The Department of Public Health’s Hazardous Materials and Waste Program (CUPA) is accepting applications for a full-time position in class 6124 Principal Environmental Health Inspector to be one of two Managers of the Hazardous Materials and Waste Program.

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with Civil Service Rule 111A.

• Application Opening: Tuesday, September 13, 2022
• Application Deadline: Tuesday, November 22, 2022
• Annual Compensation: $134,810 - $163,800
• Recruitment ID: PBT-6124-115358

***This announcement has been reopened on November 15, 2022 with amended Minimum Qualifications (see below). If you applied previously from 9/13/22 to 11/4/22, you do not need to re-apply.***

The Mission of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is to protect and promote the health of all San Franciscans.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit careers.sf.gov and begin the application process.

Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up to date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.  

DPH statement of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Department of Public Health prioritizes equitable and inclusive access to quality healthcare for its community and values the diversity of its workforce. All employees are required to participate in the Department of Public Health's work to advance equity, inclusion, and diversity through: 

• Commitment to providing exceptional care and services to all residents of the City and County of San Francisco service population, with heightened awareness of responsiveness to racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse members of the service population and the DPH workforce. 
• Desire and commitment to lead and participate in anti-racism, racial justice, and equity work that improves quality of patient care and employee experiences; along with the commitment and fortitude to drive change in these areas. 
• Desire to work with, relate to, serve, and support a diverse service population and workforce.
• Commitment to health equity with a specific lens and focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, disability, and immigration status.

This position is responsible for co-managing all aspects of San Francisco’s Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA).  Under general direction, the Principal Environmental Health Inspector supervises a number of inspectors in the regular inspection of hazardous materials and waste facilities in an assigned district for public health and safety hazards in order to enforce established laws, ordinances and regulations pertaining to the abatement of violations found; personally conducts special investigations of highly important and especially difficult cases and makes recommendations and special reports thereon; and performs related duties as required.

Under general supervision of the Director and Assistant Director of the Environmental Health Branch the 6124 Principal Health Inspector works collaboratively with a Certified Industrial Hygienist to perform the following duties:

1. Administers and is directly responsible for the work assignments and performance of Senior Environmental Inspectors, Inspectors and auxiliary office and clerical personnel; reviews reports and findings of inspectors; interprets applicable laws, ordinances, directives and established policies and procedures.

2. Administers the investigation of regulatory inspections, takes necessary action to abate illegal health and safety conditions; coordinates efforts with appropriate city departments in the enforcement of applicable laws; appears as witness in court litigation when required and testifies in cases involving hazardous materials and waste facilities and other matters,

3. Administers the conduct of complaint inspections of businesses that store hazardous materials and waste, of health and safety and for compliance with applicable codes, detects violations; coordinates efforts with the appropriate city department in the enforcement of applicable codes, makes follow-up inspections to assure ordered corrections have been made; makes recommendations for any business remaining in violation; prepares reports, appears and testifies at hearings.

4. Prepares work schedules and assignments for office and field activities, investigations and special surveys relating to industrial hygiene, air pollution, hazardous materials management and other environmental, ecological problems; observes routine office procedures and field activities for purposes of improving forms, techniques and overall performance; assists in the development and advancement of subordinates through training and effective use of employee development program,

5. Conducts spot inspections to determine efficiency of inspection work; confers with personnel on all problems concerning both office and field activities; advises on best procedures in order to insure maximum degree of compliance.

6. Consults with outside individuals and representatives of various concerns and establishments regarding compliance with regulatory requirements and orders issued, and to work out disputes or misinterpretations of existing provisions; confers with business and property owners, contractors and attorneys on plans and specifications for new structures or existing hazardous materials storage buildings; confers with members of other governmental jurisdictions in matters relating to specific activities and interpretations of applicable codes and regulations; accompanies representatives of the State Departments on field inspections and ensure accurate reporting to the State.

