What does an industrial safety engineer do?
Industrial safety engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real industrial safety engineer resumes:
- Manage hazardous and special waste programs and profiles including audits/inspections, vendor compliance, documentation and recordkeeping.
- Handle permitting and emissions reporting for EPA.
- Implement industrial safety programs and requirements for machinery in the field, plant and quarry according to OSHA standards.
- Write and implement programs as needed relate to EHS from rodent control to construction safety management and evaluation of contractors.
- Develop and coordinate departmental ergonomics project that contribute to equipment design changes, business system modifications and revise employee work habits.
- Coordinate and participate in identifying and evaluating HSE hazards/risks and recommend measures to reduce them.
Industrial safety engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Industrial Safety Engineers are proficient in OSHA, Fall Protection, and Safety Program. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Observational skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Industrial Safety Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- OSHA, 20%
Developed and implemented safety management systems that assisted two facilities in obtaining the OSHA VPP Star designation.
- Fall Protection, 9%
Program Manager for SLAC's Fall Protection, Ladder Safety, and Confined Space programs.
- Safety Program, 8%
Provided plants with safety service assistance in developing and implementing effective safety programs.
- Hoisting, 6%
Worked with professional engineers to successfully remove large tanks using innovative Hoisting and Rigging techniques
- Safety Analysis, 5%
Performed probabilistic risk assessment and safety analysis work for the Safety Analysis Report Program at the DOE Y-12 Plant.
- Safety Procedures, 5%
Develop new lockout/tagout safety procedures for two Nissan facilities for Engineering, Maintenance and Production to work in a multi-robotic environment.
Common skills that an industrial safety engineer uses to do their job include "osha," "fall protection," and "safety program." You can find details on the most important industrial safety engineer responsibilities below.
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an industrial safety engineer to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "health and safety engineers produce designs showing potential problems and remedies for them." Industrial safety engineers often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "inventory, classification and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. "
Observational skills. Another essential skill to perform industrial safety engineer duties is observational skills. Industrial safety engineers responsibilities require that "health and safety engineers must observe and learn how operations function so that they can identify risks to people and property." Industrial safety engineers also use observational skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "monitor associate worker knowledge of safety compliance through observational behavior auditing and provide feedback to workers after observations. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of industrial safety engineers is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday industrial safety engineer duties, as "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." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "conduct job site safety orientations to ensure communication and comprehension of safety rules and expectations. "
Problem-solving skills. industrial safety engineer responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "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." This resume example shows what industrial safety engineers do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "developed corrective action solutions based on hearing conservation needs research. "
The three companies that hire the most industrial safety engineers are:
- Tesla2 industrial safety engineers jobs
- Albany International1 industrial safety engineers jobs
- Jacobs Engineering Group
1 industrial safety engineers jobs
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Compare different industrial safety engineers
Industrial safety engineer 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 similarities exist, there are also some differences between industrial safety engineers and ehs coordinator. For instance, industrial safety engineer responsibilities require skills such as "hoisting," "safety analysis," "product safety," and "incident investigations." Whereas a ehs coordinator is skilled in "environmental health," "corrective action," "safety committee," and "contractor safety." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, ehs coordinators reach lower levels of education than industrial safety engineers. Ehs coordinators are 12.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Industrial safety engineer vs. Ehs manager
An environmental health & safety (EHS) manager is in charge of developing and implementing safety programs for a company's workforce and work environment. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting regular inspections to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations, devising preventive measures, spearheading training and seminars, and investigating workplace accidents and identify causes to ensure that it would not happen again. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team to reach goals, all while implementing every policy and safety regulation of the company.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, industrial safety engineer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "osha," "hoisting," "safety analysis," and "safety equipment." Meanwhile, an ehs manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "environmental health," "continuous improvement," "ehs management," and "risk assessments." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Ehs managers may earn a higher salary than industrial safety engineers, but ehs managers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $96,976. On the other hand, industrial safety engineers receive higher pay in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $112,777.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Ehs managers tend to reach lower levels of education than industrial safety engineers. In fact, they're 7.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Industrial safety engineer vs. Manager, environmental and safety
An Environmental and Safety manager is responsible for overseeing environmental sustainability concerning production and manufacturing processes and mitigating nature's hazardous effects. Environmental and Safety managers evaluate the methods and resources used to produce and eliminate procedures that violate safety laws and internal regulations. They also facilitate training and programs for the employees to ensure adherence to protocols and prevent accidents during operations. An Environmental and Safety Manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in reviewing incident reports and conducting root-cause analysis to avoid reoccurrence.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an industrial safety engineer is likely to be skilled in "hoisting," "safety analysis," "safety equipment," and "product safety," while a typical manager, environmental and safety is skilled in "environmental health," "ehs management," "environmental compliance," and "continuous improvement."
Managers, environmental and safety earn the best pay in the construction industry, where they command an average salary of $85,529. Industrial safety engineers earn the highest pay from the energy industry, with an average salary of $112,777.Most managers, environmental and safety achieve a lower degree level compared to industrial safety engineers. For example, they're 9.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Industrial safety engineer 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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between industrial safety engineers and safety specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an industrial safety engineer might have more use for skills like "safety analysis," "product safety," "doe," and "facilities inspections." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of safety specialists require skills like "develop corrective action," "corrective action," "food safety," and "patients. "
The average resume of safety specialists showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to industrial safety engineers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 13.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.2%.Types of industrial safety engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
