“Fair”

“Fair in my region, every company needs a safety professional.”

“Currently, it seems that there are more positions than professionals.”

“I would say it will increase as a lot of professionals are older and looking to retire and most young people are not aware of the field.”

“unknown”

“Seems to be pretty good. I see lots of advertisements sent via listservs I subscribe to.”

“The job market is in the individuals favor.”

“moderate”

“strong but short on skilled safety professionals”

“The job market is more competitive at a higher level than it was ten years ago and continues to main the higher level.”

“Good”

“Good”

“Lots of positions appear to be available but the job requirements are monumental.”

“The Oil & Gas Industry is in a period of EH&S onboarding especially is top energy plays, Marcellus (PA) Bachan (N. Dakota) Permian (W. Texas)”

“In Missouri local government, it is soft. Local governments don't see need for safety professionals in general.”

“2017 seemed to be a good year, I heard from a lot of recruiters. Thus far in 2018 I haven't been contacted as much but still do get contacted.”

“I think it is pretty good. I do not have a degree yet and I have a pretty good job in the market I'm in.”

“I think there are more jobs than existing talent to fill them, but the jobs are being marketed in a "lesser" manner. Employers in our area are requesting Manager capability in terms of education, experience, and credentials, but are offering the position as a Coordinator or Specialist in order to minimize the salary offerings.”

“I am in a unique situation; my responsibilities go well beyond safety and health. I am also responsible for our logistics personnel as well as facilities. I believe the current job market is weak for safety and health if they want to focus purely in this area unless you work for a larger corporation.”

“Many opportunities, especially if willing to relocate.”

“Very good at present. Construction industry is strong in NYC. Many new regulations mandating safety on the job. Barring any unforeseen financial crisis, outlook for next 5 years looks good.o”

“I'm not really up to speed with the current market. However, it appears that via Linked In and other social media avenues that the market is somewhat active.”

“poor, employers appears to be seeking the short cut regardless of the consequences”

“There is a tremendous need for quality employees especially in the safety and health field. I believe overall that workers in this field are under compensated for what they do.”

“Always challenging with constant regulatory changes. Salaries are low for beginners and longevity in safety can be difficult without upper management support.”

“Okay”

“Most employers are looking for people with no less than 3-5 years experience. It seems that the entry level positions/opportunities just don't exist. A student with a degree in Safety Engineering would be hard pressed to gain employment until they have built up some experience. There is a huge gap as well between the highly experienced and new comers to the field. The demand is present, but the variety is limited.”

“Current job market is fair”

“strong”

“I think it is growing. More employers are really looking at safety as a big issue”

“Seems to be improving from recent years. I've noted an increase in entry level and mid/low level supervisory positions. However, I've observed that higher level positions are most always filled from within by personnel with little or no expertise in EH&S. I have personally observed employers choosing less qualified people over senior experienced professionals.”

“Mid career levels and entry level is excellent”

“Competitive, professionals who are burn't out from a constant battle of justifying the need to implement various safety protocols to keep employee's safe”

“I personally have not explored it in many years. I have seen several safety professionals come and go. Those that go, usually go to a better paying or better fit position for them and that is why they leave. Those that leave suddenly usually take longer to find something but even then it is usually better for them.”

“I believe there is a great job market for safety and health professionals. There are so many facets to safety and health, and the realm itself is so broad, that you cannot have just one type of safety and health, because not all industries are the same.”

“Very Strong and competitive. Hard to find qualified experienced safety professionals with credentials.”

“I feel that it is very good, am contacted on a regular basis by recruiters.”

“It's a man's world for the oil and gas industry.”

“Good”

“Safety Engineer”

“Everyone I know in Safety and Health is employed. This is Northern California, which includes the wild and crazy San Francisco Bay Area. Hundreds of jobs are in process, and hundreds of Safety Professionals are working with the same goals in mind.”

“There are simply not enough qualified safety professionals out there right now. It is very hard to find quality candidates.”

“Unsure as I have not been looking”

“Very good”

“Stabilized but leaning towards a shortage due to employers seeking highly qualified applicants for entry-level to low-mid level positions.”

“Very good and still growing”

“Pretty good. I receive more e-mails and calls for job offers.”

“There are a lot of good safety minded folks out there that would take advantage of safety and health. And more than likely succeed due to their experience. However, most business will not even look at that person without a degree. I have found that some have more knowledge than that of someone who went to school for it. Experience to me is the best teacher, along with the pursuit of education to back it up.”

“It's interesting you ask. I have been contacted this week alone for several opportunities for health and safety professionals. I think the current market is strong.”

“There is an immediate need for more safety pros, however financial constraints within businesses will be the main reason why not to add safety pros in the near-term.”

“Okay.”

“If economy is good safety has a chance, when money is low, safety will go”

“Tight. Positions in the area seem hard to fillor keep filled.”

“I think more organizations are looking for safety and health professionals to ensure their companies are providing a safe work place for their employees. Also, they don't want to have to pay pentalties and fines.”

“I'm not looking but I don't see a lot of advertising for Safety Job openings.”

“I think it is very favorable. More and more companies are seeing the value of having a safety professional on staff. In addition, a large % of current safety professionals are nearing retirement age, which will open up additional positions.”

“Very good. Always employers putting out feelers.”

“Not bright unless pay and benefits increase.”

“I think there are some emerging opportunities. The role of the safety professional will be changing as the manner in which we provide consumer goods has also changed.”

“A growing market.”

“Average. It is a specialized field with experience valued”

“Holding its own, tetering between safety professionals and trainers.”

“There are plenty of applicants out there looking for jobs. Experience is either over qualified or under qualified. Individuals new to the safety profession have certifications but little to no field experience or an individual has so much experience they will not take anything but a manager's position. Very little mid-level experience out there.”

“I believe in some areas the opportunities are definitely better than in others. I'm in a lower populated area, just recently crested 500K residents. Metropolitan areas seem to have more and better opportunities in the safety field.”

“I see an increased demand in areas of the country where construction is booming.”

“positive”

“I see plenty of job postings available. Although it appears to me that employers are only looking for untrained (cheaper) staff to fill complex roles. I have interviewed for positions that were described as very in depth H&S roles only to be verbally told that expectations were minimal. This has happened more than once to me. On other occasions, I was told by the hiring manager, that they will hire the less expensive person regardless of qualifications or experience! One role in particular was for environmental compliance, fire protection, haz waste management, and health and safety of students, staff, and the surrounding public. This position went to someone with no H&S experience. This tells me that H&S positions do not have a value to companies. This is a politically correct job position that holds very little authority or accountability. I have also noticed that H&S roles have become more of a "public relations" role.”

“I don't know since I have not looked.”

“Unknown”

“Good for younger people and not good for those over 50”

“In my humble opinion, I have seen a change within the last number of years that companies are consolidating positions and /or splitting the EHS function up among Operations, Maintenance and HR. Is it because stockholders want more return or is it something else ? There are jobs available for EHS professionals but employers are looking for experience in a specific sector. Also, I believe companies consider it a low risk that they will be inspected. What happened to doing the right thing ?”

