Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Summary

The VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) is a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Tertiary Care healthcare facility serving more than 85 -000 unique Veterans and over 800 -000 outpatient Veteran visits each year in Oregon and Southwest Washington - with 292 combined inpatient beds. The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist works with supervisors - union officials - and safety and occupational health committees to eliminate or control hazardous operations or conditions.

Duties

• Duties include but not limited to: The incumbent of this position is responsible for safety program planning and implementation
• Employee will complete regulatory program documentation and lead facility self-assessments - inspections and other safety-related investigations for VAPORHCS facilities - CBOCs - other extended programs within the VAPORHCS
• He/she is responsible for assuring a safe work and patient care environment through interaction with service chiefs - department heads - supervisors and employees and by keeping abreast of changes in standards - laws and regulations that may affect work practices in the care environment
• The incumbent provides advice and information on occupational safety and life (fire) safety matters to top hospital officials - service chiefs and first line supervisors
• He/she collects pertinent fire safety and health information and presents authoritative detailed reports used in informing the Medical Center Environment of Care Committee of occupational and fire safety reports/standards/requirements - regarding fire code compliance related issues
• He/she interprets and adapts safety directives - regulations - and suggestions as required by a variety of regulatory authorities - for hospital officials as they relate to hospital activities
• Cooperates with and acts as advisor to both medical and administrative officials in review of safety requirements set by the Joint Commission (JC) of hospitals in the area of occupational and fire safety - Occupational Safety and Health Administration - (OSHA) and Veterans Healthcare Administration - (VHA).Some areas of responsibilities are as follows: The employee administers safety and occupational health programs to assure compliance with applicable standards and requirements
• They are responsible for drafting - revising and maintaining of all Occupational Safety policies to ensure they are accurate and identify any changes to policies and regulations
• The employee advises senior level management officials on the implementations needed 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
• The employee periodically - 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
• The employee independently 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
• The employee directs investigations of accidents - analyzing precipitating factors and accident cause data in order to develop specific methods for prevention
• He/she also consults with specialists from related occupations concerning work process modifications and recommends corrective or remedial safety measures
• Employee is responsible for implementation and maintenance of the Environment of Care rounds and program and the implementation of the medical centers construction safety program - that includes the JC Statement of Conditions (SOC's) program
• The employee 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
• He/she adapts various available media to fit special and unique training requirements and participates in the development of novel or innovative safety training and promotion activities
• The employee participates in the facility Safety - Accident Review Board (ARB) - and/or Environment of Care (EOC) committees
• Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory - qualification - and performance requirements are met
• Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 7:30am -4:00pm - PST Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Specialist/PD21466A and PD21467A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be Authorized to highly qualified candidate