How to hire an environmental safety specialist

How to hire an environmental safety specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step environmental safety specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an environmental safety specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new environmental safety specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an environmental safety specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The environmental safety specialist hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect environmental safety specialist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of environmental safety specialists.

   Type of Environmental Safety Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Environmental Safety Specialist	Occupational health and safety specialists analyze many types of work environments and work procedures. Specialists inspect workplaces for adherence to regulations on safety, health, and the environment... Show more	$17-34
   Safety Engineer	The duties of a safety engineer depend on one's industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing the implementation of the safety policies and regulations in a company by conducting regular inspections and maintenance checks, coordinating with department personnel to gather data, assessing risks, and arranging precautionary measures... Show more	$23-52
   Safety Officer	A safety officer specializes in maintaining a safe and healthy work environment for employees in a building or establishment. Aside from adhering to the safety standards and regulations within a company, a safety officer also has to craft and improve policies that prioritize the physical and mental health of workers... Show more	$13-35

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • OSHA
   • Hazardous Materials
   • Corrective Action
   • EPA
   • Regulatory Agencies
   • Safety Program
   • Environmental Safety
   • Safety Procedures
   • EHS
   • Environmental Compliance
   • Safety Training
   • Hazardous Waste
   • Environmental Regulations
   • Safety Compliance

   Check all skills

   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.
   • Obtain & hold certification standard within the company, and NFPA 10 and MSHA.
   • Conduct site specific orientation, mobile equipment, confine space and LOTO training.

   More environmental safety specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your environmental safety specialist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. An environmental safety specialist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, environmental safety specialists' average salary in florida is 41% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level environmental safety specialists 50% less than senior-level environmental safety specialists.
   • Certifications. An environmental safety specialist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in an environmental safety specialist's salary.

   Average environmental safety specialist salary

   $51,267yearly

   $24.65 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level environmental safety specialist salary

   $36,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average environmental safety specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Ohio	$61,653	$30
   2	Delaware	$59,821	$29
   3	Rhode Island	$59,812	$29
   4	Oregon	$59,519	$29
   5	North Carolina	$57,299	$28
   6	Michigan	$55,759	$27
   7	North Dakota	$55,685	$27
   8	Virginia	$53,466	$26
   9	New York	$52,483	$25
   10	Illinois	$51,268	$25
   11	New Jersey	$50,647	$24
   12	Iowa	$50,099	$24
   13	Indiana	$49,706	$24
   14	Nebraska	$48,488	$23
   15	Wisconsin	$47,982	$23
   16	Arizona	$45,867	$22
   17	Tennessee	$45,333	$22
   18	Alabama	$44,190	$21
   19	Texas	$42,868	$21
   20	Missouri	$42,387	$20

   Average environmental safety specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Eli Lilly and Company	$91,895	$44.18	7
   2	Bayer	$81,088	$38.98	8
   3	ABB	$69,847	$33.58
   4	Fellowes Brands	$67,580	$32.49
   5	Booz Allen Hamilton	$65,178	$31.34	3
   6	DSM Services USA Inc	$63,623	$30.59	2
   7	H.B. Fuller	$62,967	$30.27
   8	HonorHealth	$61,970	$29.79
   9	Oldcastle Infrastructure	$61,512	$29.57	59
   10	Owens Corning	$59,577	$28.64	5
   11	Mobis Alabama, LLC	$56,913	$27.36	2
   12	Compliance	$56,698	$27.26	29
   13	Intuitive Research and Technology	$56,551	$27.19
   14	S&C Electric	$55,108	$26.49
   15	Ecolab	$54,967	$26.43	57
   16	Emerson	$54,941	$26.41	21
   17	Occidental Petroleum	$54,571	$26.24	4
   18	NSK Americas, Inc.	$53,919	$25.92	3
   19	SMS group	$53,447	$25.70	5
   20	Advanced Flexible Composites, Inc.	$53,429	$25.69

4. Writing an environmental safety specialist job description

   An environmental safety specialist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of an environmental safety specialist job description:

   Environmental safety specialist job description example

   Allfast Fastening Systems is an AS9100 and NADCAP certified manufacturing company. We are seeking a talented, hands on, self-starting professional to work in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment as an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist.
   Essential Duties, Responsibilities and Competencies:
   
   Implements, updates, and maintains company policies, procedures and program documents to ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local environmental and safety regulations.
   
   Develops environmental and safety training programs and coordinates with Human Resources and Supervisory personnel to ensure timely and effective employee training.
   
   Serves as the primary point of contact to environmental and safety regulatory agencies and prepares draft responses to agency inquiries as required.
   
   Maintains all environmental permits to ensure active status and good standing with applicable regulatory agencies. Point person for all regulatory agencies.
   
   Coordinates all environmental and safety programs and maintains applicable documents and records including permits, hazardous waste manifests, wastewater discharge reports, air emission reports and stormwater discharge reports.
   
   Conducts periodic site assessments and inspections to ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local environmental and safety regulations.
   
   Drives continual improvement in employee health and safety and promotes a culture of safety awareness.
   
   Responsible for data collection to assist with accurate completion and timely submittal of environmental and safety monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting requirements such as hazardous materials and hazardous waste reports, stormwater inspections and sampling, and wastewater discharge sampling.
   
   Conducts Job Hazard Analyses and other detailed investigations of potential safety and health hazards and makes recommendations for corrective actions. Provides technical guidance to Supervisory personnel conducting incident investigations.
   
   Represents Allfast on the TriMas Aerospace Safety Council. Chairs and Co-Chairs the Allfast Safety Committee.
   
   Manages the semi-monthly Toolbox Talk program wherein Supervisory personnel lead their employees in topical environmental and safety training discussions. Monitors Supervisory completion of scheduled Toolbox Talks to ensure 100% on-time completion rate.
   
   Manages and oversees bi-weekly department safety inspections.
   
   Lead workplace injury investigations and implement corrective actions.
   
   Assists Human Resources personnel with management of Worker's Compensation claims.
   
   Monitors performance to environmental and safety KPI metrics and provides periodic updates to management.
   
   Monitors performance to annual environmental and safety budgets.
   
   Other duties as assigned.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right environmental safety specialist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with environmental safety specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit environmental safety specialists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your environmental safety specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit environmental safety specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit environmental safety specialists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new environmental safety specialist

   Once you've selected the best environmental safety specialist candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new environmental safety specialist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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