SUMMARY

The incumbent serves as Industrial Hygienist for the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS), assigned to the Facility Safety and Fire Protection Section in Engineering Service and is responsible for planning, developing, implementing and evaluating the Industrial Hygiene Program for TVHS facilities that include Nashville VAMC, the Alvin C. York VAMC(Murfreesboro, TN) and all TVHS outpatient clinics, including contract clinics.

QUALIFICATIONS

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

Individual Occupation Requirement: 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; 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; or
• Certification from the American Board of Industrial Hygiene(external link) (ABIH).

The education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education(external link) at the time the degree was obtained.

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.

GRADE LEVEL QUALIFICATION:

GS-11 grade level: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Use of industrial hygiene principles, procedures, standards, equipment, techniques, and methods; developing and implementing an industrial hygiene program; performing analysis to determine nature and degree of toxic materials; use of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards (such as hazardous waste, drinking water, medical waste, etc.); conducting surveys/studies of work operations regarding hazardous conditions; and developing industrial hygiene policies, procedures, and reports. Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: 1) the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; 2) the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well-being of workers; and 3) the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment
OR

Applicants may substitute education for the experience required for the GS-1 level.

• 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree

OR
Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at the GS-11 level. To calculate, first identify the percentage of required education you have earned (when substituting, you cannot use the first 60 semester hours that you earned). Then identify the percentage of required experience you possess. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify at the GS-11. For example, an applicant who has 9 semester hours of graduate level education (i.e. 50% of graduate education required) and 6 months of creditable specialized experience (i.e. 50% of the required experience) would equal 100% of the required experience for the position A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
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.

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.

The duties for the Industrial Hygienist include but are not limited to:

• Administrative and managerial practices applicable to planning, implementing, and evaluating an Occupational Health/Industrial Hygiene Program for the Medical Canter.
• Investigate occupational health problems which arise to determine probable cause, and recommend measures to protect employees from a re-occurrence.
• Perform job hazard analysis and the other analytical techniques sufficient to perform accident investigation, determine causal factors, recommend procedures for elimination of confinement of the hazard.
• Review Occupational Health, Industrial Hygiene, and Occupational Safety Standards as received form VA, OSHA, the Joint Commission and other regulatory agencies, and advises the VA Medical Center management of methods to comply with the standards.
• Conduct Industrial Hygiene Inspections of all work areas to identify potential environmental health hazards and to determine compliance with standards set by OSHA, VA and other regulatory agencies.
• Updates and advises Occupational health staff as to medical surveillance requirements for employees working with hazardous materials as determined by OSHA.
• Designs, prepares, and conducts employee training necessary to comply with all required Industrial Hygiene programs. Areas include, but are not limited to, asbestos, ETO, respirators, hazardous waste management and disposal, hearing conservation, and other safety related subjects.
• Furnishes technical guidance to management, supervisors and employees concerning occupational health and industrial hygiene programs.
• Assists facility managers and construction project section in the development and review of industrial hygiene requirements.
• Maintains and/or reviews Industrial Hygiene record keeping as required by federal, state and local regulations.

Work Schedule: 7:00AM - 3:30PM Monday - Friday
Position Description Title/PD#: Industrial Hygienist/PD70082A
Physical Requirements: Duties of the position require considerable walking, climbing, prolonged standing, and crouching, while carrying sampling equipment and measuring devices. Personal protective equipment must often times be worn. The incumbent is required to drive motor vehicles. Occasional travel is required.
Work Environment: The incumbent is exposed to a variety of potential health hazards and uncomfortable work situations which may be physically taxing.