Medical safety director vs environmental health specialist

The differences between medical safety directors and environmental health specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a medical safety director and an environmental health specialist. Additionally, a medical safety director has an average salary of $148,525, which is higher than the $54,789 average annual salary of an environmental health specialist.

The top three skills for a medical safety director include safety data, signal detection and safety reports. The most important skills for an environmental health specialist are environmental health, EHS, and OSHA.

Medical safety director vs environmental health specialist overview

	Medical Safety Director	Environmental Health Specialist
Yearly salary	$148,525	$54,789
Hourly rate	$71.41	$26.34
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	64,360	69,497
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	6	6

Medical safety director vs environmental health specialist salary

Medical safety directors and environmental health specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Safety Director	Environmental Health Specialist
Average salary	$148,525	$54,789
Salary range	Between $77,000 And $286,000	Between $38,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	Covance	ICU Medical
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between medical safety director and environmental health specialist education

There are a few differences between a medical safety director and an environmental health specialist in terms of educational background:

	Medical Safety Director	Environmental Health Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Medicine	Public Health
Most common college	Duke University	University of California, Berkeley

Medical safety director vs environmental health specialist demographics

Here are the differences between medical safety directors' and environmental health specialists' demographics:

	Medical Safety Director	Environmental Health Specialist
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 76.3% Female, 23.7%	Male, 62.8% Female, 37.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.7% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between medical safety director and environmental health specialist duties and responsibilities

Medical safety director example responsibilities.

Manage interaction and oversight of insurance brokerage, insurance company and third party resources and services.
Manage HSE programs for a national corporation specializing in concrete product manufacturing.
Investigate accidents and report to MSHA and CAL-OSHA.
Distinguish for successfully representing Becton Dickinson through multiple FDA and NSAI audits.
Secure ISO certification -developed by internal resources and culture, not outsource.
Monitor compliance with EPA standards, conduct all employee-training sessions for compliance with safety and HazCom standards.

Environmental health specialist example responsibilities.

Help in managing the implementation of management systems meeting OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 standards.
Manage organization's injury/illness recordkeeping and handle worker's compensation claims.
Provide strategic leadership and work with management on identify EHS issues/recommendations/opportunities to foster continuous improvement of EHS programs and culture.
Maintain SDS and GHS programs.
Serve as an in-house expert for GHS - SDS and labeling issues.
Help integrate EHSMS internal audits with QMS internal audits for ISO 13485 and reviewing QSR.

Medical safety director vs environmental health specialist skills

Common medical safety director skills

Safety Data, 14%
Signal Detection, 11%
Safety Reports, 10%
Safety Issues, 10%
Clinical Development, 10%
Risk Management, 9%

Common environmental health specialist skills

Environmental Health, 15%
EHS, 8%
OSHA, 7%
Hazardous Waste, 4%
Public Health, 3%
Risk Assessments, 3%

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Medical Safety Director vs Environmental Health Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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