“Good”

“Poor”

“For veterans - very good”

“Stable job market. In need of more safety professionals”

“Very poor”

“It depends on what industry you are looking at. Currently, the oil and gas industry is down due to commodity pricing. Hopefully we will see an upward swing with improved pricing.”

“There are very limited candidates with experience.”

“This area of the country has a growing market for safety and health professionals with numerous expansions in the port and oil, gas and chemical process manufacturing.”

“Undesirable - Alberta in particular is in tough economic times and safety professionals are having a hard time finding jobs as the market is competitive with so many safety professionals out of work.”

“Demand will be higher with all the new safety rules and regulations in place.”

“Learning the benefit of having a safety professional on staff.”

“Stable”

“Many opportunities for professionals with college degrees. Personnel with experience only are being overlooked for newly graduated safety and health professionals”

“Good, particularly if willing to relocate.”

“Good once you get past the accursed Applicant Tracking Systems. Networking is the way to go, but can be difficult.”

“In demand across the U.S.”

“It seems to me like every job posting I read requires a different set of credentials, some require CSP, others OSHA 501, others OSHA 10 or 30, some just a high school diploma and two years experience, others DOT... Safety is all over the place, no defined skill set for safety professionals.”

“The market is there, but limited for international experts with different language skills and global exposure. For the US based professionals, there is market and good and growing oportunities.”

“Unknown”

“Great!”

“Up in the air and looking at budget cuts down the road.”

“Good”

“Strong”

“Strong worker's market.”

“Hard to find qualified safety and health professionals that have insurance industry experience. Multiple candidates apply that have no industry and no safety & health experience.”

“Unknown. I only know within my company and see no outside advertisements for Safety staff.”

“Difficult, specially for people over 50 years old and more than 6 months without work.”

“Seems that employers are looking to hire. Considering I am a Safety professional and I am currently looking for a new job.”

“The job market is strong in the region of Maryland, Washington DC and Vigrinia.”

“Good”

“In Kentucky, the value that a Safety Professional brings to an organization is more centered around larger industry versus small businesses from construction to service organizations”

“Good”

“Somewhat stagnant due to the down turn in the oil and gas industry”

“Lots of employers are looking, but not that many are entering the market with qualifications.”

“Very good since there is a shortage of qualified professionals”

“Been looking for full time position for 2 years..”

“Very Difficult”

“Very good”

“stable but not growing. Just maintaining what is already in place”

“I feel that there is an increasing need for H&S professionals.”

“Wide open, endless opportunities.”

“Positive market. Younger pros seem to move more often. Amost like musical chairs in small markets.”

“Lots of low level openings or just low pay”

“In the Los Angeles area there seems to be a lot of positions advertised but it doesn't seem they are being truly filled or they aren't getting the type of people they want and I can't speak to which it is. I know personally with over 30 years of experience, a good reputation and professional certifications I don't get calls back from my resume.”

“Somewhat stable”

“Pretty good.”

“Ina word Robust.”

“Good”

“Opportunities exist locally in a variety of industries.”

“I believe safety in manufacturing is currently a hot topic. With OSHA increasing compliance auditing due to the changing record keeping and submission requirements, I believe companies are now looking at their safety programs (or lack of) as a cost saving measure. I see job postings from the same companies, same job descriptions, at multiple locations, which leads me to believe that companies are playing catch up for their safety program implementation. The job market for qualified safety professionals is booming, however, I also see multiple job descriptions that include Human Resources, Quality, Maintenance, and Warehouse responsibilities. While employee safety may be driven by compliance, a cost savings measure, or a genuine concern for employee well being, there are many opportunities available for the safety professionals.”

“no clue. I'm new to this industry and still getting my feet wet.”

“I personally see some opportunities.”

“I believe there are job opportunities but not too many in my general area.”

“I would say there are openings in the area that are needed.”

“There seem to be several positions available, if the person is willing to go where the jobs are.”

“worked with the same company for 19 years, worked my way up from machine operator to quality inspector to document control specialist and safety was added in the last 2 years. Most companies do not have a designated position just for a safety professional, most often included with quality personnel.”

“seems to be more and more job site looking for safety professionals.”

“Seems to be a lot of jobs and not a lot of qualified candidates on the market with at least 2-4 years experience.”

“Plenty of jobs. Companies do not want to pay for the service.”

“Very promising!”

“Currently, it seems positions are opening up for professionals with higher education and experience.”

“I am a Safety and Training Coordinator. This means I'm an HR Generalist who focuses on safety and training for employees because of the size of my public employer. I don't see much of a job market for this position in my area. Public employers in this State have not adopted OSHA and fall under the department of labor plan which has an enormous amount of gray in there safety rules.”

“There are an abundance of safety and health positions, that I can see, in construction.”

“Lots of job postings. 3 months ago I was offered a job at another company, took the offer to my boss, and achieved a raise to stay.”

“Not great, due to everyone is into production and making money. When you try to encourage new ideas it gets pushed down to a low priority.”

“Very Stable”

“I can't really say. I have not had to look for a job in twenty years.”

“Safety gets grouped with Environmental, and Quality. EHS&Q. Safety is a side job for the Quality Manager”

“Good”

“Mediocre and worsening.”

“There are plenty of safety and health jobs to apply for if someone is in the industry. The largest gap that I see in the current market is the need for experience. Lots of companies want candidates to have 10 years experience or 5 years experience or whatever the number may be but a lot of organizations do not understand what they are asking for. What I mean by all this is there is a gap in understanding of what a safety and health professional should expect to make with X amount of years compared to what some organizations believe the roll is worth. This is the reason that I think a lot of organization have a turnover of safety professionals every 3-5 years because they do not value the position enough to pay fair market value for the years of experience.”

“We have a good market even though our department is small of only 2 people. I think there is room for 1 more person.”

“It seems like there are opportunities, but some may be filled from within before they are advertised.”

“competitive.”

“very spread out. Heavily travel based.”

“Unsure”

“Good”

“unsure”

“Encouraging”

“not sure”

“Safety have never been a big priority in companies till something happens and forces it”

“Uncertain and unstable. My past experience is that if the economy or money gets tight for a company the first person or department to be removed is Safety and Compliance.”

“The market is robust with a demand for qualified safety professionals. That is the kicker "qualified " safety professionals. Detractor is all the "safety" databases that consume way too much of a safety professional's time populating the databases with useless information.”

“You see more and more people getting into safety, as safety has become more of a defining role in all industries. You have better training for safety professionals then before.”

“not aware of this”

“What you see advertised is a waste of time pursuing. I have applied for several jobs that I am well qualified for and never hear a response from.”

“Starting to open up.”

“Stable, but continuing to have need for experienced professionals”

“I have noticed that there are many more S&H positions in my state.”

“I have not checked on the current job market”

“Decent. I research job postings and there are many good jobs. I tend to find many companies pay much less than my current employer”

“Stable”

“Growing. Employers are looking for education and experience, and seem to prefer environmental knowledge as part of the package. It can be a difficult combination for new graduates.”

“Seems to be a lot of jobs available.”

“Good for employers willing to pay higher wages, bad for employers trying to save a buck and pay H&S professionals low salaries.”

