Industrial Hygienist

Description:

Incumbent serves as an Industrial Hygienist at the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System in Seattle, WA.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 04/14/2025.

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 within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. 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.

Basic Qualification Requirements/Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) - 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. 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).

Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable. Transcripts or certification are required.

In addition to the Individual Occupational Requirements, you must also qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience with asbestos control and abatement, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, hearing conservation, hazard communication, nitrous oxide, mercury, hazardous and infectious waste management, water testing and treatment, respirator program, and anti-neoplastic drugs; Experience in conducting studies of work operations and processes, examining work environments, analyzing findings, promulgating recommendations, and preparing regulatory reports; Experience in identifying potential occupational health hazards and the need for further investigative studies and surveys; Ability to conduct studies and surveys to determining compliance with various established criteria, evaluating exposures, and advising on control measures and changes in work procedures or schedules to comply with established health requirements, and providing information for evaluation purposes; Ability to select or devise methods and instruments; personally or through others, conduct measurements; and study and test materials associated with the work operation or work environment; Experience in performing analysis to determine nature and degree of toxic materials present. Interprets results of studies for the work environment in terms of possible impairment to health, nature of health impairment, potential for medical center damages, etc., and presents specific conclusions and recommendations to appropriate management and health officials.

OR

• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 3 years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or equivalent doctoral degree in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus (Transcripts Required).

OR

• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and graduate-level education beyond 36 semester hours. Only successfully completed graduate level education (in excess of the 2 years or 36 semester hours) in health physics, engineering, radiological science, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and/or calculus and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements (Transcripts Required).

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

• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Planning and Evaluating
• Public Safety and Security

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.

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: The performance of duties requires long period of walking, standing, crawling, kneeling and bending. Moderate lifting and carrying of equipment, use of personal protective devices, and work in hazardous and confined spaces is required. Use of all appendages, good vision and hearing are necessary. Emotional and mental stability are required.

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/ .