What does a safety advisor do?
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.
Safety advisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real safety advisor resumes:
- Work with engineering team and local fire department to achieve NFPA and API standards.
- Lead cross functional team on FMEA analysis, root cause analysis to improve the existing process.
- Implement and administer OSHA safety compliance program.
- Improve standardization of EHS programs including documentation, procedures and training.
- Provide project management of EHS relate projects including site remediation and maintenance of ongoing site monitoring.
- Simplify equipment-specific isolation procedures to allow for maximum operator productivity in compliance with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147.
- Develop and coordinate departmental ergonomics project that contribute to equipment design changes, business system modifications and revise employee work habits.
- Insure that all operations meet or exceed EPA regulations with requiredtraining, documentation, and tracking.
- Inspect and maintain firefighting equipment per NFPA standards.
- Deliver opinionated expertise and advice to supervisors and managers for all HSE matters.
- Perform hazard awareness training and safety supervision to oilfield operations in high H2S areas.
Safety advisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Safety Advisors are proficient in OSHA, Risk Assessments, and Safety Procedures. They’re also known for soft skills such as Ability to use technology, Detail oriented, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Safety Advisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- OSHA, 9%
Simplified equipment-specific isolation procedures to allow for maximum operator productivity in compliance with OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147.
- Risk Assessments, 6%
Recommended safety measures and corrective action plans when risk assessments identified deficiencies or non-compliance.
- Safety Procedures, 6%
Monitored the environmental activities, safety procedures and health concerns of a land-based seismic exploration crew in Venezuela.
- Related Training, 4%
Provide input on safety-related training needs as well as program development or acquisition.
- Corrective Action, 4%
Complete cross-functional analysis of the organization to determine incident root-causes and implement corrective actions to address the business impact.
- Contractor Safety, 4%
Provide recommendations to improve Contractor Safety Management for PGE.
"osha," "risk assessments," and "safety procedures" are among the most common skills that safety advisors use at work. You can find even more safety advisor responsibilities below, including:
Ability to use technology. The most essential soft skill for a safety advisor to carry out their responsibilities is ability to use technology. This skill is important for the role because "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to use advanced technology." Additionally, a safety advisor resume shows how their duties depend on ability to use technology: "conduct accident/incident investigations using taproot and icam (incident cause analysis method) investigative methods and documenting the completed investigations. "
Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling safety advisor duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians need to understand and follow safety standards and complex government regulations." According to a safety advisor resume, here's how safety advisors can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "conducted regularly scheduled facility audits and provided detailed reports of osha and/or canadian safety regulations violations and epa violations. "
Physical stamina. safety advisors are also known for physical stamina, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to safety advisor responsibilities, because "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to stand for long periods and be able to travel regularly." A safety advisor resume example shows how physical stamina is used in the workplace: "conduct ehs research safety assessments to mitigate potential biological, chemical, radiological and physical hazards. "
Communication skills. For certain safety advisor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a safety advisor rely on this skill, as "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to communicate safety instructions and concerns to employees and managers." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what safety advisors do: "overhauled several programs, such as hazard communication, control of hazardous energy, chemical hygiene and confined space entry. "
Problem-solving skills. Another common skill required for safety advisor responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." This skill comes up in the duties of safety advisors all the time, as "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to solve problems in order to design and implement workplace processes and procedures that help protect workers from hazardous conditions." An excerpt from a real safety advisor resume shows how this skill is central to what a safety advisor does: "prepared and help with incident investigations and reports along with corrective measures and solution in order to prevent future incidents. "
The three companies that hire the most safety advisors are:
- Eversource Energy24 safety advisors jobs
- HazTek Safety Management11 safety advisors jobs
- Hatch6 safety advisors jobs
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Compare different safety advisors
Safety advisor vs. Environmental health specialist
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.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, safety advisor responsibilities require skills like "safety procedures," "contractor safety," "safety culture," and "incident investigations." Meanwhile a typical environmental health specialist has skills in areas such as "environmental health," "hazardous waste," "public health," and "air quality." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, environmental health specialists reach similar levels of education than safety advisors. Environmental health specialists are 4.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Safety advisor vs. Public health internship
A public health internship provides students with a great learning opportunity to put into practice those educational principles and skills learned in the classroom. They will gain a better understanding and appreciation for the duties and responsibilities of full-time professionals in public health. This exposure will provide students with leadership skills and professional development learning opportunities. In addition, students have an opportunity to contribute to various health-related agencies and organizations. The internship location should be at a primary public health agency whose work reflects the best in the industry.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, safety advisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "safety procedures," "related training," "corrective action," and "contractor safety." Meanwhile, a public health internship has duties that require skills in areas such as "environmental health," "patients," "public health," and "powerpoint." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, public health interns achieve higher levels of education than safety advisors. They're 6.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for safety advisors in the next 3-5 years?
Linsay Hale
Professional Standards Director/Interim Training Division Director, IADLEST Member - International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training
Safety advisor vs. Health specialist
A health specialist is primarily responsible for the health and welfare care of patients in a community or medical facility. They are also responsible for providing consultations, conducting assessments and examinations, providing prescriptions, and recommending care methods. A health specialist may also diagnose and treat ailments and injuries, coordinate with other health experts, and discuss conditions with patients and their families. Furthermore, a health specialist may participate in public discussions to raise awareness of health issues and lifestyles.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, safety advisors are more likely to have skills like "risk assessments," "safety procedures," "related training," and "corrective action." But a health specialist is more likely to have skills like "patients," "health education," "public health," and "data collection."
Most health specialists achieve a higher degree level compared to safety advisors. For example, they're 7.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Safety advisor vs. Health and safety manager
Health and Safety Managers oversee the company's compliance with occupational health and safety guidelines set by both governing bodies and company policies. They create company policies based on guidelines released by regulatory bodies. They also ensure that everyone follows these policies in the office. Health and safety managers are in charge of inspecting the workplace and ensuring no health hazards in the area. They are also in charge of signing off on materials and equipment used in the office to ensure that they are safe to use. Health and Safety Managers train health and safety officers to ensure that the same standard is applied to the department.
Types of safety advisor
Updated January 8, 2025