7. May be assigned to administer and supervise the development and implementation of programs with respect to health and safety for employees of the Health Department; investigates and causes compliance with joint commission accreditation and related standards for institutions and other facilities of the Health Department; personally reviews and may investigate reports of hazards or injuries along with corrections for same; implements the accident prevention program and generally provides an awareness for safe working conditions and correction of safety hazards among city employees.

8. Personally conducts investigations of a highly important or special nature directly concerning department policy and on matters requiring more experienced judgment.

9. Makes final recommendations for issuance of citations and of any further action required to secure compliance with local, state or other existing regulations; makes final recommendations for enforcement when owners fail to comply with statutory requirements; attends hearings and court litigations in connection with specific charges and violations; exercises independent judgment in all regulatory enforcement matters.

10. Reviews reports of completed work assignments of both field and office activities; prepares periodic consolidated reports of district environmental health inspectors; conducts periodic staff meeting for purpose of disseminating new information and clarification of existing requirements, policies, methods and procedures; analyzes reports and activities of office and clerical personnel for compliance of essential information and statistical data.

11. Serves as departmental representative in matters relating to safety and accident prevention; conducts safety meetings with supervisorial personnel to review employee accidents and accident reporting as well as accident prevention.

12. Ensures accurate data entry for the State required CERS database.  Coordinates and oversees all CUPA audits and determines corrective action for any deficiency found.

Minimum Qualifications

1. EDUCATION: Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with at least 30 semester units in, or a major in one or more of the following disciplines: Biology or microbiology; Chemistry, chemical engineering; Physics, physical science; Environmental science; Geology or soil science; Environmental health; Environmental or sanitary engineering; Toxicology; Industrial hygiene; Hazardous materials management; Fire science, fire technology.
2. EXPERIENCE: Seven (7) years of experience in hazardous materials, hazardous waste, site mitigation and/or medical waste as a technician or inspector in an environmental health agency or related regulatory/service agency, or as a professional consultant in the environmental health industry; OR
   Five (5) year of experience as an inspector in a Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA).
3. LICENSE  AND CERTIFICATION: Possession of a current HAZWOPER Certification,  AND a valid California driver's license.  Must obtain and maintain a CA UST Inspector Certification issued by the International Code Council (ICC) within 180 days following appointment.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2,000 hours of work experience (2,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hour work week). Any overtime hours that you work above 40 hours a week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

The above minimum qualifications reflect special conditions associated with the position(s) to be filled.  They may differ from the standard minimum qualifications associated with this class code.

Desired Qualifications

• State Fire Marshall issued Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Certification
• CA UST Inspector Certification issued by the International Code Council (ICC)

Valid licensure and/or Certification must be kept current throughout length of employment. Failure to demonstrate/show proof of possession of required valid licensure and/or certification may result in dismissal and/or termination of employment.

Verification of Education and Experience: Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training, and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

SELECTION PROCEDURES

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: Qualifying): Applicants will be required to complete a Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire that will be emailed. Applicants will be required to respond to the MQSQ in the time frame indicated, and submit their answers as directed. 

Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: 100%):
Qualified candidates will be sent a Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) exam that must be completed by the set date. Candidates will be evaluated on their relative knowledge, skill and ability levels in job-related areas. A passing score must be achieved on the SQ in order to be placed/ranked on the Eligible List. Candidate responses on the Supplemental Questionnaire cannot be changed once submitted. Candidates will be placed in rank order according to their final score on the SQ.  

The department may administer additional position-specific selection procedures to make final hiring decisions.

Candidate scores on these examinations may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

Eligible List/Score Report: A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

Upon passing the exam, candidates will be placed on the eligible list for a period of 12 months.

Certification: Certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of Three.

Terms of Announcement: Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement will be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at careers.sf.gov.] The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules.

Additional information regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• COVID-19 Policies
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Medical Examination Prior to Hiring
• Electronic Health Record (EHR)
• Licensure/Certification/Registration
• Note on ICARE
• Other Conditions of Employment and Important Information
• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodations
• Veteran's Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Examinations
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst David Chalk at [email protected].

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.