Position Detail:

Los Angeles County Fire Department
1320 North Eastern Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90063

Los Angeles County

888-897-3473
https://lacounty.gov

Hiring Information:


Position: HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPECIALIST I
Last Filing Date:  June 27, 2022
 

Special Instructions:  

 

Requirements

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - FIRE DEPARTMENT

FILING PERIOD
JUNE 13, 2022 at 8:00a.m. (PT) - JUNE 27, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.

EXAM NUMBER
34400K

TYPE OF RECRUITMENT
OPEN COMPETITIVE JOB OPPORTUNITY

DEFINITION:
Performs inspections and investigations under the auspices of the Fire Department`s Unified Program Agency at locations that generate or handle hazardous materials/waste, and functions as local health officer under authority of the County Code.

CLASSIFICATION STANDARDS:
Positions allocable to this entry level classification report to a Supervising Hazardous Materials Specialist. They receive on-the-job training and, under close supervision, independently perform inspections and investigations using established procedures and methodologies for the enforcement of hazardous waste/materials codes. These positions receive training in enforcing federal, State and local codes and in such areas as bioterrorism, handling of chemical and radiation emergencies, and appropriate and effective interface with a variety of other agencies on emergency events.
Incumbents may be required to bend, stoop, climb and lift moderate weights while performing inspections, investigations, site reviews and associated tasks; don personal protective gear required for response to hazardous materials spills, biological materials, or other threats; perform all such tasks under a wide range of temperature conditions and have the ability to pass a respiratory protection program examination.

Essential Job Functions
Performs inspections of facilities that generate hazardous waste or handle hazardous materials to determine the nature of the facility operation, potential hazards, types of chemicals used, handling, storage and disposal methods and compliance with applicable codes.
Investigates complaints related to hazardous materials waste; identifies the source and quantity of hazardous materials/waste, and responsible parties.
Collects field samples, evaluates data from instrument readings, conducts technical field tests, and performs various standardized environmental and occupational tests.
Responds to emergency incidents or disasters involving the spill or release of hazardous materials/waste or threats to public health and the environment.
Prepares reports, memos, notices of violation, enforcement orders, briefings and evidence such as photographs and statements regarding findings from inspections and investigations.
Receives training in the use of emergency protective gear and learns to calibrate, operate and maintain instruments; participates in classroom and field training in the conduct of inspections, emergency response procedures, bioterrorism and chemical emergency responses; and familiarization with interagency protocols.
Analyzes industrial manufacturing processes to identify materials used, waste streams, their characteristics and volume.
Enforces the proper handing, storage and disposal of hazardous materials/waste.
Coordinates and participates with law enforcement, fire, health and other governmental agencies in joint inspections, investigations, and clean-up activities.
Makes referrals and works closely with various prosecutorial agencies to adjudicate cases.
Requirements

REQUIREMENTS:

TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:
Option 1: A Bachelor`s degree from an accredited* institution in a physical or biological science and two (2) years of experience in identifying, evaluating, and controlling chemical and physical hazards.

Option 2: A Master`s degree from an accredited* institution in industrial hygiene, chemistry, toxicology, geology, environmental health, public health, chemical engineering, or industrial engineering and one (1) year of experience in hazardous waste control.

Option 3: Two (2) years of experience at the level of California Registered Environmental Health Specialist.

Candidates who expect to qualify under Option 3 must include a legible copy of the California Registered Environmental Health Specialist certification to the application at the time of filing or within fifteen (15) calendar days of submitting an online application.

*Accredited institutions are those listed in the publications of regional, national or international accrediting agencies, which are accepted by the Department of Human Resources. Publications such as American Universities and Colleges and International Handbook of Universities are acceptable references. Also Acceptable, if appropriate, are degrees that have been evaluated and deemed to be equivalent to degrees from United States accredited institutions by an academic credential evaluation agency recognized by The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services or the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. (AICE).

PHYSICAL CLASS:
3 - Moderate: Includes standing or walking most of the time, with bending, stooping, squatting, twisting, and reaching; includes working on irregular surfaces, occasionally lifting objects weighing over 25 pounds, and frequent lifting of 10-25 pounds.

LICENSE REQUIRED:
A valid California Class C Driver License** is required to perform job-related essential functions.

