Occupational Health & Safety Specialists

Review, evaluate, and analyze work environments and design programs and procedures to control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury caused by chemical, physical, and biological agents or ergonomic factors. May conduct inspections and enforce adherence to laws and regulations governing the health and safety of individuals. May be employed in the public or private sector.

On the job, you would:

• Recommend measures to help protect workers from potentially hazardous work methods, processes, or materials.
• Order suspension of activities that pose threats to workers' health or safety.
• Investigate accidents to identify causes or to determine how such accidents might be prevented in the future.

Education

• bachelor's degree
• master's degree

Arts and Humanities

• English language

Education and Training

• teaching and course design

Math and Science

• chemistry
• arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Safety and Government

• public safety and security

Basic Skills

• talking to others
• listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving

• noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

• measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it
• thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

• Integrity
• Cooperation
• Attention to Detail
• Dependability
• Adaptability/Flexibility
• Concern for Others

Verbal

• communicate by speaking
• communicate by writing

Ideas and Logic

• make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
• notice when problems happen

Visual Understanding

• see hidden patterns
• quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things

Math

• choose the right type of math to solve a problem