“Vibrant. The oil and gas industry is growing again and openings for HSE positions are growing with it.”

“Not sure. I don't see many safety professionals applying for jobs available at this company.”

“Stable, but more positions are needed.”

“I believe it is bleak.”

“Average. Some openings within related fields. Not a lot of openings being advertised at this time.”

“Construction work in the oil, gas, and energy markets have slowed. In turn the outlook for HSE professionals has diminished.”

“Positive”

“With the upturn in oil and gas, as well as the overall economy, the current job market is favorable for safety and health professionals.”

“Geographic areas of BALTIMORE, HOUSTON, ST LOUIS, and COLUMBIA, SC. are depressed.”

“The current job market concerning safety professionals here in Texas looks good, particularly in the petrochemical and construction industries.”

“UNKNOWN, HOWEVER, THERE ARE EHS POSITIONS IN LOCAL AREA THAT HAVE NOT BEEN FILLED IN 3 MONTHS.”

“I think there is more focus for health & safety professionals on our workplace than there has been in the past. We place a high focus on the early symptom investigation, individual ergonomic analysis & posture coaching to help team members to stay on the job.”

“It seems the positions are still available but they're not paying as well as they did 5 years ago.”

“Endless jobs- as long as you're willing to relocate and have education, and experience.”

“Expanding as the US economy continues to grow.”

“Good. Receive regular contact on LinkedIn from recruiters.”

“There have been many safety positions that have opened due to people leaving those organizations and taking a safety (or sometimes a non-safety role) in a new company.”

“Not much of a job market in my area”

“It's difficult. I believe a lot of employers have the view that experience is not necessary; and/or not worth added salary/benefits. There also seems to be a renewed emphasis for candidates that have "letters behind their names"; but, no desire to pay for it.”

“There is not very many Environmental, Health & Safety Managers in the District”

“Fine.”

“No market for seasoned professionals.”

“Robust. In certain markets it is very difficult to find qualified SHE professionals due to competition for such people.”

“For local government I see a great need for it however, there is a lack of people that are qualified for the job that are willing to work in it. Local government does not produce the widget to pay back into the system or even help to sustain the salary for the safety professional. The pay is lower than if we went out into the civilian world and we usually wear more than one hat making it a fine dance to maintain a true safety mindset.”

“I think there is a need for H&S professionals but companies have to see the value”

“Very good for those that are passionate bout the profession. There are still too many folks with the "It's a job", or "I am a contractual requirement" attitude.”

“I am always getting emails about job openings, however, they are more junior positions than I'm interested in at this point in my career.”

“Above average.”

“very healthy, getting more lucrative all the time”

“Fairly strong. I see job openings on a fairly regular basis. I was unemployed for 13 months (after working at a company for 21 years). I searched almost daily for a job. I cannot prove, but I definitely believe, that age discrimination was a major component to my not getting interviews. I have been at my current employer for six months.”

“Stable”

“Good opportunities exist, I believe.”

“There are plenty of job opportunities especially within the Southeast requiring 5 to 10 years experience. A professional should have no trouble securing work, the challenge is to get to know the company you are applying with and being committed in the long term (if full time permanent), or to be fully committed to the terms of the contract.”

“Understaffed at most locations.”

“Strong market for safety professionals. There is a limit to the number of true strategic safety roles available within companies. It is a narrow career ladder and may be difficult to reach high level strategic positions due to lack of opportunities.”

“I believe the job market varies by industry and local economy. The Houston job market in the oil & gas industry is improving thanks to stability in the oil and gas prices.”

“It has been my experience that Industrial Hygienists are in great demand with relatively high salary expectations. Industry is boom in the mid-South and ES&H professionals are sought.”

“Robust and varied in general industry.”

“Skilled and certified in demand”

“This field is considered by most employer's the least important to have.”

“There will always be a need and there seems to be a slight upswing presently.”

“At the middle and lower levels it is strong. At the upper levels it is a challenge.”

“Fair”

“Seems to be pretty good, but little diversity.”

“Great!”

“Open in construction safety.”

“I believe that the current trend is to downplay the priority of safety. Safety priority is cyclical and has been for the 40 years that I have been a safety professional. Unfortunately, if nothing bad is happening, i.e., OSHA Inspections, fatalities, increased insurance premiums, insurance program requirements, etc.; the emphasis on safety is reduced at all levels. The only exceptions to this is if the top person in the company understands the more far reaching effects of a good safety program, policies and day-to-day administration.”

“There are plenty of opportunities out there for safety and health professionals. Safety and Health Professionals must continue to develop personally and professionally to qualify for those opportunities.”

“Okay”

“I believe it is good but I am not sure about my company. We have had trouble keeping qualified safety professionals. I am not sure it is salary or what it is.”

“Good market, lots of opportunities especially if you're willing to relocate.”

“Unemployment is very low so finding any job is harder than it used to be.”

“Average”

“For those with experience and education, jobs are there for the asking with great salaries and benefits. The profession will not be able to keep up with retirements for several years. It's not unreasonable to conclude this is going to have a negative effect on safety and health in the workplace.”

“I would say it is good.”

“It appears to be good based on the number of inquiries I get and the number of ads I see posted.”

“Relatively stable. I don't see compensation being equal to other managers.”

“High demand for qualified professionals with manufacturing, high automation experience.”

“As economy improves so do opportunities for safety professionals”

“The market is very strong and should remain that way as our population ages and new personnel come into the workforce with little or no safety training.”

“Companies are looking for professional certifications, degrees in safety before being hired.”

“Very poor in AK due to the economy.”

“In my area-fitting.”

“We at times struggle to fill positions. Not the right fit or right qualifications for the position with our company. Hard to find good help.”

“Slow but there is jobs to be filled if you look hard.”

“Not sure.”

“Good to excellent”

“I would say it is stable to maybe slightly expanding.”

“Within the business, I do not feel there is a job market for these type of professionals”

“I have been looking for a new job and there is not much out there right now.”

“Flooded with employers that are being 'forced' to create a safety position, but they wouldn't do it if they could get by that way.”

“Very strong marketplace for experienced safety and health professionals with credentials.”

“Needed, but I don't see many hiring.”

“I am consistently being contacted for open EHS Positions with companies. I would say there is definitely a shortage of EHS professionals. The shortage of EHS Professionals is especially pronounced at the facility level. It is difficult to get quality applicants”

“We are hiring, encouraging”

“It is growing. Safety is becoming more a part of everyone's job title - not just to say "safety is everyone's business" but as the SMS continues to mature, operational personnel are expected to have a higher fluency with safety.”

“Bleak”

“There is lots of opportunity for new grads and mid level managers. High level managers and directors appear to be applying for lower level manager positions to avoid layoffs at upper levels in large companies.”

“Weak for those that have no college education and rely strictly on job experience.”

“Improving”

“There are a few opportunities out there but are all entry level or take a wealth of experience.”

“Do not know.”

“Improving”

“I work for a municipal utilities department (water and wastewater treatment and solid waste). Whether a safety and health professional is on staff depends on the size of the municipality. In many city and county governments, safety and health is delegated to human resources or risk management. City and county government is not a growth industry and safety and health, as a support function, is at the mercy of budget restraints dictated by political considerations.”

