Industrial Hygienist

The Industrial Hygienist is assigned to the Safety and Emergency Management Service, as designated, within the VHA New York Harbor Healthcare System- New York/ Manhattan campus. The Industrial hygienist is concerned with the recognition, evaluation, and control of environmental conditions or stresses arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health, significant discomfort, or inefficiency.

The duties and responsibilities of the Industrial Hygienist (IH) include but are not limited to:

• Responsible for planning, coordinating, evaluating, implementing and administering a comprehensive industrial hygiene program for a large healthcare system engaged in medical, surgical and psychiatric patient care.
• Primarily responsibility for maintaining the program in such a manner that all program components remain in compliance with current Joint Commission (TJC) standards, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, the New York Harbor (NYH) Occupational Safety Management System (SMS) and other applicable regulations, procedures requirements.
• Recognition of occupational health and industrial hygiene problems within the healthcare system environment
• The evaluation of the healthcare system environment in terms of the long-range as well as the short-range effects on occupational health, and the development of corrective measures to eliminate existing problems.
• Conducts complex analyses of a wide variety of industrial hygiene and occupational health issues, develops effective programs to abate hazardous conditions noted, and oversees abatement actions in order to ensure that identified problems are promptly and effectively resolved.
• Conducts employee exposure assessments in accordance with VHA Directive 7702 "INDUSTRIAL HYGEINE PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION".
• Plans and conducts quantitative exposure assessments by monitoring and measuring employee exposure to chemicals and other potential hazards.
• Conducts various workplace safety inspections and surveys to identify potential health hazards and potentially hazardous conditions.
• Evaluates indoor air quality (IAQ) in response to employee concerns and complaints.
• Provides detailed interpretation of results and makes recommendations concerning implementation of engineering controls and/or personal protective equipment as needed.
• Participates in construction safety rounds to identify deficiencies related to Industrial Hygiene and makes recommendations regarding corrective actions needed. The incumbent will serve as an authority on matters related to industrial hygiene, including regulatory interpretation, policy review, and consultative services.
• Makes recommendations to Employee Health concerning employee medical surveillance in accordance with OSHA regulations
• All other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8:00 am- 4:30 pm
Telework: This position is NOT telework eligible
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Industrial Hygienist/PD01254A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/26/2026.

Individual Occupational Requirements
Basic Requirements

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. 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 Board for Global EHS Credentialing (formerly American Board of Industrial Hygiene(external link) (ABIH)).

*** Courses in the history or teaching of chemistry are not acceptable.

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

.Evaluation of Experience
Qualifying experience involves the recognition, evaluation, corrective actions, and elimination of environmental conditions in the workplace that causes sickness, impaired health, or illness. This experience must demonstrate a professional knowledge of the theory and application of the principles of industrial hygiene and closely related sciences such as physics and engineering controls.

Such work must have involved experience in all of the following areas: the acquisition of quantitative and qualitative data, and the measurement of exposures for a variety of chemical, physical, and biological stresses; the analysis of the data acquired and the prediction of probable effects of exposures on the health and well-being of workers; and the selection and recommendation of appropriate controls, including management, medical, engineering, education or training, and personal protective equipment. In addition to the Basic Requirements,

Specialized experience includes:

GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assess work practices and/or environmental conditions for hazards to the health and safety of workers; Perform analysis to determine nature and degree of toxic materials present; Perform, verify, review chemical inventories throughout the facility; Identify and requisition test equipment used in performing industrial hygiene tasks; Perform or arranges for proper calibration and maintenance of equipment; Conduct programs for the education of workers in the prevention of occupational exposures and diseases. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

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 work includes frequent inspections of various spaces such as laboratories, mechanical spaces, boiler plants etc. and necessitates a good deal of walking, standing, bending, and climbing.

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/.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you 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
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.
• 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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 during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.