Industrial Hygienist - RECRUITMENT/RELOCATION INCENTIVE

Incumbent is the Industrial Hygienist and acts under the authority of the Assistant Director on matters relating to occupational safety and health at the West Texas VA Health Care System (WTVAHCS). The Industrial Hygienist is responsible for planning, organizing, administering, and evaluating a comprehensive safety management program for the entire health care system

Major duties

Major duties include: Occupational Safety and Health: Advises and assists WTVAHCS management officials regarding appropriate measures and alternate courses of action which will achieve goals with a minimum risk of injury to personnel and damage to property for the healthcare system. Instructs employees and supervisors in the techniques of performing duties free of mishaps. Carries out the inspections of workplaces, community care, and nursing homes. Keeps current and updated on new industry standards developed by other organizations. Effects compliance with safety-related legislative and accrediting requirements at the healthcare system. Shares primary responsibility for compliance with The Joint Commission (TJC) Plant Technology and Safety Management (PTSM) Standards PL.1, Safety Management, and PL.2, Life Safety Management. Shares primary responsibility for compliance with TJC Environment of Care and CARF Environment of Care standards. Operates an effective fire, safety, and occupational health program that meets VA, Joint Commission, and OSHA standards. Coordinates hazard surveillance activities (e.g., Environment of Care Rounds and Safety Inspections), aggregate outcome data, and analyzes information to identify trends. Industrial Hygiene: Creates and implements programs, policies, and procedures to measure and reduce employees' exposure to physical, chemical, biological, and ergonomic stress factors. Anticipates, recognizes, evaluates, prevents, and controls environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being or significant discomfort among workers and/or Veterans/visitors. Advising and collaborating with management to resolve occupational health issues. Creating and executing studies to monitor and assess employees' exposure to health risks, and to measure the effectiveness of occupational health programs, policies, and procedures. Overseeing biological monitoring programs. Assessing and analyzing research data, summarizing statistics, and compiling reports. Proposing and leading the implementation of programs to protect employee health and implementing ergonomics. Conducting regular audits of programs. Ensuring employee awareness of occupational health and safety concerns, programs, and regulations by conducting training and presentations. Implementing corrective actions and suspending operations if required. Advising various parties on workers' compensation claims pertaining to workplace exposures. Administrative Management: Appraises the degree of program compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations; assesses achievements and recommends new procedures. Studies federal, state, or local requirements which contain permissible exposure limits, and collects/maintains appropriate documentation for reference materials and back up. Develops policies to comply with specific laws and regulations, which often contain conflicting requirements, while minimizing adverse impact to patient care. Serves as a member of the Environment of Care Committee and the Infection & Environmental Control Committee, reviewing documents and responding to requests for information from the committees. Serves as a member of the Accident Review Board. Conducts proactive risk assessments that evaluate the potential adverse impact of buildings, grounds, equipment, occupants, and internal physical systems of the safety and health of patients, staff, and other people coming to the hospital's facilities. Uses the risk identified to select and implement producers and controls to achieve the lowest potential for adverse impact on safety and health for patients, staff, and other people coming to the hospital's facilities. Supervisory Tasks: Explains performance expectations to employees and provides regular feedback on strengths and weaknesses. Listens to and acts on employee complaints and refers serious unresolved complaints to higher level management. Initiates action to correct performance or conduct problems. Effects minor disciplinary measures such as warnings and reprimands and recommends action in more serious disciplinary matters. Identifies employee developmental needs and provides or arranges for training (formal and on-the-job) to maintain and improve job performance. Approves master leave schedule assuring adequate coverage for peak workloads and traditional holiday vacation time. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Industrial Hygienist - RECRUITMENT/RELOCATION INCENTIVE/PD007650 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: AUTHORIZED Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/13/2026. 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-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 also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. This position has an Individual Occupational Requirement that must be met in addition to the experience/education requirement: The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: A bachelor's or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science; (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) or A bachelor's degree in 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; (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) or Certification from the Board for Global EHS Credentialing (formerly American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)). (COPY OF CERTIFICATION REQUIRED) Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable. Evaluation of Education 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. For engineering degrees to be acceptable, the curriculum must be in a school of engineering with at least one curriculum accredited by the ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) as a professional engineering curriculum. Evaluation of Experience Qualifying experience involves the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge 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. In addition to the IOR above, You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Professional knowledge of industrial hygiene concepts, principles and practices that enables the employee to conduct industrial hygiene studies, to develop sampling or control methods, and to provide expert advice to staff in broad range of industrial hygiene matters; Knowledge of a wide range of occupational safety and health concepts, principles and practices, laws, and regulations applicable to the performance of complex safety management responsibilities; Knowledge sufficient to serve as a technical authority and make significant, far-reaching decisions or recommendations in the development, interpretation or application of the principal occupational safety and health policies or laws; Knowledge to develop and recommend to Healthcare System management critical programs that (a) may or may not require modification of known safety and occupational health techniques; and (b) are applicable to an extensive range of health care operations and potentially high hazardous health research activities; Knowledge of Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) or other similar programs necessary to produce reports, inventory lists, and other administrative products. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree (TRANSCRIPTS 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 a Master's degree (TRANSCRIPTS 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/. NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Requirements

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 work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. 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.