable, experience must have been equivalent to the GS-9 level in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Managing safety or occupational health program elements; developing and recommending safety and/or occupational health policy to higher levels of management; applying safety and/or occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and/or health requirements; developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses; 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. OR
  • Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, or related LL.M. (Transcript Required). OR,
  • Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond master's or equivalent graduate degree, beyond 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education, or beyond LL.B or J.D., if related (Transcript Required).

A valid State driver's license is required. A safe driving record is required.
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.
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/.
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
Benefits
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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about fede...