LICENSE INFORMATION:
**Successful applicants for positions that require driving must obtain and present a copy of his/her driving record from the California State Department of Motor Vehicles before final appointment. Applicants should not present a copy of their driving history until asked to do so by the hiring department. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether an applicant`s driving history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job. License must not be currently suspended, restricted, or revoked.

If the applicant does not have a driving record from the State of California, the applicant may be required to provide his/her driving record from any other state/jurisdiction.

WITHHOLD INFORMATION: Applicants with an out-of-state driver Class C or higher driver?s license may compete in the examination process, however, the names of such employees will be withheld from the eligible list until a California Class C or higher driver?s license is obtained.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT INFORMATION:
In order to receive credit for any certificate(s), license(s), or college or university degree, such as a Bachelor`s degree or higher, you must include a legible copy of the certificate(s), license(s), or either the Official Degree, Official Transcript(s)***, or Official Letter from the accredited institution (which shows the area of specialization and the date the degree was awarded) with the Registrar`s signature and school seal at the time of filing or within fifteen (15) calendar days of submitting an online application. If you are unable to attach your documents, you may e-mail them to Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov or fax them to (323) 264-7159. Failure to provide any required documentation will result in application rejection. Please include your Name, Exam Number, and the Exam Title on the submitted documents.

Note:***Official Transcript" is defined as a transcript that bears the college seal and states "official and/or copy" issued by the school`s Registrar Office. A printout of the transcript from the school`s website is NOT considered official and therefore, will not be accepted and will result in your application being incomplete and rejected.
Additional Information
EXAMINATION CONTENT:
This examination will consist of TWO (2) parts, weighted 100%:

Part I: A multiple choice and/or simulation assessment(s) assessing:

Professional Potential
Achievement
Working Relationships
Analyzing Information
Learning Quickly
Generating New Ideas
Using Time Efficiently
Working to High Quality Standards
Adapting to Change
Coping with Uncertainty
Willingness to Learn
Responsibility
Deductive Reasoning
Verbal Ability
Part II: A multiple choice assessment assessing:
Chemistry
Personal/Public Safety and Security
Law and Government

THE MULTIPLE CHOICE AND/OR SIMULATION ASSESSMENT(s) ARE NOT REVIEWABLE BY CANDIDATES PER CIVIL SERVICE RULE 7.19.

APPLICANTS MUST ACHIEVE A COMBINED SCORE OF 70% OR HIGHER ON PARTS I AND II OF THE EXAMINATION IN ORDER TO BE PLACED ON THE ELIGIBLE LIST/REGISTER.

Test scores cannot be given over the phone.

Note: All notifications including invitation letters and Final Test Result notices will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application. It is important that you provide a valid email address. Please add Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov,AOganesyan@hr.lacounty.gov, Christine.Estrada@fire.lacounty.gov, info@governmentjobs.com, talentcentral@shl.com, noreply@proctoru.com, and donot-reply@amcatmail.com to your email address and list of approved senders to prevent email notifications from being filtered as spam/junk/clutter mail.

Los Angeles County will not consider claims of not viewing or receiving notification to be a valid reason for late test administration or rescheduling of a test component.

TRANSFER OF TEST RESPONSES:
Applicants who have taken identical written test part(s) for other exams within the last (12) months will have their written test scores for the identical test part(s) automatically transferred to this examination. This examination contains test parts that may be used in the future for new examinations. Your scores will be transferred to the new examination and you may not be allowed to re-take any identical test parts for at least a year.

TEST PREPARATION:
Study guides and other test preparation resources are available to help candidates prepare for employment tests. An interactive, Online Test Preparation System for taking practice tests may be accessed on the Department of Human Resources website at http://hr.lacounty.gov/. Please click on Find a Job, then click on Job Search Toolkit. You can also access test preparation for the computerized portion of the test by going to http://www.shldirect.com/practice_tests.html. While test study guides will help in preparing for the test, we advise you to review ALL related materials that you deem necessary.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:
The names of candidates receiving a passing grade in the examination will be placed on the eligible list in the order of their score group for a period of twelve (12) months following the date of promulgation.


SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
All County workforce members must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Successful candidates for this position will be required to submit proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or request an exemption for qualifying medical or religious reasons during the onboarding process. Candidates should not present proof of vaccination until instructed to do so by the hiring department.