“i believe in our area the job market is very good”

“From my review of targeted emails from EHS job postings, it seems that many employers are looking to obtain modest EHS credentials and experience for minimum costs.”

“I see a lot positions open in Wisconsin. However, considering the length of time that the posting seems to be open indicates that there is a lack of qualified EHS professionals.”

“Job Market is good, qualified individuals is difficult. Safety is not a well respected position to hold in the construction field.”

“Excellent”

“Pretty much the same”

“Half and Half, there is some companies that are all about it and then you have the smaller homebuilders that have nothing in process. Makes it hard to keep vendors that don't have abide by safety rules at the other companies.”

“Growing”

“Fair”

“Stable. Necessary and beneficial for the construction industry but some employers see the position as a cost factor.”

“I do not look to see what there is available.”

“Growing”

“The job market is good however for Washington's cost of living the pay is very low, especially for those just starting out.”

“No many positions available in my area.”

“There are numerous opportunities available for someone with training especially with the COR requirements being rolled out in Ontario.”

“No idea.”

“In my industry (agriculture), there is a severe shortage of EHS Professionals. In my area, there is also a need for more highly trained individuals.”

“In the area I live in its decreasing”

“Stable”

“Corporate cultures will drive the market for H&S professionals. Current national level politics though are not as favorable.”

“Seems to be erratic with qualifications required.”

“Bleak”

“Fair,”

“Average”

“more technical and involved. More regulation. more scope of responsibility. expanding market and breadth of responsibility.”

“Optimisitc”

“No opinion”

“deficient in qualified degreed EHS professionals”

“More specific project work for contract safety hires, not a lot of work for permanent staff safety hires.”

“There seems to be quite a few jobs in my surrounding areas.”

“Slow”

“Unknown”

“Steady but does not seem to be growing significantly”

“The market is flooded with people wanting to do safety. There is a lack quality jobs, most employers are looking for lower paid people to fill roles. A lot of the new safety professionals are only in it for the money or they think its an easy job.”

“Active with a lot of opportunities, and a lot of movement. Two tier - one site level - tactical and a second more multi site/corporate level and strategic.”

“Stable but could be a shortage in the near future.”

“In the oil and gas industry, there will always be a need for safety and health professionals.”

“limited for those with less than 10 years experience and also limited for those who do not live in close proximity to major cities.”

“There are many openings”

“growing”

“Growing in my area”

“Good”

“Extremely good”

“Better than average. Due to an increase in stock holder activity demanding better safety and environmental disclosures we see the need for addtional employment opportunties for HSE professionals.”

“It has opened up and there are a lot of opportunities out there for every level of Safety professional. The only area I see decrease in the field is industrial Hygiene. IH is becoming more and more a function of the EHS professional as part of their over all work load. It also appears that Safety professionals need to be more versatile in their work. With that being said a professional that can operate in Health, Safety and Environment has a much better opportunity of landing a better paying and stable position.”

“Weak, hiring at low end, looking for some one who will keep company out of a non-compliant situation. just enough to get by.”

“From our past job postings we had hundreds of applicants. Many of which were over qualified which makes me think that the market is tight.”

“since I am not in the current job market, I do not know. I do know, safety is not going away.”

“The current job market for safety professionals in the western united states is stagnate no new jobs have been created in last 3 years. Most jobs listed are replacing individuals that transferred to a better or different opportunity.”

“I haven't looked a lot; there seem to be safety positions out there, however majority appear to be lower level jobs or in finance.”

“good”

“Promising for innovators.”

“Jobs are out there if you’re willing to move. Entry level positions continue to be a challenge for the new comer. Once you get a shot, ride it out until you have the experience required to make a move”

“The current job market seems to have quite a few opportunities in various fields for safety professionals, but the stability of the jobs seems to be hit and miss.”

“fair”

“Active.”

“Stable - I have not seen a great increase or decrease in the number of jobs available or the people qualified to fill them.”

“I believe that increases in the workforce will greatly impact the need for and use of safety professionals. In North Dakota, it seems we are not quite feeling the effects of the growth currently happening in the rest of the country.”

“Healthy”

“Average”

“I believe the current job market is great for safety and health professionals. However, I believe employers are looking for a high level of experience for the amount of pay they are willing to give. I find it is difficult for entry level workers to find jobs when the minimum criteria of most positions is 5-10 years of experience plus certifications that are very expensive to obtain without the employer covering them.”

“I have not needed to look for a position in EHS other than my current employer, but from what I see on LinkedIn the current job market is doing fairly well.”

“There seems to be new posting every week that are in my location”

“Good and getting better”

“Think the job market is looking pretty good, just not where I am currently located.”

“Smoking hot.”

“It appears to be good. I receive several e-mails and calls monthly about other opportunities.”

“there are many opportunities for safety professional on the market.”

“Wide open”

“Opportunistic. There's room for improvement.”

“I would say the current job market is good. I get contacted by various recruiters a couple times per month.”

“I would consider it to be great job market.”

“Marketable”

“The market appears to be increasing. I have seen more job advertisements for safety positions.”

“Difficult to break into, even with safety education. Preference seems to be given to those within an industry, even without safety experience, training, or education.”

“I believe that with effort positions are available for professionals willing to adapt to the position needs.”

“I think that there are plenty of entry level jobs available but less opportunities for experienced safety professionals.”

“They are asking the wrong questions when looking for a Safety Professional. Asking too high of college degrees while offering too low of pay.”

“In the greater Boston area, the job market for safety and health professionals is in strong demand. I receive inquiries from recruiters at least once every 2 weeks.”

“Lacking good candidates.”

“Not good”

“Good”

“Good for larger companies. They are hiring only entry personnel. If you are over 50 forget it.”

“Relying too much on qualifications/certifications”

“The current market seems to be struggling to keep qualified people in jobs very long. People jump from one place to the next with out placing any personal ownership into the place. They don't like something they feel they can get somewhere else and they immediately jump fence for greener pastors. Then in their defense the safety offices in the healthcare industry just keep giving more and more work to the small safety offices so the staff burn out before they get anything accomplished. I just wish the leadership could see that the staff is over worked because here they sure don't see it and wont listen to you about it. It seems to take a event of some sort to get their attention about these serious things.”

“Don't know personally but there seems to be a demand in the Construction industry particularly.”

“I think it is a bit stronger than in past 4 years”

“Very few available and qualified safety personnel.”

“It appears that there's a wealth of available jobs within the safety and health market.”

“I think the future is bright however the economy is an upswing at the moment so when that happens in my experience companies have more focus on increasing their safety staff. I hope the trend continues however when the economy tanks our profession suffers. Also by federal not putting money into regulatory agencies and resources - NIOSH, CSB, etc. this hurts our cause.”

“Flodded”

“mix. I think there is opportunities but most positions are filled from within.”

“It appears to be ok. I don't see younger Safety Professionals having problems finding jobs. What I do find harder to find are positions at Director and above. The director level positions seem to filled by younger people while VP positions are filled by people who come from operations. Its actually quite frustrating to think that many companies will not elevate a safety professional to a VP position if they didn't come from operations.”

