I'm looking at a possible opportunity to enter the Safety (EHS) field at my current employer. My long-term goal would be to get a certification (or other educational equivalent) to continue an upward trajectory (my company pays for work-related education and certification). Anyone here follow a formal education path into the safety field? What pitfalls should I avoid/consider? Any educational outlets/programs/schools to avoid or pursue? Is there a specific field on which to focus, or is there a "generalist" type of degree/certificate that I should investigate? Is there a single overarching certification program, like the PMI organization for Project Management?
Not in the field, but, looks like a shitload of good info here. https://www.osha.gov/dte/edcenters/certificate_listing.html Your employer may have an opinion of what level of education/certification they would want/require.
The Safety/EHS profession is difficult. Generalists don't make much and tend to have extremely limited growth capability. Essentially you'll land gig being a hall monitor. On the other hand, there are quite a few sectors that you can be very successful in (Radiation, Oil & Gas, Construction). In 20 plus years, the most successful individuals I have seen, are typically people with Engineering backgrounds that are really scientists and structural engineers. That being said, my neighbor works for Amazon as a safety manager for one of their buildings and he's pulling down close to six figures. But those guys are a completely different than what I mentioned above. He spends 90% of his day chasing spreadsheets and made up metrics that are non value added.. (He loves it when I tell him that too). God bless him because if he ever gets canned, there's nowhere else he can go that will pay him that amount of money.
Hi Phil, I function in an EHS role at my job, in addition to other duties. There are different training and certification standards in different areas of the world, and the best path is usually to find out what your employer is looking for. OSHA is the generally accepted EHS training standard in the USA, and NEBOSH outside the USA. Some useful study information can be had here: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha2254.pdf The role of EHS is changing in my industry as the principles of risk management become more integrated into operational planning and execution of projects. Generally speaking, an EHS professional with line experience in the same industry will have much greater value than someone coming in with only safety training. Good luck bud! Troy
My advice to anyone and everyone as of late has been this... Regardless of your age, learn how to read a basic PNL statement. If you are struggling to understand it, read a finance for non-financial manager (there are a few versions.) In anything you do business-wise, that's what it comes down to. Whatever you choose as a career, you need to be able to add value and move one of those levers in a positive direction. If nothing else, it will help you understand the business that you choose to work for and their overall health. Good luck!!
Already spent some good effort on that page; it looks like some of the schools fall under my "approved" list at work. This position was described as being embedded in the operations/manufacturing group and helping to integrate corporate mandates into the work area (how do we function without A-Frame ladders, etc.). However, I would guess that some of the time will be chasing data and metrics. Like my current position, heaven help me if I need to get a job in the real world based on my current salary and job description. So, same-same with the Amazon fellow. Thanks for the info, Troy! I need more information from the hiring manager (plus an offer, technically), but I do understand that EHS is both extremely broad and highly focused depending on job function and location. I'm just looking to see if there is an overall accreditation organization (beyond OSHA), but it looks like it's really tailored to the sector (Manufacturing, Construction, Healthcare, etc.). But, any info is good info. On it. Good advice, thanks for that. I do have a Bachelor's degree in business management, but I do need to brush up on general topics. I don't think that I'll be hitting the bricks any time soon (outside of this company, anyway), but having education only goes so far until they start to ask you actual questions about actual things.
I'm a contractor that does a lot of work in industrial settings. They can all DIAF as far as I'm concerned
I work on the operator side of the oil and gas industry, so our work processes are built entirely on the foundation of risk assessment and risk management. I spend a great deal of time stopping contractors from doing things that can/will end up with someone hurt or something expensive broken. This occurs in the planning/RA phase and during execution. Just like any other work discipline, there are HSE guys who will never progress past checking grinders for guards and writing people up for not having safety glasses on and there are guys who will put in the work to understand why they're doing those things so they can move up. Those guys end up getting flown business class to Paris for their input in risk assessment meetings.
Feel free to PM me with specifics, and I’m more than willing to talk about the field. Hyperdyne is right, safety generalists, are generally quite limited. However safety trainers, consultants, process safety specialists, risk/reliability managers, human factors/HOP specialists, NFPA 70E specialists, change management professionals, industrial hygienist, engineers, etc. can pull in very strong incomes with solid growth opportunities. Unfortunately, the field is full of people with neither training or credentials in the subject matter. That’s a carryover from the days when people were simply assigned safety duties, and why many ‘generalists’ are essentially pigeon holed with mediocre compensation and opportunities. Having a PMP when entering the field is worthwhile, so are Lean Six Sigma belts, and Change Management credentials. The equivalency to the PMI is the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. They have a number of credentials, from entry level to the gold standards of the industry world wide. I know very few people with their top credentials, who earn less than six figures, and for most of them it’s by choice (industry preference). As a carryover from my commentary before about people in the profession who have no understanding, there are a ton of real sounding but fake credentials in the field that can be bought online. Be careful, while they might pad a resume to get into the profession, they really don’t look good by those actually knowledgeable about the profession. If you enter the field and are involved with training, you want to pick up the OSHA 511 and 501 course as quickly as possible. They’re each about a week long and generally just under a grand, but they’re the route to be able to start issueing training credentials. If you’re in the construction industry, take the 510 and 500 courses. The National Safety Council regional offices also offer a number of cheap train-the-trainer courses.
Fully agree. This is what separates safety professionals from “Bob The Safety Guy”, safety is really about organizational risk, reliability, and resiliency. To implement that effectively you really require subject matter expertise of the processes, engineering analysis, understanding of reliabilty/risk/resiliency fundamentals, and effective cultural change management techniques. If you can pull that together, you can generally earn a solid $100-200k a year, more in some industries or as a consultant. Safety professionals who are simply concerned with OSHA and mere regulatory compliance, generally dont advance nor do their organizations. This weekend when I have time, I can PM you a number of books that really demonstrate where the profession is going at the higher end.
Thanks a lot! I'll send you a note later this weekend describing the position and how I may align myself to a structured path forward. I do come from the shop, have a PM certificate (no PMP), and about a dozen years in PM and schedule analysis, so I have cred on both sides of the desk.
Hi pscook, take a look at this article https://www.columbiasouthern.edu/safety-certification AND https://www.bcsp.org/CSP to get certified as a Certified Safety Professional. Try attending a local meeting of the American Society of Safety Professionals - https://www.assp.org/ to network and get your feet wet in EHS.