BACKGROUND CHECK INFORMATION:
Candidates who are extended a conditional offer of employment will be required to complete a criminal background check, including a fingerprint scan, followed by a medical examination. A candidate with a conviction history which has a direct and adverse relationship with the duties of the Hazardous Materials Specialist I position may have his or her conditional offer of employment rescinded and be removed from the certification list pursuant to Civil Service Rule 6.04.

VACANCY INFORMATION:
The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill Hazardous Materials Specialist I vacancies in the County of Los Angeles Fire Department, as they occur.

AVAILABLE SHIFT:
Any shift - Appointees must be willing to work any shift, including evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.

APPLICATION AND FILING INFORMATION:
Applications must be filed online only. We must receive your online application before 5:00 p.m. (PT), on the last day of filing. Applications submitted by U.S. mail, fax, or in person will not be accepted. Apply online by clicking on the green "Apply" button, when it becomes available, at the top right of this posting. You can also track the status of your application using this website. If you are unable to access the website, you may enter the following link to access your profile: http://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/lacounty.

NOTE: We must receive all required documents, if any, at the time of filing or within fifteen (15) calendar days of submitting your online application. Please check your application to ensure that the documents are uploaded by logging on to County of Los Angeles Department of Human Resources website and reviewing your submitted application. Applicants must submit all documents to be considered (official diplomas, official transcripts, certificates, etc.) during application submission. All documents must be clear and legible. Although resumes may be uploaded as attachments to the online application, resumes cannot be accepted in lieu of completing the online application. If you are unable to attach documents, you may e-mail them to Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov or fax the documents to (323) 264-7159 at the time of filing or within fifteen (15) calendar days of submitting your online application. Failure to provide the documentation will result in application rejection. Please include your Name, the Exam Number, and the Exam Title on the faxed documents.

The acceptance of your application depends on whether you have clearly shown that you meet the Requirements. Please fill out your application and supplemental questionnaire completely and correctly to receive full credit for any related education, training, and job experience. For each job held, give the name and address of your employer, your actual job title, beginning and ending dates, total number of hours worked (full or part-time), and description of work performed. Provide any relevant job experience and training in the spaces provided so we can evaluate your qualifications for this job. Your application will be rejected if it is incomplete. We may reject your application at any time during the selection process.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please note that ALL information included in the application materials is subject to VERIFICATION at any point during the examination and hiring process, including after an appointment has been made. FALSIFICATION of any information may result in DISQUALIFICATION or RESCISSION OF APPOINTMENT. Utilizing VERBIAGE from Class Specification and Selection Requirements serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to demonstrate that you meet the requirements. Doing so may result in an INCOMPLETE APPLICATION and you may be DISQUALIFIED.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING ONLINE FILING:

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER:
It is important that you provide your own Social Security Number (SSN) at the time of filing to ensure your application is processed accurately. Please include your SSN for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a SSN.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT PUBLIC LIBRARIES:
For candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, you may borrow laptops and Wi-Fi hotspot from some public libraries throughout Los Angeles County to complete job applications. Please note that service hours and capacity may be limited at some public libraries.

NO SHARING OF USER ID, E-MAIL, AND PASSWORD:
If you do not already have an account/profile with the County of Los Angeles, you will need to create one. All applicants must file their application online using their own user ID and password. Using someone else`s user ID and password may erase the original candidate`s application record.

ADA Coordinator Phone: (213) 466-5500
Teletype Phone: (800) 735-2922
California Relay Services Phone: (800) 735-2922
Department Contact Name: Fire Examination Section
Department Contact Phone: (213) 466-5500
Department Contact Email: Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov
Department FAX: (323) 264-7159
For more information on Employment Information, click on the link below:
http://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/dhr/247636_EmploymentInformation.pdf (Download PDF reader) (Download PDF reader)

 
Starting Salary:  $69,585.84 - $93,779.04 Annually
Top Salary:   N/A
 
Contact:   LaTanya L. Hill, JD
Department of Human Resources

Los Angeles, CA 90603
323-428-0475
Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov
www.governmentjobs.com

Additional Department Details:

Annual Budget: N/A
Population Served: 2,895,848
Number of Firefighters: N/A
 

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