How to Find Occupational Health and Safety Jobs

Occupational health and safety specialist jobs are not for those people who enjoy being at a desk looking out a window or staring at a computer screen.  This type of job can be found in all sorts of workplaces and that variety carries into the day-to-day tasks.  Mines, offices and factories are some places that come right to mind.  This job may require travel and often considerable fieldwork at various sites.  In a nutshell, the occupational health and safety specialists help prevent harm from coming to workers, property, the environment, and to the general public.

When there is an accident that involves a serious injury or death, then OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is called in to evaluate the standards of health and safety in place when the accident occurred. Sometimes, they find that the accident could have been prevented, if there were certain steps in place and other times they find that all reasonable safety precautions were met and it was an error on the workers part or just a plain accident.The report from them can be used to fix something that went wrong in the safety plan, or to reinforce how important the regulations actually are for the workers safety. Required reading for this profession is the OSHA General Industry Standards among some law and perhaps government regulations that apply to a specific business.

Safety science careers begin with a bachelor or masters degree in safety science.  Studies encompass psychology to science and even communication classes.  Since the work in this profession can range from consultation for a small company looking to upgrade an employee handbook to managing huge multi-million dollar projects, the broad range of topics is important so that you can be a problem solver and a think-on-your-feet type of person.  Safety specialist fields definitely need communication classes because there are so many different ways that you may need to get a message across.  You may need to speak with someone one-on-one, or you may need to present to a group of fifty or even five-hundred depending on the situation.  Having communication skills that can serve you well in any situation is a definite plus.

Occupational health and safety specialist jobs may require specific skill sets and when you are seeking training programs, you may want to look at what type of internships they provide so that you can have some experience before applying for that first job. Some programs advise or even require students to volunteer in some capacity as well.  Safety science careers are needed, but they may not be as in demand as other careers in the next decade.  The safety specialists fields are expected to only grow about nine percent, a good bit slower than others in the next few years.

Working in an industrial complex with hazardous waste or a factory can be your entry into the world of occupational health and safety specialist jobs.  Later, you may also be advising a non-profit about the risk of injury given specific behaviors of their employees.  In any case, you'll be in a position to advise and assist in keeping workers and even the general public safe from hazardous conditions.  These important jobs operate somewhat behind the scenes, but offer some interesting environments to work in and those can be different even the next day.  Understanding laws and guidelines helps to make you a valuable resource to the companies, factories and the small offices that you consult with in your role. Being safe is everyones right, so keeping potentially harmful situations from happening is a very important thing to do.