How To Become An Industrial Hygienist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an industrial hygienist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Industrial hygienists protect employees' health in the workspace by designing and implementing policies, procedures, and programs to reduce stress on all levels, including biological, physical, chemical, etc. As an industrial hygienist, you can assess health risks in the workspace such as noise pollution or air quality and map out strategies to reduce negative effects on employee's wellbeing. It is an important duty for you to advise and collaborate with management to resolve occupational health issues and oversee biological monitoring programs.

In addition, you are expected to assess and analyze research data and altogether compiled results after summarizing statistics. It is a point of duty for you to conduct regular audits of programs. Also, you will ensure that employees are aware of workspace health by conducting presentations and necessary pieces of training. You must maintain up-to-date knowledge about occupational health and safety legislation. As an industrial hygienist, you are to hold at least a bachelor's degree in either chemistry, industrial hygiene, environmental science, or mechanical engineering. Industrial hygienists earn an average annual salary of $71,780.

ScoreIndustrial HygienistUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $68,173

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.2

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 9.75%

Black or African American 4.73%

Hispanic or Latino 11.63%

Unknown 3.95%

White 69.76%

Gender

female 25.99%

male 74.01%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an industrial hygienist

Explore industrial hygienist education requirements

Most common industrial hygienist degrees

Bachelor's

71.5 %

Master's

17.1 %

Associate

7.8 %

Start to develop specific industrial hygienist skills

Skills	Percentages
OSHA	10.19%
Environmental Health	7.54%
Indoor Air Quality	5.43%
Ventilation	4.51%
Respirators	4.19%

Complete relevant industrial hygienist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New industrial hygienists 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 industrial hygienist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real industrial hygienist resumes.

Research industrial hygienist duties and responsibilities

Manage hazardous and special waste programs and profiles including audits/inspections, vendor compliance, documentation and recordkeeping.
Perform laboratory analysis of radiological product in support of company QA/QC protocol.
Conduct IAQ investigations for office buildings.
Perform internal audits for safety and ISO.

Prepare your industrial hygienist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your industrial hygienist 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 industrial hygienist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable industrial hygienist resume templates

Build a professional industrial hygienist 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 industrial hygienist resume.