Industrial Hygienist

The position serves as an Industrial Hygienist within the VA Portland Health Care System at the Vancouver, WA Location. The Industrial Hygienist performs various duties in an Industrial Hygiene program to access work practices and environmental conditions for hazards to the health and safety of workers.

A Recruitment \ Relocation Incentive: May be authorized to highly qualified candidate. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet Individual Occupational Requirements and Minimum Qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/16/2026.

Individual Occupational Requirements:

Basic Requirement: An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the 0690 occupational series. All applicants, regardless of grade level must meet minimum education requirements. For this occupation, the education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained.

Applicants must meet one of the following requirements:

• A bachelors or graduate/higher level degree in industrial hygiene, occupational health sciences, occupational and environmental health, toxicology, safety sciences, or related science. OR,
• A bachelors 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,
• A Certification from the Board for Global EHS Credentialing (formerly American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)).

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

In addition to meeting the Individual Occupational Requirement you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-9

• Minimum Qualifications: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Conducting surveys and investigations to identify and evaluate conditions that are hazardous to the health of employees to assist in developing and recommending corrective measures; Develops reviews and revises industrial hygiene related plans, policies, and standard operating procedures; Performs accident investigations including indoor air quality assessments, chemical exposures, lighting surveys, etc.; Advises on control measures and changes in work procedures to comply with established health requirements; Receives and disposes of hazardous wastes and maintains appropriate records. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and year ending dates AND hours worked per week. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Please see Education section for requirements. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Please see Education section for requirements.

GS-11

• Minimum Qualifications: 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: Conducting surveys and investigations to identify, evaluate, and present conclusions of conditions that are hazardous to the health of employees by selecting or devising methods and instruments, conducting measurements, and studying test materials; Develops, submits, and presents industrial hygiene reports upon request; Performs accident investigations including indoor air quality assessments, chemical exposures, lighting surveys, etc.; Drafts and maintains records in accordance with State law and EPA standards; Advises on control measures and changes in work procedures to comply with established health requirements; Develops a comprehensive industrial hygiene program consisting of environmental monitoring, record keeping, medical surveillance, personal protective equipment, respiratory fir testing, hazardous material management, asbestos control and education and training. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month & year starting and year ending dates AND hours worked per week. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. Please see Education section for requirements; OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Please see Education section for requirements.

Note: Experience should show 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.

Preferred Experience: Three years as an Industrial Hygienist with experience in a hospital setting.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at . GS-9:

• Education: To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successful completion of two (2) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Industrial Hygienist position.
• Combination: You must have a combination of specialized experience as described above and graduate level education beyond 18 semester hours (or 1 year) in graduate courses that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Industrial Hygienist position to meet the total experience requirements for this grade level.

GS-11:

• Education: To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successful completion of three (3) years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Industrial Hygienist position.
• Combination: You must have a combination of specialized experience as described above and graduate level education beyond 36 semester hours (or 2 years) that provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the Industrial Hygienist position to meet the total experience requirements for this grade level.

Combination example: To determine if you met the combination requirements, total your qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determine your education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; then add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. For example:

• The position to be filled is an Industrial Hygienist, GS-0690-11. An applicant has 9 months of specialized experience equivalent to GS-9 and 2 1/2 years of creditable graduate level education. The applicant meets 75 percent of the required experience and 50 percent of the required education, i.e., the applicant has 1/2 year of graduate study beyond that required for GS-9. Therefore, the applicant exceeds the total requirement and is qualified for the position. (The applicant's first 2 years of graduate study are not qualifying for GS-11.)

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: . 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: .