Safety & Occupational Health Manager

The Veterans Affairs St. Louis VA Health Care System (VASTLHCS) is a Level 1B two (2) division medical center system (John Cochran & Jefferson Barracks) and ranks among the most complex systems in the VA serving the VA Heartland Network (VISN 15).

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/17/2026.

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR):
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.

OR

Certification as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or Certified Health Physicist (CHP)

Grade Determination, GS-13: In addition to the IOR, you must meet the following:

Specialized Experience - You must have one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the Federal Service that has given you the knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of an Industrial Hygienist, GS-13.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to:

• Managing the overall facility safety program to provide the patients, visitors, and staff with the highest attainable level of safety;
• Defining safety issues;
• Collecting reports, investigating accidents and incident;
• Assisting in prioritizing the activities of the Safety, Environment of Care (EOC) Committee;
• Assessing and correcting unsafe or healthy working conditions, and plans, develops, and implements an accident prevention and reporting system;
• Overseeing the development of an industrial hygiene program to identify hazards associated with areas such as asbestos, radiation, airborne chemical contaminants, noise, temperature extremes, fumes, mold, illumination, ergonomics, and other occupational health and safety areas;
• Reviewing all plans and specification for new construction, minor improvements, and non-recurring maintenance; &
• Ensuring resources and capabilities to manage and recover from the impacts of disasters are in within local and national standards.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of intelligence operations; public safety and security operations; occupational health and safety; investigation and inspection techniques; or rules, regulations, precautions, and prevention techniques for the protection of
  people, data, and property.
• Environmental Engineering - Knowledge of the concepts, principles, theories, and methods to protect and improve the quality of the environment and its resources; and to monitor, control, abate, and prevent pollutants.
• Technical Competence - Uses knowledge that is acquired through formal training or extensive on the job experience to perform one's job; works with, understands, and evaluates technical information related to the job; advises others on technical issues.
• Leadership - Inspires, motivates and guides others toward goal accomplishment; coaches, mentors, and challenges
  subordinates; adapts leadership styles to a variety of situations; models high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness,
  and respect for the individual by applying these values to daily behaviors.

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.

Full Performance Level is GS-13

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: Requires requires regular and recurring field visits in order to complete investigations. Some physical exertion, such as extended periods of standing, recurring bending, stooping or lifting of light items.

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/.

Responsibilities:

The Chief, Occupational Safety and Health, is responsible for directing, planning, developing, and implementing, assessing and accountability for oversight of the Veterans Affairs St. Louis VA Health Care System Safety and Occupational Health; Emergency Management Program; Fire Protection; Green Environmental Management Systems, Industrial Hygiene; and Construction Safety Programs.

Major duties include but not limited to:

• Manages the overall facility safety program.
• Ensures the maintenance of comprehensive technical library.
• Investigates accidents and incidents and safety issues.
• Corrects unsafe or healthy working conditions, plans, develops, and implements an accident prevention and reporting system.
• Oversees the development of an industrial hygiene program to identify hazards associated with areas such as asbestos, radiation, airborne chemical contaminants, noise, temperature extremes, fumes, mold, illumination, ergonomics, and other occupational health and safety areas.
• Reviews all plans and specification for new construction, minor improvements, and non-recurring maintenance.
• Ensures resources and capabilities to manage and recover from the impacts of disasters are in within local and national standards.
• Develops health policies, procedures and standards.
• Resolves OSH, emergency & environmental matters.
• Prepares comprehensive reports, memorandums.
• Documents inspections and corrective actions.
• Prepares responses to internal and external audits.
• Conducts inspections.
• Develops training programs.
• Serves as the facility subject matter expert on National Fire Protection Association(NFPA).
• Reviews work operations and recommends the safest, most effective methods and procedures to Executive Leadership.
• Reviews all plans and specifications for new construction and fire-safety projects.
• Recovers and restores both short and long term capabilities impacted by emergencies and disasters.
• Identifies risks and design safeguards that aids in preventing, controlling, and mitigating the effects of fires.
• Ensures inspections of fire safety inspections are adhered to.
• Monitors environmental compliance.
• Acts as the primary POC with Federal, State, and Local regulatory agencies for environmental issues.
• Evaluates and update standard operating procedures (SOPs), checklists, ensuring that operational controls are effective and documented.
• Develops Environmental Management Plan for each target and significant environmental aspect.
• Collects environmental management compliance audit results in CP Track.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 0800 am - 4:30pm
Telework: Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Manager/PD097030
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Salary : $109,137