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The differences between environmental, safety, & health engineers and environmental health specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an environmental, safety, & health engineer, becoming an environmental health specialist takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an environmental, safety, & health engineer has an average salary of $69,638, which is higher than the $54,789 average annual salary of an environmental health specialist.
The top three skills for an environmental, safety, & health engineer include environmental health, OSHA and EHS. The most important skills for an environmental health specialist are environmental health, EHS, and OSHA.
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $69,638 | $54,789 |
| Hourly rate | $33.48 | $26.34 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 75,881 | 69,497 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 42 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
An environmental, safety, and health engineer is responsible for developing procedures and designing systems to help prevent an injury, an illness, and property damage. You will perform a few tasks that include monitoring the conditions of the natural surroundings and the impact of humans, assessing potential hazards such as soil, water, and air contaminants, and developing solutions that will benefit the ecosystem and the community. You will also be responsible for developing structures that promote public safety, such as floodgates and bridges.
An Environmental Health Specialist is responsible for determining the existence of possible health hazards and taking measures to prevent or corect them. They monitor health and safety conditions in resedential, industrial, commercial, and recreational settings.
Environmental, safety, & health engineers and environmental health specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Average salary | $69,638 | $54,789 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $95,000 | Between $38,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | Foster City, CA | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | Louisiana | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Western Digital | ICU Medical |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an environmental, safety, & health engineer and an environmental health specialist in terms of educational background:
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Environmental Science | Public Health |
| Most common college | SUNY at Binghamton | University of California, Berkeley |
Here are the differences between environmental, safety, & health engineers' and environmental health specialists' demographics:
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.3% Female, 27.7% | Male, 62.8% Female, 37.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 9.7% White, 69.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.7% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 7% |