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.
Safety specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real safety specialist resumes:
- 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.
- Conduct monthly safety inspections including fire extinguisher inspections and to ensure OSHA compliance.
- Provide regulatory guidance for OSHA health and safety regulations and establish site interpretations of these regulations.
- Oversee PSM, PHS, MOC and PSSR's.
- Train auditor for ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 50001.
- Update operating procedures to meet PSM requirements.
- Serve as SSHO when primary SSHO are absent.
- Serve as the SSHO for a ballistics glass installer.
- Perform hands on inspection and evaluation of FAA air traffic facilities.
- Perform daily and compliance inspections according to USACE and OSHA/EPA regulations.
Safety specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Safety Specialists are proficient in OSHA, Develop Corrective Action, and Safety Program. They’re also known for soft skills such as Ability to use technology, Detail oriented, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Safety Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- OSHA, 11%
Conducted Industrial Hygiene monitoring for specific drug substances, new molecular entities and California/Federal OSHA regulated chemicals.
- Develop Corrective Action, 5%
Perform baseline safety assessments and develop corrective action plans to identify potential hazards and correct them before an injury occurs.
- Safety Program, 4%
Gathered, analyzed and presented data about ongoing safety programs to senior management including Lab Compliance Inspection results and Waste Disposal.
- Corrective Action, 4%
Conducted construction site safety audits to identify improper procedures, checked equipment and facilities for hazardous conditions and recommended corrective actions.
- Safety Regulations, 3%
Monitored and enforced flight, fire and life safety regulations/procedures including flight line vehicle operations and foreign object debris control.
- Safety Training, 3%
Conducted/coordinated safety training and audits/inspections.
"osha," "develop corrective action," and "safety program" are among the most common skills that safety specialists use at work. You can find even more safety specialist responsibilities below, including:
Ability to use technology. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a safety specialist to have is ability to use technology. Their role and responsibilities require that "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to use advanced technology." Safety specialists often use ability to use technology in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "submitted medical reported cases of adverse events to fda following regulatory guidelines and deadlines. "
Detail oriented. Many safety specialist duties rely on detail oriented. "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians need to understand and follow safety standards and complex government regulations.," so a safety specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways safety specialist responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "obtain detailed knowledge of fda, emea and other regulatory authority regulations. "
Physical stamina. This is an important skill for safety specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how safety specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to stand for long periods and be able to travel regularly." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a safety specialist: "identified and evaluated physical and human workplace hazards on an on-going basis and took corrective action as appropriate. ".
Communication skills. safety specialist responsibilities often require "communication skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to communicate safety instructions and concerns to employees and managers." This resume example shows what safety specialists do with communication skills on a typical day: "developed specific safety plans confined space entry, hazard communication program for general motors. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in safety specialist job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what safety specialists do. Safety specialist responsibilities rely on this skill because "occupational health and safety specialists and technicians must be able to solve problems in order to design and implement workplace processes and procedures that help protect workers from hazardous conditions." You can also see how safety specialist duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "track safety reports to final resolution for fda submission. "
The three companies that hire the most safety specialists are:
Choose from 10+ customizable safety specialist resume templates
Build a professional safety specialist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your safety specialist resume.
Compare different safety specialists
Safety specialist 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.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, safety specialist responsibilities require skills like "develop corrective action," "safety regulations," "safety procedures," and "food safety." Meanwhile a typical industrial hygienist has skills in areas such as "environmental health," "indoor air quality," "ventilation," and "occupational health hazards." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, industrial hygienists reach higher levels of education than safety specialists. Industrial hygienists are 6.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Safety specialist vs. Health and safety manager
Health 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. They also ensure that everyone follows these policies in the office. Health and safety managers are in charge of inspecting the workplace and ensuring no health hazards in the area. They are also in charge of signing off on materials and equipment used in the office to ensure that they are safe to use. Health and Safety Managers train health and safety officers to ensure that the same standard is applied to the department.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, safety specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "osha," "food safety," "patients," and "powerpoint." Meanwhile, a health and safety manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "continuous improvement," "workers compensation," "safety performance," and "hr." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Health and safety managers earn similar levels of education than safety specialists in general. They're 3.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Safety Specialists 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 specialist 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.
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 specialist resumes include skills like "develop corrective action," "food safety," "patients," and "powerpoint," whereas a health & safety officer is more likely to list skills in "em-385," "ssho," "occupational health," and "scaffolding. "
When it comes to education, health & safety officers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to safety specialists. In fact, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Safety specialist vs. Project safety manager
Project Safety Managers are responsible for ensuring the project workplace environment adheres to health and safety standards. Their duties include coordinating safety meetings, conducting audits, performing site inspections, implementing corrective action, and coordinating compliance training sessions. They are responsible for creating an emergency action plan, becoming primary contact for any site injuries and case management, and maintains an inspection log. Project Safety Managers also administer project budgeting, coordinate invoices, reporting project status, and attends team meetings.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between safety specialists and project safety managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a safety specialist might have more use for skills like "develop corrective action," "food safety," "patients," and "powerpoint." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of project safety managers require skills like "project safety," "project site," "project management," and "safety oversight. "
Project safety managers reach similar levels of education compared to safety specialists, in general. The difference is that they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of safety specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
