Mine Safety and Health Inspection Series, 1822

Individual Occupational Requirements

Education and Experience Requirements

The following table shows the amounts of education and/or experience required to qualify for positions covered by this standard.

Requirements

GRADE	EXPERIENCE		EDUCATION
	General	Specialized
GS-5	3 years as defined below	None	4-year course of study above high school in any field
GS-7	None	1 year equivalent to at least GS-5, as defined below for Inspector or Specialist positions	1 full academic year of graduate level education as defined below
GS-9 (Other than Electrical Inspector Positions)	None	1 year equivalent to at least GS-7, as defined below for Inspector or Specialist positions	2 full academic years of graduate level education or master's or equivalent graduate degree in a field of study defined below
GS-9 and above Electrical Inspector Positions and GS-11 and above Specialist Positions	None	1 year equivalent to at least next lower level, as defined below for Inspector or Specialist positions	None

Equivalent combinations of education and experience are qualifying for positions and grade levels for which both education and experience are acceptable.

Experience

General Experience:

For GS-5: Experience that provided a knowledge of:

• Mining operations, e.g., as a miner; or
• Comparable working environments, such as construction, excavation, or heavy equipment operation, or of health or safety inspection or investigation in industrial settings; or
• Maintaining engine-driven machinery or equipment; or
• Electrical equipment or electrical systems.

Completion of an apprenticeship training program in a recognized trade or craft related to the position is acceptable as general experience.

Specialized Experience:

For GS-7 In-Service Placement: GS-6, technical support work directly related to mine safety and health, found in the GS-1311, Physical Science Technician Series and some other one-grade interval series, is creditable for inservice placement into all GS-7 positions in this series.

Inspector Positions:

For GS-7: On-site safety/health inspection, analysis, monitoring, or evaluation work in occupational health, or mining or closely related industries, such as building construction, excavation, and heavy industrial plant settings. Examples of creditable experience in related non-mining work include work that provided the applicant with knowledge of ground control at building sites, safe worksite practices, and/or environmental conditions that affect the health of workers at foundries, mills, and other inherently dangerous industrial settings. For example, performance of safety and health inspection work at a steel mill would qualify at this grade level, but agricultural inspection work would not.

For GS-9: Mining, mine engineering, or on-site mine safety and health inspection experience performing a full range of tasks and operating a variety of equipment in underground or surface mines, or mineral processing plants. This includes practical mining experience in planning, installing, operating, monitoring, or maintaining a system or equipment for extracting the ore from the earth.

Specialized experience should include extensive hands-on mining experience that provided the applicant with a comprehensive knowledge of mining methods, equipment, and occupational health and safety hazards. Specifically, applicants should have knowledge of the transportation of materials and workers, ventilation in closed spaces, ground control, roof control (for underground positions), handling and storage of hazardous materials, worksite safety practices, worksite environmental conditions that affect the health of workers, and/or accident prevention.

For GS-9 and Above Inspector (Electrical) Positions: All applicants for Inspector (Electrical) positions at GS-9 and above must meet the specialized experience requirements for inspector positions and, in addition have experience in designing, installing, and/or maintaining a mine electrical system or electrical mining equipment. Experience as a certified mine electrician is qualifying. Education alone is not qualifying for these positions.

Specialist Positions:

For GS-7/9: Applicants must have mine safety or health experience that demonstrated the ability to analyze problems and identify significant factors, gather pertinent data, and recognize solutions; plan and organize work; and communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Examples of creditable experience include: acting on requests to vary Federal standards; analyzing and evaluating inspection data; developing policies, guidelines, and enforcement programs; evaluating the adequacy of Federal mine safety and health programs; assessing penalties for violations of regulations; and advising mine operators and manufacturers on issues and standards.

For All Positions at GS-11 and Above: Experience performing mine safety and health inspection, analysis and evaluation of health/safety aspects of mining industry operations and processes; or evaluation, analysis or development of agency programs.

Examples of creditable experience include: direct on-site inspection; special accident investigation; development of mine safety and health standards; data analysis and evaluation of operational mine safety and health programs; special assessments; and development of industry-wide training or safety and health awareness programs.

or

Education

For GS-5: Four years of undergraduate study or bachelor's degree in any field.
For GS-7/9: Graduate education in fields such as mining engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, environmental engineering, industrial hygiene, occupational health and safety, geology, chemistry, or other fields of study related to mine safety and health work.

Use of Selective Factors

Some positions in this series require knowledge, skills, and abilities in addition to or more specific than those described in this qualification standard. For successful performance in such positions, selective factors may be required to ensure that applicants have the necessary background. For example, consideration may need to be limited for some positions to applicants with experience in certain categories of mines (e.g., coal vs. metal and nonmetal, or surface vs. underground), or those with particular expertise in special aspects of mining (e.g., electrical, roof control, ventilation, etc.).

Applicants for positions that require operation of a motor vehicle must have a valid State driver's license and appropriate authorization under the Federal Motor Vehicle Operator's Program.

Medical Requirements

Applicants and employees must be physically able to perform arduous duties efficiently and without hazard to themselves or others. Medical examination is required for all applicants for positions that involve regular or intermittent performance of inspection, investigation, rescue duties, or duties involving on-site visits. Medical conditions that constitute a hazard to safe and efficient job performance are disqualifying. The presence of medical disorders that would be aggravated by the environmental conditions of these positions and thereby hinder safe and efficient job performance are also disqualifying.

Remediable defects and/or curable diseases will not permanently disqualify an applicant for appointment, but may result in the applicant's suspension from the appropriate list of eligibles pending submission of medical evidence or correction of the condition.

Uncorrected distant vision must test at least 20/50 Snellen in one eye and 20/70 in the other, correctable with eyeglasses (contact lenses are not acceptable) to at least 20/30 Snellen in one eye and 20/50 in the other. Near vision must be sufficient to read without strain printed material the size of typewritten characters Normal depth perception and field of vision are required, as is the ability to distinguish basic colors.

Applicants, with or without the use of a hearing aid, must have no hearing loss in either ear of more than 40 decibels in the 500, 1000, or 2000 Hz ranges.