How To Become A Safety Representative: What It Is and Career Path

What is a safety representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Wesley Tinker

The primary duty of a safety representative is to ensure the organization complies with all workplace regulations. He/She develops and implements training programs. This is to educate and inform employees on workplace safety, environmental safety, and accident prevention regulations and procedures. He/She tracks and documents accidents to identify causes and suggest modifications to prevent future accidents. Besides that, he/she conducts regular inspections and audits of facilities, equipment, and processes. Likewise, he/she recommends changes or additional precautions to ensure compliance to set regulations.

Employers seek applicants with a bachelor's degree in occupational health or a related discipline. Applicants must have zero to two years of related experience. You must be conversant with OSHA regulations. You must possess analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills. Common employers include government agencies, manufacturing, construction, and healthcare industries. Safety representatives make an average salary of $66,754 annually, varying from $41,000 to $108,000.

What general advice would you give to a safety representative?

Wesley Tinker

Assistant Professor of Safety, University of Central Missouri

- The day-to-day duties of a Safety Professional depend on the industry they currently work in but also the level of tenure they have in the organization. There is a long list of duties but the following allow for a broad sweep across an average day. The schedule of a typical workday could start with a toolbox talk which allows for a brief 'heads-up' to a vast array of safety-related topics or issues that workers have the possibility of seeing on-site. Field audits would be another crucial duty to examine the site for new safety-related issues and to monitor controls set on previously identified hazards. Conducting pieces of training for new workers and/or updates on safety-related issues on their site. Accident investigations are one of the random unexpected duties a Safety Professional might conduct, which is important in the prevention of future injuries and illnesses. Providing good customer service toward the workers and management but also the organization's vendors is critical for nearly all aspects of that company. Customer service is closely connected to the culture of the company as the majority of industry leaders provide a 'Safety First' environment. Overall, the Safety Professional provides many attributes to the day-to-day functions of many organizations. These attributes directly impact that company's stance in the overall global marketplace.

ScoreSafety RepresentativeUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $50,717

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.23%

Asian 5.65%

Black or African American 9.95%

Hispanic or Latino 14.18%

Unknown 6.07%

White 62.93%

Gender

female 22.54%

male 77.46%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a safety representative

Explore safety representative education requirements

Most common safety representative degrees

Bachelor's

51.0 %

Associate

22.1 %

High School Diploma

13.6 %

Start to develop specific safety representative skills

Skills	Percentages
OSHA	13.20%
Safety Procedures	5.72%
Corrective Action	4.89%
Safety Program	4.71%
Safety Training	4.38%

Complete relevant safety representative training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New safety representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a safety representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real safety representative resumes.

Research safety representative duties and responsibilities

Complete HAZMAT training and manage squadrons HAZMAT program.
Manage the development/execution of the EHS communication and program strategy for this diversify global technology and industrial leader.
Maintain the CPR kit program.
Administer first-aid and CPR when need.

Prepare your safety representative resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your safety representative resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a safety representative resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable safety representative resume templates

Build a professional safety representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your safety representative resume.

Apply for safety representative jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a safety representative job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do safety representatives rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Safety representative reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Cons

Too much travel, i wish i was home more, but i meet alot of wonderful people

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2023

Pros

You have the satisfaction of keeping the employees safe and you know that higher management gives you support. If you go through an OSHA inspection you are confident that you've done your due diligence.

Cons

It takes time to implement and see the safety culture grow.

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2022

Cons

Some workers refuse to adhere to safety policies even when it is obvious that they could get hurt.

What is a safety representative and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a safety representative?

Safety representative career paths

Key steps to become a safety representative

Explore safety representative education requirements

Most common safety representative degrees

Start to develop specific safety representative skills

Complete relevant safety representative training and internships

Research safety representative duties and responsibilities

Prepare your safety representative resume

Choose from 10+ customizable safety representative resume templates

Apply for safety representative jobs

How did you land your first safety representative job

Average safety representative salary

How do safety representatives rate their job?

Safety representative reviews