OSHA Careers
- OSHA Technician
- Industrial Hygienist
- Safety Program Manager
- Environmental Health and Safety Engineer
- OSHA Inspector
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), along with OSHA careers, is vital to ensuring workers’ safety, all across the United States and in a variety of working conditions. Enacted in 1970, according to the OSHA website, the Occupational Safety and Health Act launched OSHA as it stands today. However, OSHA is continually evolving and adopting new practices and procedures to adapt to newly discovered hazards in the modern workplace.
In order to encourage businesses to readily and consistently comply with the regulations passed down by OSHA, the organization needs a strong and varied staff to monitor overall trends in health and safety, provide training, perform necessary inspections and much more. Students and professionals currently seeking work, and who have an interest in making the workplace safer for everyday citizens, will find many types of specialized careers available to suit their educational background, strengths and long-term goals.
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1. OSHA Technician
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that those who want to pursue this career may consider either earning an associate’s degree or a Safety Technician Certification. In this OSHA career, the professional works to develop, coordinate, administer and maintain a comprehensive health and safety initiative that includes environmental compliance, injury prevention strategies, fire protection and safety awareness. He or she also monitors all the latest regulations and updates to existing regulations then works to find ways to disseminate the new information. This professional also sees a workplace from a bird’s eye view, seeing and addressing areas that perhaps have not yet experienced issues but has markers that suggest it could eventually cause issues.
2. Industrial Hygienist
Nearly any professional can claim the title of industrial hygienist. Interested career seekers may consider contacting the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) to learn more about specific programs and the different certifications. Common subjects of concern in such OSHA careers include biohazards, noise, radiation, toxicology, hazard communication, health risk analysis for relevant work environments.
3. Safety Program Manager
A safety program manager attends to the training and development needs of all personnel. Somewhat resembling a human resource position, it makes sense that this job often requires a bachelor’s degree or higher that focuses on human resources, business management, and organizational theory.
4. Environmental Health and Safety Engineer
This position is pivotal in providing expertise and technical support at multiple levels in an organization. He or she focuses on health, safety, sustainability and environmental concerns with attention to adherence to regulations regarding air and water permits, as well as various waste activities. Those who pursue this career often pursue legal degrees that focus on environmental issues in order to expertly handle the many compliance issues at the local, state and federal levels.
5. OSHA Inspector
An inspector actually visits job sites to do a thorough planned inspection of health and safety considerations. He or she reports on the level of compliance that each company achieves in its efforts to create and foster a safe environment for all workers. An OSHA inspector also visits workplaces when an accident has a occurred that warrants deeper investigation. If there is a death or serious injury involved, especially if it seems preventable, an inspector will likely visit.
The dynamic staffing within OSHA has resulted in the reduction of workplace deaths by 60 percent and the decline of workplace injuries and illnesses by 40 percent, according to EzineArticles. Anyone seeking specialized OSHA careers has an opportunity to help make the modern, office, factory, warehouse, plant or farm a safer place with the potential to avoid accidents and prevent death.