“Relatively stable. There are jobs, if you are willing to relocate.”

“good”

“Probably somewhat in flux due to the current administration's "De-regulation" attitude. Although the economy seems strong, it does not appear that safety & environmental positions are benefiting from the upswing.”

“Thin”

“it seems that there is a demand for experienced (years) and qualified (education & certification) safety professionals, specifically CSP's.”

“Stable, looks like there are plenty of positions available”

“Job market of Safety & Health professionals seems to have numerous opportunities, at least in Texas. The need for qualified candidates has driven more requests for certifications or Graduate-degree for Management positions.”

“good”

“Not really aware as I am tyupically not looking to go elsewhere.”

“Not 100% sure. I have not looked, however the last three interns that I have mentored all have found jobs, so I would say that it is on an upswing.”

“open market”

“Seems to be stable or growing slightly as construction in CA increases”

“We have had difficulty finding and holding on to junior level staff.”

“Lots of positions open but the pay is not that good.”

“The job market is fairly good.”

“As a functional specialist it is above fair and possibly good. The problem is still the need for succession planning and growing the roles.”

“I think the current market is favorable to EHS professionals.”

“Weak”

“Think it's good”

“unknown”

“Currently there are many EH&S positions available however there are not many with the experience level that employers are needing. As older professional retire it is showing up as a bigger problem. New EH&S grads need to be willing to take lesser positions and work into the experience employees that businesses need.”

“multiple applicants for every job opening.”

“The current job market is very good for any safety and health professional looking for a change. If the person was interested in moving, it is even better.”

“good. lots of people retiring”

“good”

“I believe the market is good for many industries. Certain industries like pulp and paper are shaky.”

“Good opportunities for qualified safety professionals.”

“Very strong market for safety professionals, I receive many inquiries as to potential jobs. Experience seems to be key to those job offers.”

“It appears that jobs are out there due to the number posted on job websites. more than has been in some time.”

“Very good”

“Competitive”

“Good with lots of opportunity.”

“Very healthy if you don't mind traveling.”

“Good”

“The job market in this area is very slow.”

“Very High”

“I can't say.”

“Seems to ne a growing career field. Not many qualified safety people in my area.”

“Tight job market means less monies available for HSE staffing. Forces Operations to do the HSE themselves.”

“The job market is strong particularly for entry level and early career roles.”

“Job market is sporadic, safety tends to be one area that gets cut when budgets become more challenging.”

“if you want to change positions, there are ample opportunities to do so.”

“Steady”

“Mixed. I see a lot of people changing jobs and having opportunities to better themselves, but I also see a lot of folks looking for employment following lay-offs and downsizing. I think that good opportunities are out there and am optimistic about the future of the profession.”

“Limited talent pool locally & more openings than qualified individuals.”

“Growing need with a wide variety of experience levels needed.”

“Minimal but growing.”

“This still appears to be a strong market overall.”

“Strong”

“High”

“Stable for existing professionals tough for new people to obtain positions”

“The market itself is opening up but are the qualified individuals ready to step into such a role? That is my concern at this point.”

“The SW Florida economy, especially healthcare, tourism, and housing are booming and few safety & health professionals are seeking work in this part of Florida.”

“Complex. Most of the job positions are for EHS professionals, instead of Health, Safety & Industrial Hygiene (IH). In general, there is an expectation that Health & Safety professionals will have strong knowledge in Environmental. Moreover, some are requesting EHSQ (Quality) functions. I think is that Health and Safety may provide support to both Environment and Quality, but it is very difficult to be fully responsible for all these complex regulatory matters without losing the main purpose of protection the health and safety of employees.”

“Good.”

“good”

“It appears that there is a need for qualified safety professionals”

“The overall job market it good. Within the federal government, however, the job market is bad as agencies face job cuts and hiring freezes for at least the next 3 years.”

“Not sure.”

“Good, It is hard to find good canidates.”

“Very tight in specialized fields. Being in a slow economic region and in an aging industry it is very tough to find folks that are qualified or willing to learn a wide array of topics”

“I am new to safety and health, it's not my primary job function nor is it one of my career goals.”

“It is a difficult market due to the political landscape. Made more difficult for an experienced generalist. Todays market is looking for a Safety "coordinator" with minimal experience and limited responsibilities so that they can keep the pay low. Or, they are looking for a subject matter expert (CSP) that requires extensive familiarity with "niche" safety such as NFPA 70e or Cranes and will pay them accordingly at a much higher rate. The days of the "generalist" appear to be ending.”

“Bleak. Their needs to be more emphasis on training and certifications. It would help if their were more OSHA agents to make these employers do the right thing. Mine or anyone else’s employees don’t go to work to die.”

“I definitely have seen more job opportunities in the past year than previously seen for the last few years.”

“Stable”

“I believe the job market is increasing in opportunity as the demand for compliance and sustainability increases. Employers are actively looking at cost saving approaches like the Worker's Compensation Index to improve financial performance.”

“unknown”

“not very welcoming”

“Unrealistic expectations from employers looking to hire. There are also challenges with getting an interview due to job recruiters who screen for key words on applications .”

“I have no idea. I have been at my present employer for 17 years; so I don't know the state of the market.”

“I feel the safety duties/regulations are intensifying to the point that people are no longer wanting the jobs.”

“In my area in Flin not so good. In metro Detroit it is good.”

“It is very good in the civilian market but the military and government service has limited opportunities.”

“It's good. However, most of the positions require a college degree. I personally don't have one but I have been a safety manager for over 10 years and I learned on the job and I have a lot of on the job experience and I am very good at what I do. I wish more employers would consider one the job experience over a degree in the field.”

“strong”

“In my market area, jobs are few and far between”

“In our area, there is a definite lack of experienced SHP's. That said, I see a cooling off of large projects for the next year or so.”

“Continuing education and job training/certification”

“Some appreciation- a lot of safety supervisors don't get much for all the work they do”

“Expand current responsibilities into other streams of the business. Safety professionals need a way to feel invested in the companies they work for.”

“Not dump the entire safety program on one person.”

“i dont know”

“Better pay and more personnel”

“Consistent commitment amongst all levels of management.”

“Better pay and stronger disciplinary pull in company”

“there seems to be a focus on increasing income and, at times, safety professionals move from company to company to increase income. It would be better if employers recognize that slightly higher pay will help retain good staff”

“I think longevity of many professionals in organizations is an issue. The younger generation move from organization to organization for multiple reasons.”

“Benefits and growth”

“Support the safety process”

“Provide them with more assistance to perform their job/functions.”

“Not sure. My current position does not encourage me to stay.”

“Mentoring is key within an organization and continuous education.”

“Make sure leadership supports the position well.”

“Benefits improvements mostly. Nationally benefits such as affordable health care are tanking, pensions non-existent and profit sharing a sort of funny math. I think EHS professionals want to work for good and ethical organizations too, which can be hard to find.”

“Management commitment. Not asking them to do it all. I feel like almost every safety person should have an assistant or at least an admin person to help.”

“On one hand, offer a competitive salary/benefits package in line with other specific skill-based roles. On the other hand, I do see safety professionals needing to more clearly demonstrate the value the profession brings to any employer.”

