Environmental Health Technician - Veterans Health Administration

Minimum Requirement: The following are minimum requirements for appointment as an Environmental Health Technician in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must met. Specialized Experience (GS-08): You must have one (1) year of specialized experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (i.e., GS-07). Qualifying specialized experience is experience that involved identifying, preventing, or eliminating health hazards in one or more areas of environmental sanitation. Such experience must have provided a practical knowledge of environmental health hazards, survey techniques, and control and eradication methods, and may have been gained in work such as biological technician, medical technician, pest control technician, quality control positions with dairy or food service industries, or environmental health worker. Journey level experience in a trade or craft may be credited as specialized experience when the work was closely associated with and provided the required knowledge of environmental health techniques, methods, and skills, e.g., pest control operator, waterplant operator. (CLEAR DETAILS OF EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: Your resume must show complete information for each job entry, such as beginning and ending dates of employment, duties performed, and/or total hours worked per week.) OR, Education (GS-08): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one and a half full years of graduate education (i.e., 27 semester hours) only in those instances where it is directly related to the work of the position. NOTE: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) OR, Combination (GS-08): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education as described above. If education is used to meet specialized experience requirements, then such education must include courses directly related to the work of the position. (UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) AND SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR: This position includes a Selective Placement Factor (skill, knowledge, ability, or other worker characteristic basic to - and essential for - satisfactory performance of the job). Selective Placement Factors are a prerequisite to appointment and represent minimum requirement for a position. Applicants who do not meet it are ineligible for further consideration. The Selective Placement Factor for this position is: Experience applying environmental health laws, regulations, and standards to conduct environmental health inspections, hazardous materials/hazardous waste evaluations, and compliance assessments. 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/. ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** This position involves a multi-grade career ladder. The major duties listed below represent the full performance level of GS-09. At the GS-08 grade level, you will perform assignments of a more limited scope and with less independence. You will progressively acquire the background necessary to perform at the full performance level of GS-09. Promotion is at the discretion of the supervisor and is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of higher-level work, and availability of funds. Major duties and responsibilities include but not limited to: Environmental Health Inspections, Sampling, and Risk Assessments Conducting environmental health inspections, surveys, and assessments to identify hazards and ensure compliance with environmental health and safety regulations Collecting, analyzing, and documenting environmental samples (e.g., air, water, soil, waste, and asbestos-containing materials) to evaluate potential health risks and sources of contamination Performing environmental health investigations, risk assessments, an