---
title: "Occupational Health and Safety Specialist"
description: "Review, evaluate, and analyze work environments and design programs and procedures to control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury caused by…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-health-and-safety-specialist"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Occupational Health and Safety Specialist

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-5011 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-5011.00

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.

Also advertised as: Chemical Hygiene Officer; EHS Officer (Environmental Health and Safety Officer); Health and Safety Analyst; Industrial Hygiene Consultant; Industrial Hygienist; Industrial Hygienist Consultant; OHS Consultant (Occupational Health and Safety Consultant); Risk Control Consultant.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $90,150 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $43.34/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $55,000 to $134,950, with the middle half between $69,560 and $111,690
- **Total US employment:** 140,610
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +12.5% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 14,900 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 45/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 140,610 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $55,000 |
| 25th | $69,560 |
| 50th (median) | $90,150 |
| 75th | $111,690 |
| 90th | $134,950 |
| Mean (average) | $93,860 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $111,530 | $101,482 | 280 |
| MA | $103,970 | $98,310 | 3,390 |
| WA | $102,920 | $96,175 | 3,570 |
| CA | $102,840 | $92,883 | 16,230 |
| RI | $101,740 | $99,472 | 200 |
| CO | $101,400 | $98,397 | 3,080 |
| NH | $101,260 | $97,211 | 610 |
| AK | $99,270 | $96,982 | 370 |
| IL | $98,270 | $98,311 | 2,900 |
| ME | $97,640 | $100,608 | 600 |
| MN | $96,990 | $98,346 | 2,460 |
| CT | $96,110 | $92,761 | 1,090 |
| NY | $95,720 | $88,695 | 6,840 |
| OR | $95,240 | $92,143 | 1,820 |
| HI | $94,840 | $86,257 | 640 |

38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-health-and-safety-specialist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/occupational-health-and-safety-specialist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 131,900 in the 2024–2034 base year to 148,400 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 16,500 jobs, or +12.5%. Much faster than average: 12.5% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 14,900 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 73.9% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 8.7% |
| Master's Degree | 8.7% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 4.4% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 4.4% |

## What the work involves

- Recommend measures to help protect workers from potentially hazardous work methods, processes, or materials.
- Develop or maintain hygiene programs, such as noise surveys, continuous atmosphere monitoring, ventilation surveys, or asbestos management plans.
- Order suspension of activities that pose threats to workers' health or safety.
- Inspect or evaluate workplace environments, equipment, or practices to ensure compliance with safety standards and government regulations.
- Collaborate with engineers or physicians to institute control or remedial measures for hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions or equipment.
- Investigate the adequacy of ventilation, exhaust equipment, lighting, or other conditions that could affect employee health, comfort, or performance.
- Conduct safety training or education programs and demonstrate the use of safety equipment.
- Write reports.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Chemistry — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 4.98 |
| C — Conventional | 4.70 |
| R — Realistic | 4.45 |
| S — Social | 3.45 |
| E — Enterprising | 3.20 |
| A — Artistic | 1.28 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 88.1 |
| ESTJ | 77.0 |
| ISFJ | 73.6 |
| INTJ | 68.1 |
| ISTP | 67.8 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Health and Safety Engineer, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors](https://nuecareer.com/careers/health-and-safety-engineer) — median $115,160
- [Occupational Health and Safety Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-health-and-safety-technician) — median $61,560
- [Environmental Compliance Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-compliance-inspector) — median $80,730
- [Environmental Science and Protection Technician, Including Health](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-science-and-protection-technician) — median $55,090
- [Construction and Building Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-and-building-inspector) — median $74,690
- [Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Including Health](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-scientist-and-specialist) — median $82,220
- [Environmental Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-engineer) — median $107,110
- [Environmental Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $59,920
- [Security Management Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-management-specialist) — median $83,050
- [Security Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-manager) — median $106,660

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/occupational-health-and-safety-specialist