Medical safety director vs safety assistant

The differences between medical safety directors and safety assistants 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 a safety assistant. Additionally, a medical safety director has an average salary of $148,525, which is higher than the $38,077 average annual salary of a safety assistant.

The top three skills for a medical safety director include safety data, signal detection and safety reports. The most important skills for a safety assistant are patients, patient care, and patient safety.

Medical safety director vs safety assistant overview

	Medical Safety Director	Safety Assistant
Yearly salary	$148,525	$38,077
Hourly rate	$71.41	$18.31
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	64,360	13,994
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	6	6

Medical safety director vs safety assistant salary

Medical safety directors and safety assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Safety Director	Safety Assistant
Average salary	$148,525	$38,077
Salary range	Between $77,000 And $286,000	Between $27,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Fairbanks, AK
Highest paying state	Alaska	Alaska
Best paying company	Covance	Capco
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between medical safety director and safety assistant education

There are a few differences between a medical safety director and a safety assistant in terms of educational background:

	Medical Safety Director	Safety Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Medicine	Business
Most common college	Duke University	University of Pennsylvania

Medical safety director vs safety assistant demographics

Here are the differences between medical safety directors' and safety assistants' demographics:

	Medical Safety Director	Safety Assistant
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 76.3% Female, 23.7%	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%
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, 9.2% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 5.8% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between medical safety director and safety assistant 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.

Safety assistant example responsibilities.

Maintain and manage training records relate to MSHA compliance, ATF compliance and company-requir training.
Manage and facilitate extensive Safety/Security and HAZMAT training for all personnel.
Assist patients with daily hygiene, also assist nurses with patients periodically; distributing medication and direct observation
Work as one-to-one patient safety assistant worker providing supervision to patients who suffer from physical, mental and psychological conditions.
Organize CPR trainings and hearing tests for employees.
Train in the use of the Autopulse CPR machine.

Medical safety director vs safety assistant 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 safety assistant skills

Patients, 21%
Patient Care, 11%
Patient Safety, 10%
CPR, 8%
OSHA, 5%
Safety Audits, 4%

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Medical Safety Director
Medical Safety Director vs Safety Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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