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The differences between occupational health and safety specialists and specialists 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 specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an occupational health and safety specialist has an average salary of $59,335, which is higher than the $58,013 average annual salary of a 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 specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $59,335 | $58,013 |
| Hourly rate | $28.53 | $27.89 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 84,204 | 358,433 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
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.
Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.
Occupational health and safety specialists and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average salary | $59,335 | $58,013 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $87,000 | Between $32,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | Silver Spring, MD | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Genentech | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between an occupational health and safety specialist and a specialist in terms of educational background:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| 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 specialists' demographics:
| Occupational Health And Safety Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5% |
| 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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 11% |