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What does a Safety Director do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a Safety Director do

A safety director is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the business and its employees, enforcing strict safety standards, and facilitating safety drills and programs to avoid potential hazards within the office's premises. Safety directors inspect the building's premises, including the office's equipment and other systems, and perform immediate actions even for the smallest inconsistencies. They also create incident and audit reports to discuss with the management and implement or adjust regulations as needed.

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Safety director responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real safety director resumes:

  • Manage institutional compliance with OSHA, EPA, DEP, JCAHO, AOA, NFPA, and other regulatory authorities.
  • Lead and manage ISO 9001 and ISO 17025 internal, third party, customer and supplier audits for the group.
  • Manage HSE programs for a national corporation specializing in concrete product manufacturing.
  • Conduct routine health, safety and environmental inspections in accordance with OSHA 29 CFR 1910, EPA and NFPA standards.
  • Indoctrinate and train new employees in CPR, and basic first aid.
  • Teach CPR, first aid, blood borne pathogens and baby sitting classes.
  • Provide technical and regulatory expertise to ensure OSHA and MSHA compliance and continuous improvement of safety programs and culture.
  • Develop quality performance improvement measures for staff and monitor for compliance base on JACHO and CMS standards of care.
  • Ensure scheduled and unschedule EHS audits conduct internally to identify non-compliance with laws.
  • Provide strategic EHS direction while spearheading implementation and execution of safety and emergency preparedness plan.
  • Coordinate quarterly custodial safety training sessions; maintain MSDS and OSHA binders; update university procedure manual
  • Assure general contractor and subcontractors follow safety protocol with respect to OSHA regulations and Michelin standards.
  • Maintain all recordkeeping requirements including training and compliance records and examine trends to reduce future incidents.
  • Monitor patients during treatment to observe any concerns, intervene following proper protocol if symptoms of oxygen toxicity occur.
  • Develop and facilitate the PSM program.

Safety director skills and personality traits

We calculated that 13% of Safety Directors are proficient in OSHA, DOT, and Safety Procedures. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Observational skills, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Safety Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • OSHA, 13%

    Coordinated quarterly custodial safety training sessions; maintained MSDS and OSHA binders; updated university procedure manual

  • DOT, 7%

    Maintained Company Files and Records necessary for the DOT Safety Requirements

  • Safety Procedures, 6%

    United Farmers MercantileSales: hardware department, delivery of ordered materials, ensure enforcement of safety procedures/protocols

  • PET, 5%

    Planned training class schedules for CPR, First Aid, Aquatics and Pet First Aid.

  • Patients, 5%

    Conducted TCOM evaluations as ordered and necessary for evaluation and candidacy of potential HBOT patients.

  • Safety Policies, 4%

    Developed and presented training to all employees regarding corporate safety policies, quarterly safety meetings, industry and regulatory safety requirements.

Common skills that a safety director uses to do their job include "osha," "dot," and "safety procedures." You can find details on the most important safety director responsibilities below.

Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a safety director to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "health and safety engineers produce designs showing potential problems and remedies for them." Safety directors often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "conducted plant-wide job-hazard evaluations, chemical inventory, and safety equipment selection. "

Observational skills. Another essential skill to perform safety director duties is observational skills. Safety directors responsibilities require that "health and safety engineers must observe and learn how operations function so that they can identify risks to people and property." Safety directors also use observational skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "monitor associate worker knowledge of safety compliance through observational behavior auditing and provide feedback to workers after observations. "

Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of safety directors is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday safety director duties, as "health and safety engineers must be able to interpret federal and state regulations and their intent so that they can propose proper designs for specific work environments." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "coordinated insurance claims and worker's compensation issues, set clear lines of communication and provided comprehensive information to workforce. "

Problem-solving skills. For certain safety director responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a safety director rely on this skill, as "in designing solutions for entire organizational operations, health and safety engineers must take into account processes from more than one system at the same time." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what safety directors do: "conduct incident investigations to determine root cause and develop solutions for prevention. "

All safety director skills

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Compare different safety directors

Safety director vs. Industrial hygienist

An Industrial Hygienist plans and conducts health programs to educate employees about cleanliness, safety, and sanitation in the workplace. They investigate adequacy of ventilation, exhaust equipment, lighting, and other conditions that can affect employees' health, comfort, or efficiency.

