Occupational Safety and Health/Industrial Hygienist
*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.
A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of the Commissioner (OC), Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS), Office of Laboratory Safety (OLS) located in Silver Spring, Maryland.
This project will focus on an academic review of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards and to perform an organizational assessment and gap analysis at FDA with respect to those standards. Next, the lessons learned during the initial phase will be used to close those gaps and continuously improve the OSH program through drafting policies and procedures and implementing organizational change management. As this project is academic in nature, a motivated individual would benefit from the knowledge gained, not only at FDA, but Government wide related to OSH programs and business process improvement in general.
The research participant will collaborate very closely with mentors to accomplish the following goals:
- Strategically plan and conduct an independent analysis and assessment of the current OSH standards at federal, state, and local levels that affect all FDA establishments
- Assess the current FDA and HHS OSH program to determine the effectiveness of FDA OSH policies
- Provide strategic recommendations and conclusions, as well as draft policies and procedures, develop resources, and devise achievable solutions to improve the FDA OSH program
The research participant will have the opportunity to understand how a federal OSH program works as well as how to foster continuous improvement through analysis and policy evolution within the federal government. The research opportunity also includes strategic planning, change management, data management, basic statistical analysis, and the chance to interact with a wide variety of FDA staff, attend and present at meetings, and contribute to reports and the overall OSH program. The participant will be encouraged to attend FDA trainings and seminars relevant to his/her project and interests.
Training Program Incentives:
- Stipend Range: $60,000-$70,000 (based on qualifications)
- Opportunities to travel to FDA locations across the United States
- Opportunities to attend training courses (including travel) toward professional certifications (e.g., Certified Industrial Hygienist [CIH] continuing education courses)
Qualifications
The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a bachelor's or master's degree in one of the relevant fields. Degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.
Preferred skills:
- Experience or interest in occupational safety and health and/or industrial hygiene
- Experience or interest in policy and procedure development
- Experience or interest in organizational research and business process improvement
- Experience or interest in risk analysis and risk modeling
If you have questions, send an email to ORISE.FDA.OC.other@orau.org. Please include the reference code for this opportunity (FDA-OC-OCS-OLS-2020-0001) in your email.