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The differences between occupational health and safety specialists and safety advisors 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 safety advisor. Additionally, an occupational health and safety specialist has an average salary of $59,335, which is higher than the $55,939 average annual salary of a safety advisor.
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 safety advisor are OSHA, risk assessments, and safety procedures.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Safety Advisor | |
| Yearly salary | $59,335 | $55,939 |
| Hourly rate | $28.53 | $26.89 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 84,204 | 53,425 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| 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.
Safety Advisors are responsible for overseeing a safe workplace environment and ensuring compliance with safety policies and regulations of an organization. Their duties include conducting risk assessments, demonstrating safe operational procedures, conducting site inspection as well as developing health and safety policies. They also maintain inspection findings records, produce improvement and management reports, manage hazardous substance disposal, and undertake safe equipment installation. Safety Advisors ensure workplace adhere to legislation and advise on areas related to machinery safeguards, occupational diseases, noise as well as fire regulations.
Occupational health and safety specialists and safety advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Safety Advisor | |
| Average salary | $59,335 | $55,939 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $87,000 | Between $34,000 And $89,000 |
| Highest paying City | Silver Spring, MD | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Genentech | BP America Inc |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between an occupational health and safety specialist and a safety advisor in terms of educational background:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Safety Advisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Occupational Safety And Health | Business |
| Most common college | San Diego State University | University of Connecticut |
Here are the differences between occupational health and safety specialists' and safety advisors' demographics:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Safety Advisor | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | Male, 84.2% Female, 15.8% |
| 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, 10.1% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.7% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |