Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between occupational health and safety specialists and plant safety leaders 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 a plant safety leader. Additionally, a plant safety leader has an average salary of $75,374, which is higher than the $59,335 average annual salary of an occupational health and safety 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 a plant safety leader are OSHA, continuous improvement, and safety audits.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Plant Safety Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $59,335 | $75,374 |
| Hourly rate | $28.53 | $36.24 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 84,204 | 36,957 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| 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.
Plant Safety Leaders are responsible for ensuring the organization's facility adheres to all safety policies and regulations. Their duties include advising employees on safety work culture, develop safe work practices programs, and make sure projects' operations fulfill legal safety requirements. They are also involved in conducting accident investigations, implementing safety worksite processes, and producing safety reports. Plant Safety Leaders carry out safety and risk assessments, perform emergency response evaluations, and facilitate staff departments' training sessions.
Occupational health and safety specialists and plant safety leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Plant Safety Leader | |
| Average salary | $59,335 | $75,374 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $87,000 | Between $45,000 And $124,000 |
| Highest paying City | Silver Spring, MD | Fairfield, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | California |
| Best paying company | Genentech | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between an occupational health and safety specialist and a plant safety leader in terms of educational background:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Plant Safety Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Occupational Safety And Health | Business |
| Most common college | San Diego State University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between occupational health and safety specialists' and plant safety leaders' demographics:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Plant Safety Leader | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | Male, 77.8% Female, 22.2% |
| 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, 9.7% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |