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What is an environmental safety specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Neal O'Reilly Ph.D.

As the Environmental Safety Specialist of your company, you can expect to work hard to ensure the company complies with environmental health and safety requirements. You will be responsible for ensuring the company complies with environmental legislation concerning safety in the workplace. You will be the one who devises plans to protect the environment from the company's activities and ensure that the employees and the public are protected from hazardous materials, scenes, and projects.

As the environmental health and safety manager, you need to study and be on top of all laws and regulations. Your company depends on you to know the current rules and keep the company from being fined or closed. If you are environmentally knowledgeable and care about the environment, you will need to help companies reduce carbon footprints and minimize environmental impact. You can expect to make about $73,000 per year once you are hired.

To qualify, you need to go to college and receive a bachelor's degree in occupational health or a comparable scientific study. If you handle hazardous materials, you will need certification. You also need to have at least three years of experience and know how to communicate laws and regulations.

What general advice would you give to an environmental safety specialist?

Neal O'Reilly Ph.D.Neal O'Reilly Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Director, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

The long-term impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on graduates in the conservation science field are generally unknown. However, I hope that they will be short-lived, not long-term. Once the pandemic is under control, I hope things regarding job opportunities will improve. There is no shortage of environmental problems that need to be addressed. Past generations have disturbed the world enough to create job opportunities for several generations. Perhaps, larger than the pandemic's short-term impact on public health, will be the impact it will have on the economy, and will there be enough financial resources to fund natural resource management efforts in the future. Short-term, federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Agricultural and U.S. Department of Interior, have received money for conservation for the next few years, and this will open up job opportunities. A bigger question will be answered by this fall's elections and will the White House and Congress continue to support environmental protection and restoration efforts.
ScoreEnvironmental Safety SpecialistUS Average
Salary
4.0

Avg. Salary $51,267

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.9

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
5.9
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.23%

Asian 5.71%

Black or African American 10.16%

Hispanic or Latino 14.51%

Unknown 6.20%

White 62.19%

Gender

female 26.49%

male 73.51%

Age - 45
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45
Stress level
7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Environmental safety specialist career paths

Key steps to become an environmental safety specialist

  1. Explore environmental safety specialist education requirements

    Most common environmental safety specialist degrees

    Bachelor's

    64.3 %

    Associate

    18.0 %

    Master's

    12.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific environmental safety specialist skills

    SkillsPercentages
    OSHA9.53%
    Hazardous Materials4.76%
    Corrective Action4.62%
    EPA3.98%
    Regulatory Agencies3.63%
  3. Complete relevant environmental safety specialist training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New environmental safety specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an environmental safety specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real environmental safety specialist resumes.
  4. Research environmental safety specialist duties and responsibilities

    • Manage all asbestos relate incidents/clean-ups.
    • Ensure compliance with OSHA regulations and environmental regulations.
    • Monitor OSHA mandate requirements to keep training guidelines current.
    • Review design specs for numerous complex remodeling, demolition and construction projects addressing many utility system impacts.
  5. Prepare your environmental safety specialist resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your environmental safety specialist resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an environmental safety specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable environmental safety specialist resume templates

    Build a professional environmental safety specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your environmental safety specialist resume.
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
    Environmental Safety Specialist Resume
  6. Apply for environmental safety specialist jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for an environmental safety specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first environmental safety specialist job

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Average environmental safety specialist salary

The average environmental safety specialist salary in the United States is $51,267 per year or $25 per hour. Environmental safety specialist salaries range between $36,000 and $72,000 per year.

Average environmental safety specialist salary
$51,267 Yearly
$24.65 hourly

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Environmental safety specialist reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2023
Cons

It takes time to implement and see the safety culture grow.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2022
Pros

The job role gives me an opportunity to help save people's lives while they also achieve their objectives. In the long run, we all attain fulfillment.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2021
Pros

Firstly, the most important is to protect our planet for us and the future generations. Secondly our planet is not going to support the pressure and negative impacts because of the big Increased human population . Finally our planet needs more and more environmental specialists to regulate and control all human activities, especially the ilegal ones.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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