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Safety manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

8 min read

Quoted experts

Christine Foster,

Wesley Tinker

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical safety manager skills. We ranked the top skills for safety managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 12.5% of safety manager resumes contained osha as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a safety manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 safety manager skills for your resume and career

1. OSHA

Here's how safety managers use osha:

Investigated accidents and conducted periodic safety inspections and monitored compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.
Trained numerous contractors in compliance with OSHA standards; developed comprehensive written safety guidelines for contractors.

2. Safety Program

Safety programs are a series of measures to protect employees from any mishaps and make the work environment safer. Safety programs include checklists, guidelines, and direct procedures that a specific area or department must follow. Safety programs take care of office space safety, maintenance and repairs, and identification of frauds as well.

Here's how safety managers use safety program:

Revised and administered the Safety Program, included expanding the Safety Program to include a Hazard Communication and Voluntary Respirator Program.
Facilitated efficient management of the workplace specific safety program by standardizing and retaining all Safety Program requirements into one binder.

3. Safety Procedures

Safety procedures are a set of standardized procedures, that ensures minimal to no risk to people, resources, and the work environment. A company follows the step-by-step safety procedures as it they not only keep the customers and the employees safe, but also help in avoiding legal claims.

Here's how safety managers use safety procedures:

Maintain and continuously improve the safety program utilizing historical safety data incorporating the latest updates in safety procedures and equipment.
Managed the overall safety performance for 300 employees; directed and coordinated subordinates with implementing safety procedures and programs.

4. Safety Training

The guidance and skills taught to workers and employees of a company to carry out their duties safely and efficiently are referred to as safety training. The purpose of safety training is to inform workers about the potential and risks associated with this kind of work and to teach them ways to avoid such risks.

Here's how safety managers use safety training:

Developed compliance, safety training and orientation policies/programs to ensure adherence to Federal Government Transportation and other regulatory agencies.
Conducted orientation safety training for all new hires and annual safety refresher training for plant operators and maintenance personnel.

5. Safety Policies

Safety policies are the rules and codes of conduct developed by an organization to ensure workplace safety.

Here's how safety managers use safety policies:

Developed safety policies and monitored training for all personnel to ensure that employees worked in accordance to company and customer requirements.
Reinforced site-specific health and safety policies and procedures as required under umbrella insurance, and WTC/Port Authority safety management team.

6. Safety Regulations

Here's how safety managers use safety regulations:

Interpret safety regulations for others interested in industrial safety such as safety engineers, labor representatives, and safety inspectors.
Conducted and coordinated employee training in ergonomics, safety regulations, hazardous condition monitoring and use of safety equipment.

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7. Corrective Action

Here's how safety managers use corrective action:

Conducted daily field audits of all construction activities stopping any violation or unsafe practice observed and implemented the appropriate corrective action.
Developed and implemented accident investigation, data analysis, and recurrence prevention programs, and tracked corrective actions resulting from investigations.

8. Safety Audits

A safety audit is the periodic evaluation of safety practices within an organization. Information is collected on the efficiency, effectiveness, and reliability of the entire health and safety management system of the company. Its objective is to determine whether or not an organization is complying with appropriate safety regulations and to identify weaknesses in safety programs and processes to identify corrective actions that need to be taken. Safety audits can be performed internally by supervisors and employees or by external auditors.

Here's how safety managers use safety audits:

Introduced and launched a new and extensive Safety Audit Program for operations and conducted monthly departmental and business unit safety audits.
Increased safety awareness through a revitalized and expanded safety committee, targeted safety programs, and start-up of monthly safety audits.

9. Safety Issues

Safety issues entail any report, occurrence, violation, or action that could lead to a negative impact on the physical well-being of a person, product, or environment.

Here's how safety managers use safety issues:

Provide patient safety training to all staff during facility/command indoctrination and ensure education for ongoing patient safety issues.
Update instructions and regulations regarding incident prevention and other safety issues, including safe storage of hazardous materials.

10. EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a US-based organization established to sustain and improve the environmental and human health standards across the United States. EPA was established by US President Richard Nixon by executive order in December 1970. The EPA formulates laws and releases guidelines to promote the health of individuals and the ecosystem.

Here's how safety managers use epa:

Developed Regulatory Inspection Procedures for OSHA and EPA inspections and represented company during regulatory inspections.
Maintained compliance and accountability through annual inspections by all local authorities California State EPA, and San Diego County Environmental Divisions.

11. Safety Culture

Safety culture is a set of individual and group values, perceptions, attitudes, ways of conducting, and beliefs that employees share about risks within an organization. It is an organizational culture that prioritizes the safety beliefs, values, and attitudes that the majority of people in the organization share.

