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The differences between plant safety leaders and safety managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a plant safety leader, becoming a safety manager takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a plant safety leader has an average salary of $75,374, which is higher than the $74,754 average annual salary of a safety manager.
The top three skills for a plant safety leader include OSHA, continuous improvement and safety audits. The most important skills for a safety manager are OSHA, safety program, and safety procedures.
| Plant Safety Leader | Safety Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $75,374 | $74,754 |
| Hourly rate | $36.24 | $35.94 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 36,957 | 16,155 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
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.
A safety manager is someone who ensures that a company is compliant and adhering to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines. Safety managers are responsible for planning and implementing OHS policies and programs. They regularly prepare educational seminars and educate employees on various safety-related topics. They conduct enforcement of preventative measures as well as risk assessment. Also, they prepare reports on accidents and violations and determine what caused them. Safety managers must have excellent attention to detail to find the hazards, discover ways to improve conditions, and execute safety programs.
Plant safety leaders and safety managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Plant Safety Leader | Safety Manager | |
| Average salary | $75,374 | $74,754 |
| Salary range | Between $45,000 And $124,000 | Between $48,000 And $115,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fairfield, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | - | Energy |
There are a few differences between a plant safety leader and a safety manager in terms of educational background:
| Plant Safety Leader | Safety Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between plant safety leaders' and safety managers' demographics:
| Plant Safety Leader | Safety Manager | |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.8% Female, 22.2% | Male, 81.6% Female, 18.4% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 9.6% White, 69.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 4% |