Industrial Hygienist

Summary

This position is aligned under the Office of the Associate Director service at the Tomah VA Medical Center and provides for the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of comprehensive industrial hygiene and environmental compliance programs. **RECRUITMENT/RELOCATION INCENTIVE MAY BE AUTHORIZED FOR A HIGHLY QUALIFIED CANDIDATE**

Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/08/2024. 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: Individual Occupational Requirement - Basic Requirement Basic Education Requirements: A degree in industrial hygiene or a branch of engineering, physical science, or life science that included 12 semester hours in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours of courses in any combination of chemistry, physics, engineering, health physics, environmental health, biostatistics, biology, physiology, toxicology, epidemiology, or industrial hygiene. Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable. All science or engineering courses offered in fulfillment of the above requirements must be acceptable for credit toward the completion of a standard 4-year professional curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in science or engineering at an accredited college or university. Transcripts Required -OR- Basic Combination of Education and Experience: Possession of at least 12 semester hours of course work in chemistry, including organic chemistry, and 18 additional semester hours as specified above, plus appropriate experience. Appropriate and qualifying experience may have been obtained in a field, laboratory, engineering, or other environment if the work provided a means of obtaining professional of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls. Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well-being of workers; and the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment. Transcripts Required. In addition to meeting the Basic Education Requirements you must meet the following specialized experience and/or education to qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level. Specialized Experience GS 11: At least one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Industrial Hygienist position, and that is typically in or related to the duties of this position. To be credible, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal service. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Demonstrated technical experience and knowledge of industrial hygiene principles, procedures, standards, equipment, techniques, and methods; applies knowledge of industrial and hazardous operations such as clinical, research, nuclear medicine and radiological procedures; knowledge of medical facility operations and processes, materials and equipment used, and by-products generated; skill in the use of a variety of sampling instrumentation; knowledge of sampling strategies and knowledge of the type and limitations of analytical methods; knowledge of methods of control for a wide variety of health hazards, including toxic chemicals and noise; and ability to organize material and speak in front of groups sufficient to conduct training. -OR- Substitution of Education for Experience GS-11: 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, with a major field of study directly related to the position being filled. 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- Combination Education and Experience GS-11: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate education and specialized experience directly related to the work of the Industrial Hygienist position may be used to meet the 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: Chemistry Compliance Inspection Manages and Organizes Information Safety Engineering 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: The performance of duties requires long periods of walking, standing, crawling, kneeling, and bending. Moderate lifting and carrying of equipment, use of personal protective devices and work in hazardous and confirmed spaces is required. Use of all appendages, good vision, and hearing re necessary. Work Environment: The incumbent is frequently exposed to potentially hazardous conditions and materials such as noise, dust, asbestos, fumes, smoke gases, solvents, flammables, explosives, etc. Also, the incumbent is frequently exposed to equipment in operating and construction hazards. Temperatures encountered can be extremely hot or cold for periods of time. Per OSHA requirements, a beard is not permitted due to the usage of a respirator. The ability to operate a motor vehicle is necessary. 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/.

Duties "Duties Include: Serves as an Industrial Hygienist with duties that include asbestos control and abatement, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, hearing conversation, hazard communication, nitrous oxide, mercury, hazardous and infectious waste management, water testing and treatment, respirator program, and anti-neoplastic drugs.
Performs various duties to assess work practices and environmental conditions for hazards to the health and safety of workers which includes conducting studies of work operations and processes, examining work environments, analyzing findings, promulgating recommendations, and preparing various reports.
Environmental conditions involve a variety of hazards including physical, chemical, and biological hazards; ionizing and non-ionizing radiation; and other environmental agents.
The incumbent regularly inspects the medical center to identify potential occupational health hazards and the need for further investigative studies and surveys.
Studies and surveys performed involve determining compliance with various established criteria, evaluating exposures, and advising on control measures and changes in work procedures or schedules to comply with established health requirements, and providing information to evaluation purposes.
Performs analysis to determine nature and degree of toxic materials present.
Interprets results of studies for the work environment in terms of possible impairment to health, nature of health impairment, potential for medical center damages, etc., and presents specific conclusions and recommendations to appropriate management and health officials.
Receives and disposes of hazardous wastes and maintains appropriate records in accordance with existing EPA standards, state laws, and VA regulations.
Prepares comprehensive and legally sufficient written reports of all monitoring activities performed which are subsequently incorporated into comprehensive reports prepared to assess the overall effectiveness of the industrial hygiene program.
Ensures proper documentation of employee exposures in medical records.
Work Schedule: Full-Time; Monday - Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm.
Position Description Title/PD#: Industrial Hygienist, PD # 22219-O Telework: Yes, as determined by the agency policy.
For ad-hoc purposes.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May Be Authorized for a Highly Qualified Candidate Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"