Safety and Occupational Health Manager

Veterans Health Administration • Wichita, KS

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Safety & Occupational Health Manager performs a variety of functions related to the identification, evaluation, and control of safety and health hazards and to the promotion of healthful and safe working conditions. The work includes surveys; coordination with other health and safety specialists; administration of occupational, life, and fire safety programs; review of design plans for hazard control, investigation of causative agents for occupational hazards; and education/training.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Must complete all required steps in the process.
• In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment.
• The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements.
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
• 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11.
• Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- safety or occupational 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) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology.
• OR Specialized Experience: 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.
• 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.
• One year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade (GS-11) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.
• Developing local policies and regulations pertaining to facility safety, green environmental management systems (GEMS), and emergency management.
• Overseeing the facility safety and fire prevention programs.
• Overseeing and providing technical assistance for projects to resolve emergency management problems to include emergency preparedness drills, decontamination procedures and training, and facilitating interaction between the facility and community by participating in local Emergency Preparedness Committee.
• Oversee and provide technical expertise for the design, modification, operation, and maintenance of the facility and infrastructure to ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and emergency management requirements.
• Developing workload and cost data for and prepare a budget.
• Ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations concerning the management of hazardous materials and wastes, and universal waste from the point of entry to it's final disposal.
• Plan, organize, coordinate, analyze, and administrate comprehensive inspections in patient care areas, the laboratory, engineering offices as well as nursing homes and report on compliance and violations of safety, industrial hygiene, environmental, and fire protection mandates.

Nice To Haves

• Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.

Responsibilities

• Developing local policies, regulations, and policies pertaining to facility safety, GEMS, and emergency management, as well as mission statements, performance standards and functional and organizational charts as they apply to the service.
• Evaluating new policies and directives to determine the impact on Safety, GEMS, and Emergency Management Services.
• Planning, organizing, coordinating, analyzing, and administrating a series of comprehensive inspections of the Medical Center's facilities in patient care areas, laboratory areas, engineering shops, offices, as well as community nursing homes, Adult Day Care Centers, Grant and Per Diem facilities and residential board and care homes.
• Issuing notices of unsafe working conditions to management when inspection findings warrant and recommends methods for hazard abatement and the correction of unsafe conditions or practices.
• Managing, planning, developing and implementing various Safety, GEMS, and Emergency Management Service related projects and programs affecting the medical center, and its CBOCs and satellite operations.
• Ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations concerning the management of hazardous materials and wastes, and universal waste from the point of entry into the facility to its final disposal. This includes overseeing industrial hygiene evaluations, asbestos monitoring, lead abatement, hazardous waste disposal, medical surveillance, permitting, (Material) Safety Data Sheets, and training.
• Analyzing new or proposed legislation, directives or measures to determine the impact on medical center operations, funding, workload, and resources.
• Identifying and developing data required for use in the management and direction of these and related programs.
• Overseeing and providing technical assistance for projects to resolve emergency management problems, including but not limited to emergency preparedness drills, decontamination procedures and training of personnel in all aspects of decontamination of personnel; recalling personnel using the cascade system; facilitating Interaction between the facility and the community by means of the Local Emergency Preparedness Committee
• Overseeing and providing technical expertise for the design, modification, operation and maintenance of the facility and infrastructure to ensure compliance with safety, environmental and emergency management requirements.
• Overseeing the execution of the facility safety and fire prevention program, including preparation of all policies, reports, safety, occupational health and fire prevention-related correspondence.
• Overseeing the environmental management programs throughout the health care facility.
• Planning, conducting or directing special studies concerned with emergency response compliance problems which require the development or modification of protective devices or the evaluation of control measures for a specific operation, such as decontamination team response to hazmat or WMD incidents.
• Formulates annual budget and exercises financial management responsibilities for all fund control points of the Service and develops workload and cost data for the preparation of the medical center budget in relationship to the fund control points.
• Develops both long and short-range plans for the Safety, GEMS, and Emergency Management by coordinating the administration needs of the Service.
• Making and implementing decisions directly affecting patient care.

Benefits

• A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package.
• As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.
• Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent.
• Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree