PHMSA Job Posting – Through 10-30-23

A reader pointed me at this PHMSA job posting, asking me to spread the word about these Compliance Investigator positions. This is actually three entry level positions in PHMSA’s Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Field Operations, with openings in Ontario, CA, Atlanta, GA, and Kansas City, MO.

I do not have any recent experience with USAJobs.gov, but it has long had a reputation as a bureaucratic job portal. If you are interested in this position, get started early and prepare to be persistent. And best of luck, these are important chemical safety jobs.

CSB Investigator Positions Open – 6-24-22

Yesterday, the Chemical Safety Board posted notices on USAJOBS.gov for three Chemical Incident Investigator position in grades GS11/GS12. According to the Summary on the job listing (US government employees or private sector) pages:

“The Chemical Incident Investigator position is located in the Office of Investigations. The incumbent serves as an expert in industrial chemical safety and nationwide incident investigation and analysis of major incidents involving the accidental release of hazardous materials and, developing and presenting reports with safety recommendations for adopting by the Board.”

These are job positions that are important to increasing the safety of chemical manufacturing operations in this country. Having said that, the CSB is an agency in transition and there are some well known (and other less obvious) problems that may or may not be getting better. Accident investigators are unlikely to have a major impact on that agency transition, but this is important work that needs well qualified people to take hard looks at some nasty accident scenes.

Positions close on July 11^th, 2022.

NPPD Announces Openings for 5 CSI

The DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) recently posted job openings via USAJobs.gov for Chemical Security Inspectors (CSI) at five locations. The open period for applying for these positions is Friday, May 16, 2014 to Thursday, May 29, 2014. Position openings are available in the following locations: Brea, Ca; Hammond, IN; Baton Rouge, LA; St.Louis, MO; Memphis, TN.

The job description includes:

• Plan, coordinate, assist with and conduct on-site physical inspections/audits, documentary and data reviews, personnel interviews, incident investigations and site vulnerability analysis of chemical facilities as a member of a regional field operations team.

• Assist and/or lead in the production of field reports and briefings following inspections, compliance assistance visits, incident investigations and other events as requested or deemed necessary by senior DHS officials. 

• Provide support for and maintain cognizance of the enforcement of administrative sanctions, including the termination of chemical facility operations, as prescribed by law, through participation in enforcement action planning and post-execution operational phases and reports.

• Provide specific, clear, concise, accurate and detailed chemical facility inspection data for inclusion into reports and briefings to aid in supporting possible preventative, corrective, and/or administrative action.

• Participate with Federal, State, local and tribal officials as well as chemical industry private sector officials in emergency preparedness activities (i.e., conferences, exercises, workshops, seminars etc.) and serve on collaborative tasks forces and committees relevant to developing further chemical security awareness.

There are essentially two tracks for job qualifications. You can either have experience conducting chemical facility security inspections or you can have an advanced degree in Safety Engineering, Industrial Hygiene Inspection, Chemical Engineering, and Process Safety Engineering. Interestingly a degree in Chemistry is specifically inadequate unless it includes course work in the fields listed above. (On a personal note: that means that I would not be qualified to apply for this position.)

The application process for these positions can only be started via USAJobs.gov.