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The differences between environmental, safety, & health engineers and occupational health and safety 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 occupational health and safety 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 $59,335 average annual salary of an occupational health and safety specialist.
The top three skills for an environmental, safety, & health engineer include environmental health, OSHA and EHS. The most important skills for an occupational health and safety specialist are occupational safety, safety issues, and trend analysis.
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $69,638 | $59,335 |
| Hourly rate | $33.48 | $28.53 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 75,881 | 84,204 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| 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 occupational health and safety specialist's role is to inspect and analyze work environments and procedures, ensuring compliance with the company's safety rules and regulations. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies and programs that prioritize employees' safety and welfare, inspect machines and equipment, conduct safety demonstrations and training programs, investigate workforce accidents, and implement precautionary measures. There are also instances when an occupational health and safety specialist must produce progress reports and presentations, suggest improvements in the system, and collect samples for laboratory testing and analysis.
Environmental, safety, & health engineers and occupational health and safety specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | |
| Average salary | $69,638 | $59,335 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $95,000 | Between $40,000 And $87,000 |
| Highest paying City | Foster City, CA | Silver Spring, MD |
| Highest paying state | Louisiana | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Western Digital | Genentech |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Government |
There are a few differences between an environmental, safety, & health engineer and an occupational health and safety specialist in terms of educational background:
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Environmental Science | Occupational Safety And Health |
| Most common college | SUNY at Binghamton | San Diego State University |
Here are the differences between environmental, safety, & health engineers' and occupational health and safety specialists' demographics:
| Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineer | Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.3% Female, 27.7% | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% |
| 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, 9.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 5.6% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 7% |