“Expand their roles.”

“S&H professionals must report to highest level within building or organization. Leadership Team preferred. Without this commitment to safety, it is difficult to effect change at a lower level of authority.”

“Make pay more competitive (including benefits)”

“In my view, this isn't an issue among my colleagues.”

“give recognition where and when it is due; stop passing over persons when there is a promotion opportunity ;”

“Listen to what they are telling you. Be vulnerable enough to tell them the real reason why something cannot or will not be done and be willing to increase compensation”

“More upper management support and bonus structures.”

“Effective training”

“everyone is motivated by something. A key element would be the climate that the company encourages. The level of training opportunities and professional growth are key in this field. As well additional opportunities and some variety on the job add to the value for a safety professional.”

“Flexible schedules, fair pay and a career path”

“Salary increase, funding for safety program and more staff”

“Better pay and respect from their fellow employees. Some employees take it for granted and only participate because its part of the job as they see it.”

“Ensure that the members professionals receive positive value for their membership dollar. I annually review my professional memberships and certifications to ensure they are still providing significant value to me, both personally and professionally.”

“Continued advancement opportunities.”

“Supportive working environments (pipe dream maybe). Career track. Opportunities to work with Federal agencies to assist the safety professional in influencing negative or disengaged leadership to see the reality of consequences for taking shortcuts relating to safety initiatives. Specialized regulatory provisions protecting the safety professional. Increased low cost or free education opportunities for Safety professionals to participate in allowing”

“Most small organizations do not have a safety professional. If they have anyone, Safety is an extra duty for an employee who is being paid to do something else. Even companies with thousands of employee have relatively small safety staffs. Since there is very little chance for progression in the safety field, the best you can hope for is increased steps. The opportunity of more money is the best way to keep the best safety professionals.”

“Let safety and health professionals know that safety and the role a safety professional plays, matters in the workplace. It is hard to push safety and health when there is no support within the organization. It is easy to talk safety and health and call it the number one priority, but when everything points to the contrary and employers seem to care more about profitability and productivity, working in safety seems like an uphill battle that few people want to do.”

“Senior management/Ownership TRUE commitment to their safety programs.”

“Integration of S & H fully into the organization.”

“Better pay and assistance.”

“Better pay”

“More Outreaches to Universities students and more incentives to Safety and Health Professionals”

“Understanding that they will never be 100% safe organizations. They will always have funding issues, and non-compliance from workers and staff. It is the best profession to be in for long term employment. The only downer is that there is a potential for death among workers in all walks of life. Injuries will always happen, no matter how hard we train and instill our best practices.”

“Better pay, more opportunity for advancement”

“Bonuses or rewards help. Seeing the rewards for hard work.”

“Respect the job.”

“Better working relations and better opportunity”

“More true support”

“Allowing these folks to participate and attend training to keep their job skills up to date. Treat the profession with the same amount of importance as for example Finance, or QC.”

“I cannot speak for others in their organization. What I can say is this. Our market is unstable, we are at the end of life for our product. Recently there was a position that opened up, higher in the corporate structure. When I discussed it with my supervisor he said he didn't want me to apply (even though he stated I am qualified) because that would mean I would have to leave my position and they aren't backfilling positions. I would say that encouraging growth and being supporting of career aspirations and goals would keep me with the organization longer.”

“Job satisfaction is very high. Greater salaries would help, but that comes with time and is more dependent on the person than the marketplace. Hungry, talented people will always find a good home.”

“Pay progression, education and expectation progression.”

“Safety attitutude of Managers and owners that want a strong safety culture.”

“Pay them better.”

“for the employees and managers to show respect for what this person does.”

“make Safety a real part of the bottom line. continuing education. advancement.”

“Provide a growth and development plan tied to increased salary and/or positions of greater authority. Provide incentives (bonuses) if/when employees reach certain employment milestones.”

“Get good backing from the owner or principle person.”

“Offer better pay and benefits for the responsibilities expected of the safety pro.”

“The expansion of the role and the improvement of the compensation. Also, the safety pro needs to be involved in the decision making of the organization. Don't just tell them what is going to happen after the decision has been made.”

“Pay them, or buy them lunch every once in a while. If people feel they are well taken care of they will not go anywhere, but if they feel they are not appreciated it will only be a matter of time before they "jump ship". Treat their senior safety and health professionals well. If the younger generation sees that the older ones aren't being treated well or fairly they will also leave.”

“Better pay, more buy in from management/executives, more power/influence./leverage/authority for safety and health professionals.”

“Provide career paths and pay enhancements based on performance.”

“That is tough one. If a person is passionate about safety there should not be an issue with them staying with one organization for a while, (unless personality conflicts are an issue). Now a days it appears individuals are getting into safety for the money and not the passion. The new generation of all craft only care about how much they are going to get paid, not the safe way to perform a task, identify an mitigate a hazard to prevent an injury or how much an anchor point needs to be able to support to be able to use it.”

“Better pay, continued training, loosening of budgets.”

“More rewards, which could include increased pay, added staff to allow for decreased hours.”

“higher management commitment”

“offer additional training or certifications on the contingency that they stay for 2 years.”

“Providing pay and benefits consistent with the expectations of the position, offer flexibility with work schedules, provide support from upper management for compliance activities, and ensure that the compliance expectations and work activities to achieve those expectations be consistent with a reasonable work schedule.”

“Seems more comforts are being requested by newer applicants, longer vacations, healthier areas of work like treadmills, yoga, etc...”

“Provide opportunity for growth”

“Companies have to bring EHS to the same level as Quality and Productivity within there organizations and walk the talk. Talk is cheap if it isn't backed up. EHS professionals will stay with their present company if they are and fell the support. When a manager tells his employee to where their safety glasses and they don't, what kind of message does that send ?”

“More support”

“Organizations that really support and belive in safety and that its not just some check box for insurance.”

“More training”

“More training and room for growth”

“Place trained professional safety and health professionals in the management positions that supervise them.”

“Develop opportunities and career advancements. Pay safety professionals accordingly.”

“Keep performance expectations low.”

“Pay and benefits.”

“Perks, benefits, overall culture of an organization, team work, fair compensation.”

“Competitive pay and benefits will keep qualified employees.”

“Set goals”

“Comparative salaries to others at their level in the organizations, opportunity for PDC and continuing education assistance.”

“Get individuals more field experience.”

“Give them more support and opportunities for development.”

“Upper management support, and understanding the investment that must be made with continuing education for the safety professionals and employees in general.”

“Continuing education!”

“No opinion”

“A leadership team that supports and drives EHSS efforts, not only by talking, but in continued demonstrations. Usually we change jobs as a result of a management change, when a new CEO is only concerned-focused on customers and forget about his employees and their safety.”

“Make safety a priority make safety a priority”

“Better Pay.”

“Pay and support.”

“Recognition of the importance of safety to sustainability and viewing safety positions athenlevel as other departments”

“More support: I am not part of any department within my office, so I feel somewhat isolated. Not applicable to me, but I know some safety pros who have not felt supported by upper management. Very deflating to preach the safety message, only to be undercut by the bigwigs.”

