Laundry Worker

About the role

This position is located at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center. The incumbent performs work in an industrial laundry setting as the Laundry Worker. The position operates five days per week, 8:00AM-4:30PM, Monday through Friday, with holidays off. These hours are required to provide open availability for staff to obtain uniform replacements, submit uniforms for repair, and complete exchanges.

Responsibilities

• Provide office support involving searches of electronic and hard copy records to retrieve and summarize hard to locate data.
• Cook staff requests for uniforms, lab coats, and locker keys.
• Arrange and maintain accurate hard copy and electronic records of employee assignments, uniforms and lockers issued, and inventory of all linen and uniform items.
• Manage the Medical Center locker key program by ensuring proper issuance of keys, verifying requests follow Medical Center and Facilities Management policies, maintaining accurate key inventories, and verifying completion of annual key audits.
• Perform work in an industrial laundry setting involving a variety of duties and responsibilities.
• Assist in unloading clean uniforms from uniform racks delivered by truck and transfer these uniforms to the Auto Valet system.
• Operate small piece folders, flatwork ironers, hoist systems on both the soiled and clean sides, weigh carts, and three position lift stations used to elevate linen to the overhead monorail.
• Shake out wet linen items, inspecting for knots, damage, spotting, and stains; feed damp items into the flatwork ironer using a spreading feeding device or by hand, and receive finished items at the ironer exit point.
• Notify appropriate recipients of soiled or damaged linen.
• Perform routine maintenance on the flatwork ironer including cleaning, waxing, and ribbon replacement.
• Fold rough dry items by hand and maintain a clean and safe work environment.
• Perform laundry and textile care operations, 40% of the time.

Physical Requirements

• The work requires significant physical strength and stamina to perform heavy tasks for extended periods. The incumbent stands and walks on concrete floors throughout the shift and perform continuous bending, reaching, twisting, stretching, and repetitive hand and arm movements.
• The position requires frequent lifting of linen bundles weighing 25 pounds or more and occasional lifting of bags weighing 50-75 pounds.
• The incumbent also moves carts, operates hoists, positions linens into equipment, and handles heavy or awkward items as part of daily duties.
• Office tasks require normal ergonomic and safety practices to prevent trips, falls, and equipment related hazards.

Work Conditions

• Work is performed in an industrial textile care environment with exposure to high noise levels, vibration, heat, steam, humidity, and odors associated with processing soiled linens.
• The incumbent may encounter contamination risks, including biohazards, and is subject to potential cuts, bruises, and minor burns from carts, machinery, steam pipes, and flatwork ironers.
• Duties may also require brief exposure to inclement weather when moving materials between locations.

Qualifications

• To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.
• Experience: A specific length of training and experience is not required, but you must show evidence of training or experience of sufficient scope and quality of your ability to do the work of this position. Evidence which demonstrates you possess the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform the duties of this position must be supported by detailed descriptions of such on your resume. Applicants will be rated in accordance with the OPM Federal Wage System Qualification Standards.
• Screen-out Element: Your qualifications will first be evaluated against the prescribed screen out element, which usually appears as question 1 in the on-line questionnaire. Those applicants who appear to possess at least the minimal acceptable qualification requirement are considered for further rating; those who do not are rated ineligible and are eliminated. The potential eligibles are then rated against the remainder of the Job Elements:
• Dexterity and Safety
• Interpret Instructions, Specifications (other than blueprint reading)
• Materials
• Operation of Equipment/Machinery
• Reliability And Dependability
• Technical Practices
• Work Practices