What does a safety manager do?
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.
Safety manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real safety manager resumes:
- Train and lead industrial Hazmat response team.
- Manage consultants to complete air permit application and SPCC plan reviews.
- Coordinate and conduct JHA, safety stand downs, accident investigation and manage individual WC claims.
- Meet with PPE vendors and manage PPE inventory and PPE use compliance on the production floor.
- Train and manage a team of competent persons and gas-free technicians under the direction of NFPA standards and marine chemist.
- Manage financial oversight and budget management including financial modeling and analysis, new products, travel, tools, and scheduling.
- Develop and conduct semiannual field and in-house safety training programs including CPR and fire equipment use.
- Provide reporting and record keeping requirements of OSHA, EPA, etc., as well as other pertinent safety/regulatory compliance matters.
- Prepare reports of inspections/evaluations and prioritize recommendations to assure compliance with OSHA, NFPA and other applicable safety and health standards.
- Design PowerPoint presentation to inform and persuade company leadership of value and benefit of safety program.
- Maintain clean Virginia operator license with CDL & HAZ-MAT endorsements.
- Perform all DMV qualification testing and process all require DMV forms.
- Project also include HAZWOPER training for the site's emergency response team.
- Climb scaffolding, staging, ladders, and planks to reach work area surfaces.
- Assist in hiring, training and retention of CDL drivers in a union environment.
Safety manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Safety Managers are proficient in OSHA, Safety Program, 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 Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- OSHA, 13%
Investigated accidents and conducted periodic safety inspections and monitored compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.
- Safety Program, 6%
Revised and administered the Safety Program, included expanding the Safety Program to include a Hazard Communication and Voluntary Respirator Program.
- Safety Procedures, 4%
Maintain and continuously improve the safety program utilizing historical safety data incorporating the latest updates in safety procedures and equipment.
- Safety Training, 4%
Developed compliance, safety training and orientation policies/programs to ensure adherence to Federal Government Transportation and other regulatory agencies.
- Safety Policies, 4%
Developed safety policies and monitored training for all personnel to ensure that employees worked in accordance to company and customer requirements.
- Safety Regulations, 3%
Interpret safety regulations for others interested in industrial safety such as safety engineers, labor representatives, and safety inspectors.
Common skills that a safety manager uses to do their job include "osha," "safety program," and "safety procedures." You can find details on the most important safety manager responsibilities below.
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a safety manager to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "health and safety engineers produce designs showing potential problems and remedies for them." Safety managers often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "design and monitored creative loss prevention training materials to incorporate into the hr on-boarding process. "
Observational skills. Many safety manager duties rely on observational skills. "health and safety engineers must observe and learn how operations function so that they can identify risks to people and property," so a safety manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways safety manager responsibilities rely on observational skills: "monitor associate worker knowledge of safety compliance through observational behavior auditing and provide feedback to workers after observations. "
Communication skills. This is an important skill for safety managers to perform their duties. For an example of how safety manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "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 excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a safety manager: "conduct building safety inspections & ensure violations are corrected through communication with department management. ".
Problem-solving skills. For certain safety manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a safety manager 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 managers do: "performed safety inspections in manufacturing facilities to identify and recommend solutions for compliance issues. "
The three companies that hire the most safety managers are:
- Black & Veatch51 safety managers jobs
- Mountaire Farms51 safety managers jobs
- HazTek Safety Management45 safety managers jobs
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Compare different safety managers
Safety manager 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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between safety managers and industrial hygienist. For instance, safety manager responsibilities require skills such as "safety procedures," "safety policies," "safety regulations," and "safety issues." 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 tend to make the most money working in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $93,692. In contrast, safety managers make the biggest average salary, $79,611, in the energy industry.The education levels that industrial hygienists earn slightly differ from safety managers. In particular, industrial hygienists are 7.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a safety manager. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Safety manager 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.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, safety manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "safety standards," "site safety," "customer service," and "safety committee." Meanwhile, a manager, environmental and safety has duties that require skills in areas such as "environmental health," "emergency response," "oversight," and "environmental safety." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Managers, environmental and safety may earn a higher salary than safety managers, but managers, environmental and safety earn the most pay in the construction industry with an average salary of $85,529. On the other hand, safety managers receive higher pay in the energy industry, where they earn an average salary of $79,611.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Managers, environmental and safety tend to reach higher levels of education than safety managers. In fact, they're 5.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for safety managers 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 manager vs. Health and safety coordinator
A health and safety coordinator is responsible for identifying the potential safety risks of an organization, recommending solutions to mitigate hazards that may affect the company's operational performance and productivity. Health and safety coordinators inspect the safety and security of the facilities, including the production tools, equipment, and machinery, and analyze findings to develop procedures that would eliminate work-related threats. They also facilitate safety training and programs for the employees, as well as emergency drills and reiteration of safety policies and protocols for strict compliance.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, safety managers are more likely to have skills like "risk management," "site safety," "customer service," and "workers compensation." But a health and safety coordinator is more likely to have skills like "environmental health," "rehabilitation," "state regulations," and "emergency response."
Most health and safety coordinators achieve a similar degree level compared to safety managers. For example, they're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Safety manager vs. Health & safety officer
A Health and Safety Officer is responsible for ensuring the workplace's safety and security to provide smooth operations and implement safety practices within the premises. They inspect the facilities and equipment's condition and report any failures and defects for immediate resolution. They also facilitate safety training and programs for the employees to reiterate safety protocols and policies for strict compliance. A health and safety officer reviews incident reports, recommend safety and security resolutions and develop safety initiatives.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between safety managers and health & safety officers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a safety manager might have more use for skills like "risk management," "continuous improvement," "customer service," and "workers compensation." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of health & safety officers require skills like "em-385," "ssho," "occupational health," and "scaffolding. "
The construction industry tends to pay the highest salaries for health & safety officers, with average annual pay of $55,791. Comparatively, the highest safety manager annual salary comes from the energy industry.health & safety officers reach similar levels of education compared to safety managers, in general. The difference is that they're 1.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of safety manager
Updated January 8, 2025
