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The differences between occupational health and safety specialists and certified medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an occupational health and safety specialist, becoming a certified medical technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an occupational health and safety specialist has an average salary of $59,335, which is higher than the $38,859 average annual salary of a certified medical technician.
The top three skills for an occupational health and safety specialist include occupational safety, safety issues and trend analysis. The most important skills for a certified medical technician are patients, vital signs, and CPR.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $59,335 | $38,859 |
| Hourly rate | $28.53 | $18.68 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 84,204 | 164,424 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
An occupational health and safety specialist's role is to inspect and analyze work environments and procedures, ensuring compliance with the company's safety rules and regulations. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies and programs that prioritize employees' safety and welfare, inspect machines and equipment, conduct safety demonstrations and training programs, investigate workforce accidents, and implement precautionary measures. There are also instances when an occupational health and safety specialist must produce progress reports and presentations, suggest improvements in the system, and collect samples for laboratory testing and analysis.
Certified Medical Technicians are specialists in medical diagnoses by performing laboratory testing and analysis for hospitals and physicians. Their duties include lab sanitization to prepare for testing and collection, recording medical samples for testing, specimen preparation, blood drawing for donation and testing, and assisting physicians with sample collection as well as equipment handling in surgical rooms. They must also understand how to use complex and sensitive testing equipment such as cell counters, analyzers, microscopes, and centrifuges.
Occupational health and safety specialists and certified medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average salary | $59,335 | $38,859 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $87,000 | Between $28,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Silver Spring, MD | Denton, TX |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Genentech | Favorite Healthcare Staffing |
| Best paying industry | Government | Health Care |
There are a few differences between an occupational health and safety specialist and a certified medical technician in terms of educational background:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 28% |
| Most common major | Occupational Safety And Health | Nursing |
| Most common college | San Diego State University | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between occupational health and safety specialists' and certified medical technicians' demographics:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Certified Medical Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 5.6% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 15.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 8% |