“Decrease the emphasis on productivity metrics if the staff is managing their workload and roles effectively.”

“The leadership needs to genuinely back and drive a positive safety culture”

“Support staff, pay, training.”

“General and production and HR Managers shall walk the talk on HSE. Talking about HSE is easy and trending, doing HSE is more difficult, demonstrating HSE is rare on senior managers.”

“I’d stay if I was being paid at least within 75% of colleagues with the same credentials and experience yet I also do all the HR and run a jobsite 65% if the time. So I’m actually doing the job of three (3) people and not being paid accordingly.”

“Upper management staying out of the way of the safety department. The safety professional not be constrained by a budget.”

“"Market Pay" is typically how salaries are based and "market pay" for Safety Professionals in Kentucky are not as appealing as an entry level engineer for example. Even after being in my role for 15 years, an entry engineer's salary is much higher.”

“Making an impact, value added and raising pay.”

“Nothing to comment on”

“More universities and perhaps trade schools should off programs promoting safety as a career with more employers offering internships.”

“Better work life balance and better pay considering what is expected”

“Define a career path.”

“Better salary and stability”

“Fair pay and benefits. Respect safety mission.”

“more education”

“I think that safety is looked at as an auxiliary management position in many ways. I see workers who have no real interest in safety take these positions as a stepping stone to get to a position they want to be. Once the desired position opens they advance to the next opportunity.”

“For the upper MGT. to also believe in safety”

“Offer better pay or bonuses.”

“Larger safety budgets, added resources.”

“Management must acknowledge that they don’t know more than the person they hired to manage the program. Don’t use senior safety positions as developmental jobs for ops people.”

“Pay more and don't make cross movement in the organization the only way to move up”

“Growth potential and encouragement in advanced training and certifications.”

“Fair supervisors. Better work life balance”

“Paying a wage compensatory with the amount of time and work.”

“Give them respect, support and the tools to accomplish the organizational Goals they have. Teach them to relate it to the business case of Safe Work places and healthy Employees. Give them a Budget to drive home the Corporate Mandate.”

“Same pay as production managers and promotion opportunities”

“Expand career paths and opportunities. Provide adequate staffing!”

“Unfortunately, the Millennial mindset does not include loyalty. This is not just in the safety and health profession, the mindset is across all professions. I believe the new way of thinking does not fall completely with the millennial era, but the "Perfect Storm", which include compensation/benefits, 24-hour manufacturing operations, and training program implementation. The cream will always raise to the top. Encouragement does exist in many ways, but self-encouragement is a trait, and a value that is characteristic.”

“I really think its all about the benefits these days, like health insurance, that drive people to move around from job to job.”

“I believe money and stability encourage longer terms.”

“I think benefits are a huge factor in decision making. I see that many people are looking for the long terms benefits rather than the right now.”

“pay incentives with goals”

“Companies need to consider options outside of moving into management as the only means of promotion. For example, having a level such as "Principal" above Coordinator that is considered equal to a manager level, but that focuses on technical knowledge and transfer of that knowledge to junior staffers.”

“better pay and support for safety as a profession.”

“get certified and trained. help them help you.”

“Flexible working schedules, vacation opportunities for career training and growth in the organization.”

“Make them a valued part of the management team and not someone who organizes the company party.”

“Continous education...”

“I believe increase in wages, more support from upper management to make changes within the company and enforcement of HSE principles.”

“I would not encourage staying too long if in a safety position unless management values it.”

“Cooperation and effectiveness”

“Management support for their safety department”

“Career advancement and changing the duties to keep us learning new skills and solving different problems”

“Offer room for growth and development”

“Encourage buy in from the top, also some type of upward mobility or career advancement from within would help. A lot of movement is because there isn't any career advancement for and individual in the civilian sector. i know in Federal jobs there is a ladder to climb, but in most civilian positions once you are in that's where you stay. the employees without any experience are used to complete tasks that should be completed by Safety professionals and not someone just filling a position.”

“Continuing education”

“More money, More support, more committment”

“Management buy in and recognition”

“I think it has a lot to do with the safety culture within the company. Having executive/owner support and alignment will keep people long term.”

“1) BETTER PAY!
2) Get Safety out from under the thumbs of the HR or operations departments. A better home is the legal department or accounting as they would understand compliance based decisions.”

“As I said above I think most of it comes down to a financial outlook. With experience comes a higher expected wage rate and some companies are not willing to pay for that experience. I think the best that could be done is educating companies on the value of a experience safety professional.”

“MORE TRAINING”

“Activities, support, incentives.”

“Offer bonuses and allow them to take on other non-EHS tasks to better understand the business”

“paying for additional education; salary increase; increase staffing for safety”

“reduce travel time”

“Salary”

“Money”

“unsure”

“Continuous improvement”

“better compensation”

“treat them like they matter. Owners and upper management need to take part in Safety and not look at it as "your here because I have to have you".”

“Better pay and provide some growth opportunity. Provide better education to non-safety professionals to be aware of what safety professionals do and there roles.”

“Executive management must support the safety program 100% and provide the resources and consistency to accomplish this goal. Pay them!”

“If you are new to the organization, get to know every job role from top to bottom. Then make yourself a resource in all part of the company.”

“allow time & expenses for personal growth; have a voice with mgmt. on planning/decision making”

“its the organization that is the problem most of the time in my opinion. It is a hard thing to encourage when the problem isn't the work or the person.”

“Engage with Operations in the field and focus on planned personal development.”

“encourage them to mentor younger staff and allow younger staff to shadow them as they do their job - mentoring retains experienced workers”

“Continue fighting for what is right for employees and management. Improve individual sales techniques to sell safety in incremental steps.”

“Although a good wage makes a difference, true management support which fosters top-down safety culture makes for a great work environment.”

“Our organization does not have this issue”

“Promotions”

“Better pay.”

“Value their work. Continually follow-up to ensure the program is being built upon from the top to the bottom.”

“Offer them a clear path to advancement.”

“Possibility for higher wages and career advancement.”

“Personal development and growth opportunities are key, along with visible leadership at the top and their continued acknowledgement of the value that HSE brings to the organization.”

“Payscale and level of authority should match level of responsibility.”

“Good benefits, good pay, and making safety a priority within the organizations.”

“More buy in from management and better wages.”

“Fair compensation package. Autonomy to make decisions without having to have everything approved prior to making decisions. Delays cause loss of emphasis.”

“Increase pay, benefits, and educational opportunities. Institute mentorship programs within companies.”

“Better financial incentives. Flexible work schedules. More stable organization”

“Provide adequate support.”

“Salary, benefits & growth opportunities”

“Top management support for the occupational safety and health programs. Top management becoming proactive in the safety program, walk the walk, talk the talk. Seeing top management supporting the program builds morale and a safe work enviornment that encourages your workers to come to work.”

“INCREASE COMPENSATION”

“Better pay & benefits. Rewarding for extra training and for low incident rates.”

“Offer career growth plans along with pay raises.”

“Upper management awareness and support.”