We looked at the average safety director salary and compared it with the wages of an industrial hygienist. Generally speaking, industrial hygienists are paid $17,514 lower than safety directors per year.Even though safety directors and industrial hygienists are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require osha, safety standards, and corrective action in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between safety directors and industrial hygienist. For instance, safety director responsibilities require skills such as "dot," "safety procedures," "pet," and "patients." Whereas a industrial hygienist is skilled in "environmental health," "indoor air quality," "ventilation," and "occupational health hazards." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Industrial hygienists really shine in the energy industry with an average salary of $93,692. Comparatively, safety directors tend to make the most money in the construction industry with an average salary of $87,253.The education levels that industrial hygienists earn slightly differ from safety directors. In particular, industrial hygienists are 6.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a safety director. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Safety director vs. Manager, environmental and safety

An Environmental and Safety manager is responsible for overseeing environmental sustainability concerning production and manufacturing processes and mitigating nature's hazardous effects. Environmental and Safety managers evaluate the methods and resources used to produce and eliminate procedures that violate safety laws and internal regulations. They also facilitate training and programs for the employees to ensure adherence to protocols and prevent accidents during operations. An Environmental and Safety Manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in reviewing incident reports and conducting root-cause analysis to avoid reoccurrence.

On average, managers, environmental and safety earn a $1,424 higher salary than safety directors a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Safety directors and managers, environmental and safety both require similar skills like "osha," "safety procedures," and "safety policies" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, safety director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "dot," "pet," "patients," and "safety standards." Meanwhile, a manager, environmental and safety has duties that require skills in areas such as "environmental health," "environmental compliance," "epa," and "continuous improvement." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, managers, environmental and safety earn a higher salary than safety directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, managers, environmental and safety earn the most pay in the construction industry with an average salary of $85,529. Whereas safety directors have higher pay in the construction industry, with an average salary of $87,253.In general, managers, environmental and safety achieve similar levels of education than safety directors. They're 4.4% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Safety director vs. Ehs manager

An environmental health & safety (EHS) manager is in charge of developing and implementing safety programs for a company's workforce and work environment. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting regular inspections to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations, devising preventive measures, spearheading training and seminars, and investigating workplace accidents and identify causes to ensure that it would not happen again. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team to reach goals, all while implementing every policy and safety regulation of the company.

An average ehs manager eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of safety directors. The difference in salaries amounts to ehs managers earning a $8,633 higher average salary than safety directors.safety directors and ehs managers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "safety procedures," "safety policies," and "lean six sigma," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from safety director resumes include skills like "osha," "dot," "pet," and "patients," whereas an ehs manager is more likely to list skills in "environmental health," "continuous improvement," "epa," and "risk assessments. "

Ehs managers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $96,976. Comparatively, safety directors have the highest earning potential in the construction industry, with an average salary of $87,253.ehs managers typically earn higher educational levels compared to safety directors. Specifically, they're 6.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Safety director vs. Environmental health safety manager

An Environmental Health Safety Manager supervises the compliance of an organization with environmental legislations regarding safety in the workplace. They are responsible for applying state and federal environmental policies.

Environmental health safety managers average a lower salary than the annual salary of safety directors. The difference is about $93 per year.According to resumes from safety directors and environmental health safety managers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "osha," "safety procedures," and "safety policies. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "dot," "pet," "patients," and "risk management" are skills that commonly show up on safety director resumes. On the other hand, environmental health safety managers use skills like environmental health, epa, continuous improvement, and environmental compliance on their resumes.In general, environmental health safety managers earn the most working in the technology industry, with an average salary of $90,664. The highest-paying industry for a safety director is the construction industry.In general, environmental health safety managers hold similar degree levels compared to safety directors. Environmental health safety managers are 3.2% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of safety director

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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