What does an environmental technician do?
An environmental technician is responsible for identifying, evaluating, preventing, and controlling contamination of the environment. They study how it affects human health with the supervision of environmental engineers and environmental scientists. Environmental technicians work by monitoring the environment and look for possible sources of pollution and contamination that can possibly affect public health. They make sure that environmental violations are prevented. In addition, an environmental technician also investigates any complaint that is related to water quality, air quality, and food safety.
Environmental technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real environmental technician resumes:
- Lead a crew of twelve techs in various archaeological excavations.
- Manage designated areas to ensure proper cleanliness and safety.
- Manage daily RCRA inspections and mechanical, electrical, and electronic equipment preventive/corrective maintenance procedures.
- Provide contractor oversight, including monitoring of technical performance of sub-contractors managing remedial cleanup projects involving hazardous waste.
- Assist with environmental projects such as groundwater monitoring, and spatial analysis using ArcGIS.
- Perform physical labor associate with cleanup activities, sample collection, waste removal and other remediation service.
- Develop innovative PowerPoint presentations on current environmental issues in Arizona for reporting purposes.
- Clip and archive EEG data.
- Collect radioactive trash & PC's and dose rate them.
- Place booms in oil contaminate water and power-wash dock areas.
- Perform an acceptance inspection on all empty incoming ISO shipping containers.
- Perform daily challenging, monitoring, and calibrating of RCRA ACAMS.
- Organize all load ISO shipping containers to keep within site ALARA standards.
- Track and report EHS metrics and measure performance against key performance indicators.
- Work on remedy integration with AO for BBNA project and BBSA project.
Environmental technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Environmental Technicians are proficient in Patients, OSHA, and Hazardous Materials. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Environmental Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 12%
Maintained a positive attitude when interacting with patients what maintaining the general appearance of nursing facility.
- OSHA, 7%
Conducted experimental research and established monitoring program to track hazardous vapors and materials during processing per OSHA standards.
- Hazardous Materials, 6%
Received, evaluated, recycled and/or disposed of hazardous materials on the military installation in accordance with company and government regulations.
- Customer Service, 6%
Coordinated the customer services and environmental information office of the public beaches of Barcelona.
- Patient Rooms, 5%
Sanitized and maintained multiple assigned patient rooms and examination rooms.
- HAZWOPER, 4%
Assisted HAZWOPER technicians with logistical support for operations on project operations including research of facilities and vendors needed for project completion.
Common skills that an environmental technician uses to do their job include "patients," "osha," and "hazardous materials." You can find details on the most important environmental technician responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for an environmental technician to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "environmental science and protection technicians must carry out a wide range of laboratory and field tests, and their results must be accurate and precise." Additionally, an environmental technician resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "conducted basic chemical, physical and biological analysis on sample collection for compliance. "
Communication skills. Many environmental technician duties rely on communication skills. "environmental science and protection technicians must have good listening and writing skills, because they must follow precise directions for sample collection and communicate their results effectively in written reports," so an environmental technician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways environmental technician responsibilities rely on communication skills: "maintained hazardous materials, hazard communication, and lockout/tagout programs to ensure employee safety and compliance with air force regulations. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for environmental technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how environmental technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "environmental science and protection technicians need to work well and collaborate with others, because they often work with scientists and other technicians." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an environmental technician: "used interpersonal and communication skills with patients. ".
The three companies that hire the most environmental technicians are:
- Clean Harbors156 environmental technicians jobs
- Harsco93 environmental technicians jobs
- Catholic Health Initiatives - Colorado59 environmental technicians jobs
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Compare different environmental technicians
Environmental technician vs. Laboratory analyst
A Laboratory Analyst helps conduct experiments, run laboratory tests, and analyze results. They compile and record data for the documentation needed for testing and report preparation.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between environmental technicians and laboratory analyst. For instance, environmental technician responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "osha," "hazardous materials," and "customer service." Whereas a laboratory analyst is skilled in "test methods," "lab equipment," "lims," and "laboratory procedures." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Laboratory analysts tend to make the most money working in the pharmaceutical industry, where they earn an average salary of $47,806. In contrast, environmental technicians make the biggest average salary, $43,237, in the energy industry.On average, laboratory analysts reach similar levels of education than environmental technicians. Laboratory analysts are 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Environmental technician vs. Archaeological field technician
The key role of an Archaeological Field Technician is to conduct archaeological surveys, testing, and data recovery. They prepare accurate and concise laboratory documentation/mapping.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that environmental technician responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "osha," "hazardous materials," and "customer service." But an archaeological field technician might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "anthropology," "data recovery," "sketch," and "shovels."
Archaeological field technicians earn a higher average salary than environmental technicians. But archaeological field technicians earn the highest pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $40,901. Additionally, environmental technicians earn the highest salaries in the energy with average pay of $43,237 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Archaeological field technicians tend to reach higher levels of education than environmental technicians. In fact, they're 5.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for environmental technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Mike Mooring Ph.D.
Professor, Point Loma Nazarene University
Environmental technician vs. Hazardous material technician
A man without specific skills can't be the perfect man. Surveillance Technician, thus, needs to be tactful. He/She has to possess a wide range of exposure such as technical skills like electrical and video installation knowledge, maintenance skills such as drilling, wiring, cabling, and network administration skills.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an environmental technician is likely to be skilled in "patients," "hazardous materials," "customer service," and "patient rooms," while a typical hazardous material technician is skilled in "hazardous materials incidents," "hazardous waste," "radiological," and "emt."
Hazardous material technicians typically earn similar educational levels compared to environmental technicians. Specifically, they're 2.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Environmental technician vs. Surveillance technician
Types of environmental technician
Updated January 8, 2025