Here's how safety managers use safety culture:

Worked with over 200 companies to implement Behavior Based Safety within their organizations creating a safety culture of observations and communication.
Conducted unscheduled location Safety Assessments to include safety culture, safe behavior, frequency rate performance and regulatory compliance.

12. Safety Standards

Here's how safety managers use safety standards:

Conduct on-site safety inspections ensuring compliance with existing company safety standards, as well as identifying and correcting any potential hazards.
Designated as Safety Manager tasked at promoting safety standards and reporting monthly workplace safety audits on a monthly basis.

13. Risk Management

Risk management is the method of recognizing, evaluating, and managing risks to an organization's resources and profits. Financial insecurity, regulatory liability, strategic management mistakes, incidents, and natural hazards are just some of the challenges or dangers that could arise. For digitalized businesses, IT security vulnerabilities and data-related threats, as well as risk management techniques to mitigate them, have become top priorities.

Here's how safety managers use risk management:

Deliver Environmental, Health and Safety leadership by coordinating and conducting effective environmental compliance, risk management and project management services.
Conducted accident investigations, risk management assessments, causal analysis, as well as extensive training for accident prevention and safety.

14. Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is an ongoing process of improvement of products, services, and processes with the help of innovative ideas. It is an organized approach that helps an organization to find its weaknesses and improve them.

Here's how safety managers use continuous improvement:

Established safety education and training for all employees to assure understanding of required process activities, continuous improvement, and regulatory compliance
Create and promote a positive lean culture with proactive leadership to drive accountability and provide persistent emphasis on continuous improvement.

15. Occupational Safety

Occupational safety, also known as occupational health, deals with preventing diseases, injuries, and deaths that arise because of working conditions.

Here's how safety managers use occupational safety:

Provided expert technical direction in facilitating strategic planning and oversight to facilities in the area of occupational safety and health.
Developed, coordinated, and presented training presentations on various occupational safety and health topics to + Safety Coordinators.

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What skills help Safety Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on safety manager resumes?

Christine Foster

Adjunct Professor, San Jose State University

From a skills perspective, I look for strong written and verbal communication skills. This includes making sure that the resume is grammatically solid and free from spelling errors. This is a first impression, and one that may make the difference between getting an interview or not. Specific experience that is important includes risk assessment/analysis, regulatory interpretation, data analysis, and project management. So much of what we do in occupational safety is assessing risk and then translating that into recommendations that are then managed to execution. Today's safety professional needs to be able to do all of these things well.

What safety manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Wesley Tinker

Assistant Professor of Safety, University of Central Missouri

- In today's marketplace, the need for Safety Professionals is at an all-time high. With the ever-evolving methods and equipment across all industries, safety-related positions are being instituted to keep up with the introduction of the risks associated with the evolvement. Safety professionals impact the four quadrants of risk management involving finances, strategy, operations, and of course hazards. In previous years, the persona of duties associated with the Safety professional only impacted the hazards element but nowadays we can see how impactful they are on all four of those quadrants. With this level of involvement in the organization, the justification for a higher salary is made. Safety Professionals typically enter the field because they want to prevent people from becoming injured and/or ill but also the volume of positions along with the higher payscale than most 'fresh out of college' professions, allows for more opportunities.

What type of skills will young safety managers need?

Alfred Lujan

Assistant Professor, NMSU/Dona Ana Community College

Most fire departments require or prefer candidates with a current Emergency Medical Technician-Basic license at a minimum.

Many fire departments require a minimum of a Firefighter I IFSAC or Pro Board certification, and it is a prerequisite Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations certification.

Do you want to know more?

List of safety manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a safety manager resume and required skills for a safety manager to have include:

OSHA
Safety Program
Safety Procedures
Safety Training
Safety Policies
Safety Regulations
Corrective Action
Safety Audits
Safety Issues
EPA
Safety Culture
Safety Standards
Risk Management
Continuous Improvement
Occupational Safety
Site Safety

CPR
Fall Protection
Training Programs
NFPA
Customer Service
Safety Inspections
Workers Compensation
Regulatory Agencies
Safety Committee
Incident Investigations
Safety Compliance
EHS
Safety Management
Management System
Safety Performance
Safety Equipment

Risk Assessments
Regulatory Compliance
Food Safety
HR
Fire Protection
Health Programs
Hazardous Materials
Construction Projects
Federal Regulations
Safety Rules
Local Regulations
Lockout Tagout
ISO
LOTO
Safety Hazards
Incident Reports

Updated January 8, 2025

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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