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Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Smithsonian Institution
This job announcement has closed

Summary

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums and the National Zoo.  This position is located in one of the Smithsonian Institution's facilities serviced by the Office of Facilities Management (FM). The Office of Facilities Management (FM) is responsible for all Smithsonian facilities, many of which are designated as historic and all of which are visited by millions of people each year.

Overview

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Reviewing applications
Open & closing dates
06/20/2025 to 07/07/2025
Salary
$84,601 to - $109,975 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 11
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Washington, DC
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent - Federal
Work schedule
Full-time - Full-Time, Permanent
Service
Competitive
Promotion potential
12
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Other
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Announcement number
25R-SR-312676-MPA-FM
Control number
839069300

Duties

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The Safety and Occupational Health Specialist is responsible for evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of safety practices and procedures for all SISC programs and serving as a technical advisor to the staff of each department.

In this position, you will:

  • Assist in a management of the safety programs which include all aspects of safety in a museum, warehouse, craft shop, office environment, and the grounds surrounding all museums and storage buildings of the Smithsonian Institution.
  • Assist in the investigation of accidents involving employees; prepares reports; analyzes statistical data and develops corrective measures when warranted. 
  • Present safety training programs for employees; promotes activities for maintaining interest in accident prevention and safety awareness, including the annual publication of accident statistics for the organization.
  • Serve as the Hazard Communication Coordinator, ensuring that the unit is in compliance with the OSHA hazard communication standards; maintains a list (Safety Data Sheets-SDS) of all hazardous chemicals used by personnel.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • Pass Pre-employment Background Investigation
  • May need to complete a Probationary Period
  • Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer
  • Males born after 12/31/59 must be registered with Selective Service.

Conditions of Employment

Qualification requirements, including one year time-in-grade at the next lower grade level for promotion candidates, must be met within 30 days of the job announcement closing date. See the 'Required Documents' section for additional information.

For information on qualification requirements, see Qualification Standards Handbook for General Schedule Positions viewable on OPM Website.

Qualifications

Experience: You qualify for this position if you have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 level in the Federal Service or comparable pay band system.  For this position specialized experience is defined as conducting safety inspections to identify hazards, investigating mishaps, interviewing employees and supervisors about safety and occupational health issues, preparing reports of findings and recommendations, and performing other safety and occupational health assignments.

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; religious; 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.

Part-time and/or unpaid experience related to this position will be considered to determine the total number of years and months of experience. Be sure to note the number of paid or unpaid hours worked each week.

Or Education: PH.D or equivalent doctoral degree or three full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M in safety or occupation 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) disciples: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology.

Or a Combination: Education and experience may be combined to meet the basic qualifications. For a full explanation of this option please see the Qualification Standards. Special Instructions for Foreign Education: If you are qualifying by education and/or you have education completed in a foreign college/university described above, it is your responsibility to provide transcripts and proof of U.S. accreditation for foreign study. For instructions on where to fax these documents, see the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

Important Note:

Your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your responses to the occupational questionnaire or other assessment tool for consistency. If a determination is made that you have rated yourself higher than is supported by your resume, you will be assigned a rating commensurate to your described experience. Your resume should provide sufficient information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Additional information

  • This position is not included in the bargaining unit.

Recruitment Incentive: Recruitment incentive(s) may be authorized for this position.  However, approval for incentives are contingent upon various availability. If authorized, certain incentives will require the incumbent to sign a service agreement to remain in the Federal government for a certain time period.

Note: This statement does not imply nor guarantee an incentive will be offered and paid.

Selections may be made for vacancies across the Smithsonian Institution (SI). By applying to this position, you agree to allow your application and other personal information to be shared with one or more SI hiring officials for employment consideration for same/similar positions within the location(s) identified in this announcement.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application will be evaluated first for the basic qualifications described above.  The applications that meet the basic qualifications will be evaluated further against the following criteria:

  1. Knowledge of occupational safety techniques, concepts, principles, laws and regulations, (e.g., 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910, 29 CFR 1926, 29 CFR 1960) to identify and evaluate safety and occupational hazards.
  2. Ability to identify, evaluate and resolve safety problems in regard to construction design, process, operation, human error or other factors which may cause occupational, environmental or safety hazards.
  3. Knowledge of requirements for conducting OSHA inspections as they relate to establishing safety training curricula; and developing safety policies.
  4. Knowledge of computers and software applications to develop and evaluate information regarding occupational safety and health programs and produce reports and graphs representing results of analyses.  

BASIS OF RATING:  Once the announcement closes, your application will be automatically evaluated and rated by the system and a Human Resources Specialist. To determine if you are qualified for this job, a review of your application and supporting documentation will be made and compared against your responses to the occupational questionnaire. The numeric rating you receive is based on your responses to the questionnaire. The score is a measure of the degree to which your background matches the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of this position. If, after the Human Resources Specialist reviews your resume and/or supporting documentation, a determination is made that the score you have received is not a true reflection of your qualifications and/or experience, your score can and will be adjusted to more accurately reflect the information you provided that support your abilities. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating. Your resume should provide detailed information regarding how your education and experience relate to this position, including the major duties and qualifications criteria listed.

Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA):  If you are applying for a VEOA appointment, you must be a veteran and must be honorably separated and either a preference eligible or have substantially completed 3 or more years of active service. ("Active Service" under this law means active duty in a uniformed service and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary concerned.) A veteran who is released under honorable conditions shortly before completing a 3-year tour is also eligible.

Noncompetitive Appointment Authorities:  The following links contain information on the eligibility requirements to be considered under a noncompetitive appointing authority:


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