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The differences between occupational health and safety specialists 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 an occupational health and safety specialist and an environmental health specialist. Additionally, an occupational health and safety specialist has an average salary of $59,335, which is higher than the $54,789 average annual salary of an environmental health specialist.
The top three skills for an occupational health and safety specialist include occupational safety, safety issues and trend analysis. The most important skills for an environmental health specialist are environmental health, EHS, and OSHA.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $59,335 | $54,789 |
| Hourly rate | $28.53 | $26.34 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 84,204 | 69,497 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
An Environmental Health Specialist is responsible for determining the existence of possible health hazards and taking measures to prevent or corect them. They monitor health and safety conditions in resedential, industrial, commercial, and recreational settings.
Occupational health and safety specialists and environmental health specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Average salary | $59,335 | $54,789 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $87,000 | Between $38,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | Silver Spring, MD | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Genentech | ICU Medical |
| Best paying industry | Government | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an occupational health and safety specialist and an environmental health specialist in terms of educational background:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Occupational Safety And Health | Public Health |
| Most common college | San Diego State University | University of California, Berkeley |
Here are the differences between occupational health and safety specialists' and environmental health specialists' demographics:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | Male, 62.8% Female, 37.2% |
| 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, 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% |