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How to hire a Safety Specialist

Safety specialist hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring safety specialists in the United States:

  • There are currently 33,595 safety specialists in the US, as well as 16,355 job openings.
  • Safety specialists are in the highest demand in Nashville, TN, with 23 current job openings.
  • The median cost to hire a safety specialist is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new safety specialist to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a safety specialist, step by step

To hire a safety specialist, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a safety specialist:

Here's a step-by-step safety specialist hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a safety specialist job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new safety specialist
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a Safety Specialist do?

Safety specialists examine various types of work procedures and environments. They observe if workplaces stick to the regulations on health, safety, and the environment. Also, they create programs to prevent injury or disease to workers and harm to the environment. Their duties include identifying hazards at the workplace and collecting samples of potentially toxic materials for examination. Another task they do is conduct training on emergency preparedness. Additionally, they explore and identify the causes of an accident to determine their preventative measures.

Learn more about the specifics of what a safety specialist does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you start hiring a safety specialist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

    Determine Employee vs Contractor Status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a safety specialist to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a safety specialist that fits the bill.

    This list shows salaries for various types of safety specialists.

    Type Of Safety SpecialistDescriptionHourly Rate
    Safety SpecialistOccupational health and safety specialists analyze many types of work environments and work procedures. Specialists inspect workplaces for adherence to regulations on safety, health, and the environment... Show More$18-41
    Industrial HygienistAn 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.$21-49
    Health And Safety ManagerHealth 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... Show More$29-56
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common Skills:
    • OSHA
    • Develop Corrective Action
    • Safety Program
    • Corrective Action
    • Safety Regulations
    • Safety Training
    • Safety Procedures
    • EHS
    • Food Safety
    • Patients
    • CPR
    • PowerPoint
    • Safety Audits
    • Safety Standards
    Check All Skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Manage LOTO for equipment systems, walking blinds and verify block & bleed isolation.
    • Lead cross functional team on FMEA analysis, root cause analysis to improve the existing process.
    • Manage all asbestos relate incidents/clean-ups.
    • Tailor EHS instructional material to meet site-specific training requirements in order to achieve regulatory compliance.
    • Ensure strict compliance with OSHA guidelines, USAF regulations, CDC guidelines, and EPA environmental policies.
    • Develop monthly PowerPoint training programs.
    More Safety Specialist duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your safety specialist job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A safety specialist salary can vary based on several factors:
    • Location. For example, safety specialists' average salary in florida is 51% less than in alaska.
    • Seniority. Entry-level safety specialists earn 56% less than senior-level safety specialists.
    • Certifications. A safety specialist with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
    • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a safety specialist's salary.

    Average safety specialist salary

    $57,905yearly

    $27.84 hourly rate

    Entry-level safety specialist salary
    $38,000 yearly salary
    Updated January 14, 2025

    Average safety specialist salary by state

    RankStateAvg. SalaryHourly Rate
    1Massachusetts$71,647$34
    2District of Columbia$71,267$34
    3California$68,687$33
    4Washington$67,472$32
    5New York$67,159$32
    6Delaware$67,051$32
    7Pennsylvania$66,707$32
    8Oregon$66,144$32
    9Maryland$65,253$31
    10Maine$63,099$30
    11Virginia$56,501$27
    12Nevada$56,373$27
    13Minnesota$55,174$27
    14Wisconsin$51,909$25
    15North Carolina$51,394$25
    16Texas$49,835$24
    17Colorado$49,574$24
    18Ohio$48,515$23
    19Kansas$46,719$22
    20Georgia$46,459$22

    Average safety specialist salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
    1Chevron$117,448$56.476
    2Meta$115,717$55.631
    3CITGO Petroleum$114,807$55.20
    4Phillips 66$113,313$54.482
    5Genentech$110,545$53.15
    6Texas Instruments$108,731$52.27
    7Edwards Lifesciences$107,913$51.881
    8Google$107,200$51.5427
    9Marathon Petroleum$103,145$49.595
    10American Refining Group$100,538$48.34
    11Novartis$100,301$48.223
    12OMNOVA Solutions$98,720$47.46
    13Thumbtack$96,963$46.62
    14Tesla$94,396$45.3815
    15AstraZeneca$93,907$45.159
    16Seagate Technology$93,764$45.08
    17Twitter$93,296$44.8510
    18BorgWarner$93,235$44.822
    19Duquesne Light Company$92,447$44.451
    20Parsons$91,678$44.0813
  4. Writing a Safety Specialist Job Description

    A safety specialist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a safety specialist job description:

    Safety Specialist job description example

    JOB SUMMARY: Ensures that all food quality standards and food safety policies and procedures are followed by venue management and staff. Conducts quality control audits in the field. Provides constant monitoring of the HACCP Program through review of documentation and quality control walks.
    MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

    + Accountable that all restaurants and carts are following all HACCP procedures by checking daily logs and upholding Department of Health standards at USF, UIOA, Volcano Bay, and CITYWALK. Ensures employees and managers are attending monthly food safety training. Participates in govt. health inspections on property, handles guests food complaints, responds to food allergies with guest and ensures employees awareness.

    + Responsible for food quality in all of USF, UIOA, Volcano Bay and CityWalk units and they are following recipes, and portioning correctly. Check quality of food from outside vendors and cleanliness of their venues.

    + Responsible for sanitation in all units in USF, UIOA, Volcano Bay and CityWalk by inspecting units daily for cleanliness, sanitation, equipment maintenance and pest control.

    + Assists the Supervisor in ensuring all units have proper licenses such as the following: food license, city occupational license, state occupational license, tobacco and liquor license. Ensures new food carts or food units are up to all food codes.

    + Understands and actively participates in Environmental, Health & Safety responsibilities by following established UO policy, procedures, training and team member involvement activities.

    + Performs other duties as assigned.

    SCOPE: Moderately routine; general policies applied. Influences decisions of moderate nature requiring high degree of tact. Detailed understanding of food safety issues. Exchange of information which occasionally requires tact and/or diplomacy

    EDUCATION:

    + High School degree is required; Technical School is required - Culinary Arts or related

    + Associate's degree is required - Culinary Arts or related

    + Bachelor's degree is preferred - Culinary Arts or related

    EXPERIENCE: 3 - 5 year's previous experience in Food Sanitation or equivalent combination of education and experience.

    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Ability to work independently and make decisions; effective decision-making and listening abilities with strong judgment skills, excellent organizational skills to function reasonably under time constraints and within established deadlines:

    Your talent, skills and experience will be rewarded with a competitive compensation package.

    Universal is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Universal Orlando via-email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from Universal Orlando HR/Recruitment will be deemed the sole property of Universal Orlando. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Universal Orlando as a result of the referral or through other means.

    Universal Orlando Resort. Here you can.

    Universal Orlando is an equal opportunity employer. Universal elements and all related indicia TM & © 2022 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. EOE
  5. Post your job

    To find the right safety specialist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

    • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with safety specialists they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit safety specialists who meet your education requirements.
    • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
    To find safety specialist candidates, you can consider the following options:
    • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
    • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
    • Post your job on free job posting websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    To successfully recruit safety specialists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

    You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new safety specialist

    Once you've found the safety specialist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

    It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

    Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new safety specialist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a safety specialist?

Before you start to hire safety specialists, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire safety specialists pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

Safety specialists earn a median yearly salary is $57,905 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find safety specialists for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $18 and $41.

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