Housekeeping Aid

Veterans Health Administration • Tuskegee, AL

12d

About The Position

This position performs janitorial and custodial services in patient and non-patient care areas throughout a medical facility. Duties include cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting, waste removal, textile distribution and inventory activities, floor care, window and wall washing, furniture and fixture cleaning, discharge cleaning, and related housekeeping work. Work is performed by hand and with light and heavy-powered industrial cleaning equipment. The Housekeeping Aid may be assigned to any tour and work in various designated areas. The position typically works independently under general supervision or as part of a team, with responsibility for the full range of cleaning duties in an assigned area. The employee may also guide a Compensated Work Therapy worker and perform other duties as assigned.

The position operates on a schedule of 7:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. or 3:00 p.m.–11:30 p.m., with rotating weekends and holidays. The schedule may change based on agency needs. Work is normally indoors in areas with adequate heat, light, and ventilation; some work may be outdoors in varying temperatures and inclement weather. Personal protective equipment may be required because exposure to contagious diseases, blood, and bloody secretions is inherent to the position. Care is required when using ladders, powered equipment, or handling hazardous materials.

Requirements

• Demonstrate training or experience of sufficient scope and quality to perform the work; no specific length of training or experience is required.
• Have three years of work in an environment demonstrating the ability to read, understand, and strictly follow written, step-by-step procedures (selective placement factor).
• Meet U.S. citizenship requirements; non-citizens may be appointed only when qualified citizens cannot be recruited in accordance with VA policy.
• Be suitable for federal employment as determined by a background investigation.
• Undergo urinalysis for illegal drug use before appointment if tentatively selected for a testing-designated position; refusal results in denial of employment.
• Meet Selective Service registration requirements for males born after December 31, 1959.
• Complete the online onboarding process and provide acceptable identification for pre-employment requirements.
• Serve a one-year probationary period.
• Participate in the seasonal influenza program by receiving an annual vaccination or obtaining a medical or religious exemption; wear a face mask when an exemption is granted.
• The work requires continuous walking, standing, stooping, kneeling, pulling, and pushing, as well as dexterity, hand-foot-eye coordination, concentration, and visual acuity.
• Occasionally use heavy powered cleaning equipment weighing over 50 pounds; take care when working on ladders, using 30–100-pound power equipment, and handling hazardous materials.

Nice To Haves

• At least four years of housekeeping or environmental services experience in a healthcare or hospitality setting.

Responsibilities

• Perform floor maintenance and wall washing, including sweeping, dust mopping, damp and wet mopping, scrubbing, stripping, refinishing, buffing, vacuuming, carpet extraction, spot cleaning, and high and low dusting.
• Clean doors, doorframes, baseboard corners and edges, and stairwells.
• Use pressure washers and heavy industrial powered or battery-operated cleaning equipment; adjust, clean, perform minor maintenance on equipment, and change attachments as appropriate.
• Empty trash and wastebaskets, replace liners, and transport general refuse, regulated medical waste, and recycling to central collection areas.
• Clean, disinfect, and deodorize restrooms, bathrooms, and shower rooms, including lavatories, showers, bathtubs, urinals, toilet bowls, mirrors, sinks, water fountains, lights, and toilet fixtures.
• Replenish paper towels, toilet paper, hand sanitizers, and soap in dispensers.
• Move and arrange furniture, patient wardrobes, beds, and other items to complete cleaning tasks.
• Make beds in patient care areas and OD rooms; clean mattresses, springs, bed frames, bedside stands, over-bed lights, blood pressure cuffs, and bed tables.
• Remove bags of soiled textiles from patient rooms and transport them to designated soiled rooms; load and unload clean textiles from bulk carts and restock clean textile closets, cabinets, shelves, and carts.
• Participate in textile inventory management activities.
• Defrost and clean patient-care refrigerators and ice machines in nourishment kitchen areas.
• Clean stainless steel on storage instrument cabinets and counters, elevators, and designated smoke-area fixtures; clean water fountains.
• Perform interim interior cleaning of windows and window ledges, clean glass doors and other glass surfaces, replace curtains, and clean blinds.
• Clean and/or replace needle boxes.
• Periodically clean specific non-critical reusable medical equipment in inpatient and clinical areas.
• Provide guidance to a Compensated Work Therapy worker when assigned.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Federal employees and their families have access to a comprehensive benefits package; specific benefits depend on position type and should be confirmed with the hiring agency.
• Newly appointed federal employees may request credit for job-related non-federal experience or active-duty uniformed military service when determining annual leave accrual; approval is required and not guaranteed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed