What does an environmental, safety, & health engineer do?
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.
Environmental, safety, & health engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real environmental, safety, & health engineer resumes:
- Ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA and NJDEP regulations and manage site remediation program at a specialty chemical manufacturing facility.
- Manage hazardous and special waste programs and profiles including audits/inspections, vendor compliance, documentation and recordkeeping.
- Coordinate EPA sampling and testing to ensure compliance with storm water permits.
- Maintain document files to comply with local, state and EPA regulations for radiation and hazardous waste disposal.
- Complete training in ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 internal auditor training and assist with audits conduct on site.
- Provide management & technical support to NASA and contractor facilities; includes development of OSHA and flight safety hazard analyses.
- Participate ISO audits for internal and external certifications.
- Develop and review annual capital plans to ensure that the company appropriately prioritize and address EHS risks and regulatory requirements.
- Evaluate near miss incidents and complete accident investigations for root cause analysis and formal documentation within internal EHS metrics databases.
- Provide oversight and technical guidance to facilities, systems, associate support equipment and operations to ensure adherence to safety guidelines.
- Establish simplified incident/injury reporting criteria, heavy/critical lift guidelines, instructions for handling substance abuse complaints and RCRA monitoring program.
Environmental, safety, & health engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineers are proficient in Environmental Health, OSHA, and EHS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Problem-solving skills, and Ability to use technology.
We break down the percentage of Environmental, Safety, & Health Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Environmental Health, 10%
Apply Environmental Health and Safety principles including risk assessments and hierarchies of control to promote compliance in a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.
- OSHA, 9%
Interfaced with regulatory agencies - including OSHA-VPP Program; excellent working knowledge of OSHA, EPA, DOT and NASA requirements.
- EHS, 8%
Developed and reviewed annual capital plans to ensure that the company appropriately prioritize and address EHS risks and regulatory requirements.
- EPA, 4%
Maintained document files to comply with local, state and EPA regulations for radiation and hazardous waste disposal.
- Corrective Action, 4%
Assisted management with accident/incident investigations and near misses and assisted in implementing corrective actions to reduce injury possibilities in the future.
- Safety Regulations, 4%
Ensured compliance with company and government health and environmental safety regulations.
Common skills that an environmental, safety, & health engineer uses to do their job include "environmental health," "osha," and "ehs." You can find details on the most important environmental, safety, & health engineer responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an environmental, safety, & health engineer to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "health and safety engineers must be able to interpret federal and state regulations and their intent so that they can propose proper designs for specific work environments." Additionally, an environmental, safety, & health engineer resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "provided all in-house training for environmental compliance, hazardous communications, first aid/cpr/aed, and cal/osha requirements. "
Problem-solving skills. Many environmental, safety, & health engineer duties rely on problem-solving skills. "in designing solutions for entire organizational operations, health and safety engineers must take into account processes from more than one system at the same time," so an environmental, safety, & health engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways environmental, safety, & health engineer responsibilities rely on problem-solving skills: "validated permanent solutions were in place for all incident corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence of injuries. "
The three companies that hire the most environmental, safety, & health engineers are:
- Lockheed Martin7 environmental, safety, & health engineers jobs
- Calgon Carbon6 environmental, safety, & health engineers jobs
- L3Harris4 environmental, safety, & health engineers jobs
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Environmental, safety, & health engineer vs. Industrial hygienist
An Industrial Hygienist plans and conducts health programs to educate employees about cleanliness, safety, and sanitation in the workplace. They investigate adequacy of ventilation, exhaust equipment, lighting, and other conditions that can affect employees' health, comfort, or efficiency.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between environmental, safety, & health engineers and industrial hygienist. For instance, environmental, safety, & health engineer responsibilities require skills such as "safety regulations," "continuous improvement," "regulatory agencies," and "management system." Whereas a industrial hygienist is skilled in "indoor air quality," "safety program," "occupational safety," and "occupational health hazards." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Industrial hygienists earn the highest salaries when working in the energy industry, with an average yearly salary of $93,692. On the other hand, environmental, safety, & health engineers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $79,721.industrial hygienists tend to reach similar levels of education than environmental, safety, & health engineers. In fact, industrial hygienists are 1.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Environmental, safety, & health engineer vs. Ehs manager
An environmental health & safety (EHS) manager is in charge of developing and implementing safety programs for a company's workforce and work environment. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting regular inspections to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations, devising preventive measures, spearheading training and seminars, and investigating workplace accidents and identify causes to ensure that it would not happen again. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team to reach goals, all while implementing every policy and safety regulation of the company.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, environmental, safety, & health engineer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "osha," "ehs," "safety equipment," and "environmental safety." Meanwhile, an ehs manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "safety training," "oversight," "safety policies," and "safety program." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, ehs managers earn a higher salary than environmental, safety, & health engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, ehs managers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $96,976. Whereas environmental, safety, & health engineers have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $79,721.ehs managers earn similar levels of education than environmental, safety, & health engineers in general. They're 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for environmental, safety, & health engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University
Environmental, safety, & health engineer vs. Safety supervisor
A safety supervisor is responsible for monitoring the overall operations of a production, ensuring the safety and security of everyone, and enforcing strict regulations and protocols. Safety supervisors organize safety orientations and training for the workers, as well as reiterating disciplinary measures and policies and procedures during meetings. They inspect the workplace, including the maintenance of tools and equipment, immediately calling for repair for any defective items found. A safety supervisor also assists with the investigation of workplace hazards to prevent such complications in the future.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from environmental, safety, & health engineer resumes include skills like "environmental health," "continuous improvement," "regulatory agencies," and "environmental regulations," whereas a safety supervisor is more likely to list skills in "safety procedures," "safety program," "safety training," and "patrol. "
Safety supervisors earn the highest salary when working in the energy industry, where they receive an average salary of $76,175. Comparatively, environmental, safety, & health engineers have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $79,721.safety supervisors typically earn lower educational levels compared to environmental, safety, & health engineers. Specifically, they're 8.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Environmental, safety, & health engineer vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between environmental, safety, & health engineers and engineers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an environmental, safety, & health engineer might have more use for skills like "environmental health," "osha," "ehs," and "epa." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of engineers require skills like "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #. "
Engineers enjoy the best pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $97,672. For comparison, environmental, safety, & health engineers earn the highest salary in the technology industry.In general, engineers hold similar degree levels compared to environmental, safety, & health engineers. Engineers are 2.6% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of environmental, safety, & health engineer
Updated January 8, 2025











