Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Safety & Occupational Health Specialist

Department: Department of Defense

Location(s): Bethesda, Maryland

Salary Range: $85447 - $111087 Per Year

Job Summary: About the Position: The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) Occupational Safety (OS) Department is located approximately one mile north of downtown Bethesda, directly across from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus. As the world's largest joint military medical center, the OS Department provides comprehensive safety services and expertise to more than 5,800 military personnel, Department of Defense civilians, and contractors.

Major Duties:

• Evaluates and corrects risk potentials of safety hazards in a medical treatment facility, tenant activities, including support shops and in areas under the MTF responsibility to assure compliance with regulatory agencies.
• Independently plans, schedules, and performs DOD Safety and Occupational Health surveys of the MTF, including Laboratories, Operating Rooms, Patient Wards, Radiology, Pharmacy, Food Service, Supply, Shops and Offices.
• Assigns Risk Assessment Codes to safety deficiencies noted based on probability and severity of a mishap occurring.
• Performs follow-up inspections of violations noted by DOD Safety and Occupational Health guidelines to assure department has taken action to correct the deficiency.
• Identify, analyze, and evaluate a variety of unconventional occupational safety and health issues related to construction standards, asbestos, lead, hazardous management and control, etc.
• Evaluates and assesses a variety of complex medical, construction, and hazardous material to determine unsafe human-machine interactions, differing sets of hazardous environmental conditions, and underlying accident cause.
• Compiles statistical data to determine accident trends and to identify and apply proper preventive methods. Completes reports and messages to the DOD Safety Center, OSHA and all follow up actions for corrective actions.
• Instructs employees on a variety of occupational safety and health subjects including chemical or physical safety, and DOD safety requirements.
• Contributes to the automation of safety survey data, reports, follow-up on violations, safety training, etc.
• Identifies areas susceptible to automation, determines data elements necessary for specific databases, and monitors input and output.
• Maintains accident records and analyzes mishap data to determine frequency and severity to determine contributing factors and a common pattern.

Qualifications: Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected. 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans Current Civilian Employees of the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Current Permanent Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employee Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS) Interchange Agreement Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce Executive Order (E.O.) 12721 Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act Military Spouses, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13473 Non-Appropriated Fund Instrumentality (NAFI) Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Interchange Agreement Eligible People with Disabilities, Schedule A Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Spouse Preference (MSP) Eligible Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible Reinstatement Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998 Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA) In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document. Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience which includes Medical Health safety; evaluating, developing and recommending new safety programs; applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, or procedures to the Medical treatment facility; surveying workplaces to determine possible hazards; identifying improvements/corrections to processes and ensuring follow-up recommendations are completed; directs accident investigations and maintains reports; training/educating staff on safe practices. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-09). OR Education: Ph.D or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M. with a major study in safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or Ph.D or equivalent doctoral 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. (You must attach a copy of your transcripts). OR Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the second year (total graduate semester hours minus 36) by 18. Add the two percentages. (You must attach a copy of your transcripts). Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-09).

How to Apply: Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. The application process is as follows: Click the Apply Online button. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all necessary supporting documentation. As a reminder, your resume must be two pages or less and must support the specialized experience described in this announcement. Resumes exceeding two pages will be removed from consideration. For additional information, refer to the 'Required Documents' section. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12857320 Click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 PM (ET) on 01/14/2026. If you are required to complete any USA Hire Assessments, you will be notified after submitting your application. The notification will be provided in your application submission screen and via email. The notification will include your unique assessment access link to the USA Hire system and the completion deadline. Additionally, in USAJOBS you can click "Track this application" to return to your assessment completion notice. Access USA Hire using your unique assessment link. Access is granted through your USAJOBS login credentials. Review all instructions prior to beginning your assessments. You will have the opportunity to request a testing accommodation before beginning the assessments should you have a disability covered under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. Set aside at least 3 hours to take the USA Hire Assessments; however, most applicants complete the assessments in less time. If you need to stop the assessments and continue later, you can re-use your unique assessment link. Your responses to the USA Hire Assessments will be reused for one year (in most cases) from the date you complete an assessment. If future applications you submit require completion of the same assessments, your responses will be automatically reused. For more general information, system requirements, reasonable accommodation information, and to request assistance regarding the USA Hire Assessments, review the following resources: https://appsupport.usastaffing.gov/hc/en-us/sections/28980562523540-USA-Hire-Assessments To update your application, including supporting documentation: During the announcement open period, return to your USAJOBS account, find your application record, and click Edit my application. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed. To view the announcement status or your application status: Click on this: https://help.usajobs.gov/how-to/application/status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Application Deadline: 2026-01-14