What does a health and safety manager do?
Health and Safety Managers oversee the company's compliance with occupational health and safety guidelines set by both governing bodies and company policies. They create company policies based on guidelines released by regulatory bodies. They also ensure that everyone follows these policies in the office. Health and safety managers are in charge of inspecting the workplace and ensuring no health hazards in the area. They are also in charge of signing off on materials and equipment used in the office to ensure that they are safe to use. Health and Safety Managers train health and safety officers to ensure that the same standard is applied to the department.
Health and safety manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real health and safety manager resumes:
- Lead district to earn distinction as first location in the company to adhere to rigorous EPA guidelines for hazardous materials handling.
- Lead EHS management systems audits, conduct industrial hygiene evaluations, coordinate MSDS development and deliver EHS site-specific training.
- Focuse on achieving the highest levels of HSE performance through behavior-base initiatives, auditing, mentoring and expeditiously implementing change.
- Work with business units to identify opportunities for EHS improvement and develop and implement effective EHS management systems and best practices.
- Assess payloads to assure compliance with NASA safety requirements.
- Perform hazard analyses and safety assessments of NASA rocket motor tests, industrial facilities and operations.
- Conduct field and site specific industrial hygiene surveys and environmental sampling to comply with OSHA, MSHA, EPA SW-846 protocols.
- Facilitate ISO compliance by conducting various fit gaps, hazard assessments, and updating hazard registries for operation and factory processes.
- Provide safety oversight for construction and renovation projects.
- Provide assistance in developing and maintaining ISO and OHSAS certifiable programs at global manufacturing operations.
- Implement initiatives to support effective injury/illness case management, return-to-work programs, and investigation and management of HSE relate cases.
- Develop PowerPoint to create greater awareness of improper lifting sling hazards and recommendations of proper lifting techniques, recommendation taken.
- Utilize a RCRA exemption for bulk solvent waste that decrease regulatory requirements and save over $200,000 annually.
- Extract petroleum from various mothball processes in order to removal from SPCC applicability and reduce liabilities and inspection costs.
- Document locations of the system of fix nuclear accident dosimeters and verify compliance with the 10 CFR 835.1304 requirements.
Health and safety manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Health And Safety Managers are proficient in EHS, Corrective Action, and Safety Program. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Problem-solving skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Health And Safety Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- EHS, 6%
Worked with business units to identify opportunities for EHS improvement and developed and implemented effective EHS management systems and best practices.
- Corrective Action, 5%
Presented safety metrics and updates at management meetings and client to communicate any safety incidents and corrective actions to prevent recurrences.
- Safety Program, 5%
Assisted the Sales Department with bidding by providing information on our Safety statistics and required information regarding our Safety Programs.
- Continuous Improvement, 5%
Implemented area audit process for mine and instituted continuous improvement processes for safety related matters mine wide.
- Management System, 4%
Guided incident investigation reform producing thorough investigation and analysis, and laying groundwork in preparation for a Safety Management System start-up.
- EPA, 3%
Developed corporate polices and procedures to ensure compliance with OSHA, EPA, FDA, TSCA, FIFRA and DOT regulations.
"ehs," "corrective action," and "safety program" are among the most common skills that health and safety managers use at work. You can find even more health and safety manager responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. One of the key soft skills for a health and safety manager to have is creativity. You can see how this relates to what health and safety managers do because "health and safety engineers produce designs showing potential problems and remedies for them." Additionally, a health and safety manager resume shows how health and safety managers use creativity: "maintained and inventoried all field, office, and safety equipment. "
Problem-solving skills. Many health and safety manager 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 a health and safety manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways health and safety manager responsibilities rely on problem-solving skills: "resolved multiple environmental compliance issues and created systems for best practices sharing to ensure performance improvements. "
Communication skills. health and safety managers are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to health and safety manager responsibilities, 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." A health and safety manager resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "designed and developed electrical safety and hazard communication campaign to promote safety compliance. "
The three companies that hire the most health and safety managers are:
- Flowserve31 health and safety managers jobs
- Conagra Brands20 health and safety managers jobs
- HEPACO14 health and safety managers jobs
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Compare different health and safety managers
Health and safety manager 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.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a health and safety manager are more likely to require skills like "continuous improvement," "management system," "safety procedures," and "regulatory agencies." On the other hand, a job as an industrial hygienist requires skills like "osha," "environmental health," "indoor air quality," and "ventilation." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Industrial hygienists tend to make the most money working in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $93,692. In contrast, health and safety managers make the biggest average salary, $96,840, in the energy industry.On average, industrial hygienists reach similar levels of education than health and safety managers. Industrial hygienists are 2.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Health and safety manager vs. Ehs coordinator
An EHS coordinator develops and organizes environmental health and safety (EHS) programs and protocols in a company. They typically perform research and analysis to determine the ideal practices, gather and analyze data to identify problem areas and their corresponding solutions, spearheading information drives within the company, and coordinating with different departments. They must also perform regular inspections to ensure that departments and procedures adhere to EHS laws and regulations. Moreover, an EHS coordinator implements EHS policies and regulations, developing new ones when necessary.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that health and safety manager responsibilities requires skills like "ehs," "workers compensation," "emergency response," and "safety culture." But an ehs coordinator might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "environmental health," "osha," "safety committee," and "ppe."
Ehs coordinators earn similar levels of education than health and safety managers in general. They're 2.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for health and safety managers in the next 3-5 years?
Linsay Hale
Professional Standards Director/Interim Training Division Director, IADLEST Member - International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training
Health and safety manager vs. Safety specialist
Safety specialists examine various types of work procedures and environments. They observe if workplaces stick to the regulations on health, safety, and the environment. Also, they create programs to prevent injury or disease to workers and harm to the environment. Their duties include identifying hazards at the workplace and collecting samples of potentially toxic materials for examination. Another task they do is conduct training on emergency preparedness. Additionally, they explore and identify the causes of an accident to determine their preventative measures.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, health and safety managers are more likely to have skills like "continuous improvement," "workers compensation," "safety performance," and "hr." But a safety specialist is more likely to have skills like "osha," "food safety," "patients," and "powerpoint."
When it comes to education, safety specialists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to health and safety managers. In fact, they're 3.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Health and safety manager vs. Safety representative
A safety representative is responsible for reiterating safety protocols and regulations in the workplace to prevent potential hazards and operational delays. Safety representatives facilitate training and programs for the employees and inform them of any communications related to their safety and wellbeing. They also submit incident reports to the safety manager and provide recommendations to minimize risks and practice emergency drills. A safety representative must have excellent communication and organizational skills to create a safe environment for operations.
Types of health and safety manager
Updated January 8, 2025
