Health and Safety Engineers
Additional Information
Duties
Engineers in health and safety frequently do the following:
- Keep up with current workplace health and safety policies, rules, and procedures.
- Check the designs and specifications of new machinery and equipment for safety.
- You can detect and correct problems by inspecting buildings, machinery, and safety equipment.
- Determine the benefits and drawbacks of various industrial control systems.
- Maintain health and safety compliance, especially after an inspection that necessitated changes.
- Install or supervise the installation of safety devices.
- Change your company's safety policies.
They also look into workplace accidents and injuries to see if they could have been avoided. Employers and employees are questioned about dangerous working conditions and injuries. They evaluate whether or not the corrections made to rectify any health inspection violations were successful.
The field of health and safety engineering covers a wide range of activities. Some examples of health and safety engineers are:
Fire prevention and protection engineers assess the potential for fire threats in buildings, materials, and transportation systems. They also design, build, and maintain fire suppression systems, as well as assessing systems to ensure compliance with government safety regulations. Engineers working in fire prevention and protection must be licensed and up to date on fire codes.
Product safety engineers, also known as product compliance engineers, are the professionals who ensure that diverse goods are safe and comply with industry or government safety laws. These experts work on everything from nuclear submarine reactors to mobile phones and computers.
Systems safety engineers’ study and assess the risks and hazards associated with system designs. In addition to aerospace, they work in software, medical, and environmental safety.
Education
Jobs and health Engineering degrees in environmental health and safety or allied fields like chemical and/or mechanical/industrial/systems engineering are common. Undergraduate applied engineering programs typically incorporate classroom, laboratory, and fieldwork. Students interested in a career in health and safety engineering should also take courses in industrial hygiene, ergonomics, and environmental safety. Employers may prefer graduates from ABET-accredited engineering institutions.
Plentiful opportunities exist for students to gain real-world experience while completing their degrees. Students can also do internships.
Several schools and colleges offer joint bachelor-master’s degree programs. Engineers with master's degrees can better design and implement safety solutions.
Essential qualities
Language and communication skills. Engineers must understand the objective of federal and state rules while designing for distinct work conditions. Health and safety engineers must be able to communicate new rules and procedures to a broad audience.
Creativity. Engineers build plans that incorporate potential hazards and solutions. The specifics of a project need creativity.
Analytical skills Health and safety engineers must be able to identify potential hazards before they cause injury or pose a health risk.
Observation skills Engineers in occupational health and safety must understand how operations run in order to recognize dangers that may harm people or property. It is necessary to think in terms of organizational processes. Health and safety engineers can then recommend systemic changes to reduce risk.
Creativity and problem-solving skills. When designing solutions for an organization's operations, health and safety engineers must examine several systems' protocols. Changes must also be examined in light of human reactions.
Licenses and certifications.
ABET-certified engineering degree.
Four years of professional experience.
PE exam passing score.
The first FE test can be taken after a bachelor's degree. After completing this exam, engineers in training (EITs) or interns are called EITs (EIs). After meeting the work experience criterion, EITs and EIs can take the Principles and Practice of Engineering test (PE).
Each state issues its own driver's licenses. Most states will accept a license from another state as long as the standards meet or exceed their own. Several states require engineers to complete continuing education to keep their licenses current.
Professional qualifications for HSE engineers include:
The Board of Certified Safety Professionals offers the new Associate Safety Professional (ASP) certificate in addition to the CSP and OHST credentials.
The American Board of Industrial Hygiene certifies industrial hygienists.
The ASP (American Society of Safety Professionals) offers a Safety Management Certificate (CSM)
The International Council on Systems Engineering (ICSE) offers CSE certification (CSEP)
Pay
Engineers in the field of health and safety made an average of $94,240 a year as of May 2020. If half of the people in a profession make more than the median wage, and half earn less, we say that the median wage is too high or too low. Between the bottom 10% and the top 10% of earners, there was a wide disparity in income.
Job Projections
Health and safety engineers' jobs are expected to expand by 6% between 2020 and 2030, which is around the same rate as the national average for all jobs.