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Environmental field technician vs lead field technician

The differences between environmental field technicians and lead field technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an environmental field technician and a lead field technician. Additionally, a lead field technician has an average salary of $40,838, which is higher than the $38,450 average annual salary of an environmental field technician.

The top three skills for an environmental field technician include OSHA, data collection and HAZWOPER. The most important skills for a lead field technician are customer service, data collection, and GPS.

Environmental field technician vs lead field technician overview

Environmental Field TechnicianLead Field Technician
Yearly salary$38,450$40,838
Hourly rate$18.49$19.63
Growth rate9%9%
Number of jobs76,66588,080
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age3838
Years of experience22

What does an environmental field technician do?

An environmental field technician, often known as an environmental science and protection technician, is an individual who conducts tests on the environment and determines the impact of a potential source of pollutants. Environmental field technicians investigate pollution sources by performing testing of groundwater samples in the field. They must ensure that proper safety procedures and equipment are utilized as well as implement on-site safety procedures to individual company specifications. Environmental field technicians must also coordinate with construction management to ensure that they are following the comprehensive environmental compliance throughout the phases of construction.

What does a lead field technician do?

The Lead Field Technician serves as the assistant of the Field Supervisor. Their responsibility includes taking immediate action and making decisions for instances that individuals or organizations need their help. They are the one who implements and monitors a company's guidelines and policy and maintains the standard procedure of all the systems. Also, being an assistant, they can act as an overseer to determine the employees and equipment types that need to work smoothly and orderly.

Environmental field technician vs lead field technician salary

Environmental field technicians and lead field technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Environmental Field TechnicianLead Field Technician
Average salary$38,450$40,838
Salary rangeBetween $30,000 And $48,000Between $24,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City-Oakland, CA
Highest paying state-Nevada
Best paying company-Schneider Electric Industrial Services
Best paying industry-Utilities

Differences between environmental field technician and lead field technician education

There are a few differences between an environmental field technician and a lead field technician in terms of educational background:

Environmental Field TechnicianLead Field Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common majorEnvironmental ScienceBusiness
Most common collegeDuke UniversityStanford University

Environmental field technician vs lead field technician demographics

Here are the differences between environmental field technicians' and lead field technicians' demographics:

Environmental Field TechnicianLead Field Technician
Average age3838
Gender ratioMale, 85.5% Female, 14.5%Male, 87.2% Female, 12.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between environmental field technician and lead field technician duties and responsibilities

Environmental field technician example responsibilities.

  • Provide contractor oversight, including monitoring of technical performance of sub-contractors managing remedial cleanup projects involving hazardous waste.
  • Complete field forms, draw sketch maps, profiles and plan view field drawings.
  • Identify and correct safety shortfalls in confine space entry, explosive atmosphere, and fall protection to ensure OSHA compliance.
  • Create sketch maps of artifact distribution, and site features.
  • Read topographic maps in addition to using hand hold and tablet base GPS units.
  • Insulate and push copper thru a chase along with ac wire and drain line.
  • Show more

Lead field technician example responsibilities.

  • Lead training, operations, user hardware and software support, and logbook oversight.
  • Work directly with Crestron representatives to insure proper deployment and operations of all control devices and A/V systems.
  • Navigate in remote forest habitat with compass, aerial map, and GPS unit.
  • Call in on a very complex issue involving some RF interference at a local TV station.
  • Determine the best course of action to resolve loss of connectivity, virus attack or RF issues.
  • Provide training, schedule projects and ensure all new PC's are imaged and ready for delivery.
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Environmental field technician vs lead field technician skills

Common environmental field technician skills
  • OSHA, 11%
  • Data Collection, 9%
  • HAZWOPER, 9%
  • Safety Procedures, 7%
  • Hand Tools, 6%
  • GPS, 5%
Common lead field technician skills
  • Customer Service, 34%
  • Data Collection, 13%
  • GPS, 7%
  • Technical Support, 6%
  • Preventative Maintenance, 4%
  • Fiber Optic, 3%

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