“Benefits, pay, management support, culture improvement. In no particular order”

“Better pay, better advancement, better benefits, and less micro-managing. I have worked for 3 companies over the last 10 years (in both Coal mining and in a City municipality) and the lack of an open environment encouraging new ideas seems to be squashed by Managers from above who just want to "keep doing what we're doing" regardless if the new methods will work. There's no desire to really improve...just don't go backwards or get worse.”

“Not sure, every person has different wants and needs”

“Success planning - budget for CEU, training and on-going education. Actively promote the safety professional within the Company and diffuse the "safety cop" talk/actions. Visible and demonstrable support for the safety professional, especially when rates don't fall or penalties are received”

“The visibility and need of safety and health in the District of Columbia.”

“Higher pay.”

“Respect, listen to what you are being told.”

“Make safety a viable career, not just a side job on the way to a promotion in other departments. Give Safety a seat at the leadership table and put power behind the position. Do not let other department goals override safety. Make everyone one (worker to President) accountable for safety beyond OSHA rates. Accountability does not lie with Safety but in the field.”

“As much as I hate to say it, better pay followed by less hats to wear.”

“better pay and more opportunities for growth on their organizations”

“Be passionate about the profession and pursue self-development as in webinars, courses, reading publications, etc. The profession continually evolving, so constantly challenge yourself to keep up.”

“Better support from management to put things in place before an injury, not just afterwards.”

“Create career path. Most organizations do not have them”

“Don't get discouraged with the current plans, give yourself a time line on (real) expectations. Is it your accountability or there's?”

“Less travel, more room for advancement.”

“incorporate a incentive program for them”

“Leadership needs to support, not just pay lip service, safety efforts. If organizations truly believe humans are resources, time and money should be allocated to keep those resources safe.”

“executive support and better pay”

“Help with the growing work load (Safety, environmental compliance, workers comp, various HR related functions, etc.)”

“Safety and Health professionals should have a background in other than safety and health in order to relate to others within their organization and demonstrate common sense”

“Encourage further education of company officials in upper management of the need for proactive safety measures and information on what they can get in terms of ROI for each safety person hired. This argument can be made using the cost of average injuries and OSHA citations when safety professionals are not involved and active in prevention.”

“Allow for career progression and opportunities within roles versus needing to move within the organization or between companies.”

“Make progression possible and creative. All promotions don't have to be in management if there is a career path for S&H professionals that continues to reward advancement in qualifications and value other than the traditional move up the management chain.”

“No comment.”

“educate ownership/top management”

“That is a personal paradigm.”

“better pathway as an autonomous unit. typically safety departments report to HR, Ops or Legal.”

“Challenges, training, compensation.”

“Compensation, of course. Improve work/life balance.”

“Career and development options on other areas of risk mitigation, not just employee safety. Consider related functions like HR, Training, Compliance, Operations, Safety management Systems and Engineering as buildable skills to match with Safety Pros!”

“Better money and more incentives for “senior” safety professionals.”

“Safety professionals who lack a strong safety support system can only do so much. If not supported, the funding is not provided for proper ongoing training, promotion, inspections, audits and the other necessary elements of a vibrant safety program. Therefore, the safety professional is forced to also prioritize. This is when unfortunate events occur as outlined above. If allowed to continue, small incidents become part of the "cost of doing business." Then to everybody's surprise, a fatality occurs. "Nobody saw that coming." ...except the safety professional. Then either the lies begin, window dressing occurs or layoffs to pay a penalty for violations before anybody notices that the top person gave other things priority.”

“Organizations must provide opportunities for Safety and Health professionals to grow, advance and ensure job stability and security.”

“More engagement supported and driven by highest level of management”

“In our company I would say salary is the main way to keep pros here.”

“Management support is the biggest driver of keeping a H&S person engaged with their job.”

“Have an upper management better understand the role of the safety professional.”

“A magic wand that makes their organization have safety as their most treasured value, recognizes the contributions from the safety manager, pays the professional what they are worth, and cooperates with the safety department's initiatives especially as driven by regulatory authorities. The safety profession can be very stressful and has to be pretty close to the top in terms of stress-filled jobs in the organization. The more a company take their safety manager for granted and fails to have his/her back, the bigger the chance the person heads to the door.”

“Find some way to enlist more support from top management and help them better understand the importance of what we do.”

“Pay them well at the same level as those within the line organization managers since managers is who they deal with most often besides the employee level.”

“More resources and support.”

“Define an individualized career path with specific milestones based upon achievement of observable and measurable key performance indicators. Review it together often to reinforce expectations on both sides.”

“Pay them the going rates for these type positions. Most leave for pay reasons in my experience.”

“Provide more financial incentives to them. Add more teeth to their capabilities such as the ability to recommend problem employees for disciplinary action including termination.”

“Support from whichever company they work from at the top of an organization. There has to be a commitment from all employees in regards to safety.”

“Better pay and more authority to do their job.”

“Offer stability.”

“Continue to show commitment with Safety. Increase salary for those that do well. Better benifits and bonuses.”

“Better pay, less stress.”

“Upper Level Management understanding of how Safety affects the bottom line.”

“Increase job security and authority”

“Recognition and proper levels of staffing along with ongoing educational/professional development.”

“Do not overload them with work from other aspects, allow them to focus on safety”

“give them the support needed through training, $, followup so that burden doesn't just fall on the safety professional.”

“Upper management support and enforcement. Money.”

“Senior management and ownership actively engaged in the safety management system.”

“Give them the tools and training they need. Also, time off to relax.”

“The biggest factor other than compensation that drives EHS professionals out of organizations is when there is a lack of support for EHS from company management. If a company does not provide the tools and support needed to enact positive change then they should expect that they will not keep quality EHS professionals.”

“Develop a career path”

“allow room for advancement. If "manager" is the highest you can achieve, you must take a job with the primary role being operational with a safety element to move up in the company”

“No pay and better benefits, stock options based on safety performance”

“Companies need to truly make EHS part of the business model rather than a bolt-on, solve-all department.”

“Equal pay to the management staff. The safety function at my facility allows them to receive bonuses. I should be paid equally.”

“The grass is not always greener. Consider non-monetary benefits such as time flexibility, work remotely, etc. They all are important, maybe as much as dollar compensation.”

“Better pay.”

“Better recognition of their value to the organization”

“Pay needs to be equal to the national standard. Carrer progression track”

“Establish career development tracks to enable H&S personnel to advance their role within an organization to obtain increasing responsibility and compensation.”

“Increased support by upper management. Funding to use more modern EHS management tools, such as online training.”

“Total Management support for the needs (items) to keep our employees 100% safe at all time. Safety seems to come in last when the monies are allocated.”

“Pay increase”

“Being able to work more closely with other business functions - especially upstream such as design, purchasing, finance (capital projects review), and process engineering (deciding how to build a product/service)”

“Its company not personnel.... they change how they want to do things when it gets revamped from nothing and just do the bare minimum.”

“Take care of them.”

“Correct leadership”

“On-going training. Support from upper management.”

“Competitive pay standards and incentives based upon company safety performance and corresponding insurance premium savings.”

“I would like to see more opportunities for continued training. Sometimes I think with company budgets that gets overlooked.”

“Better pay”

“Comparable pay to other states.”

“Give them the support that they need from management to protect & train employees.”

“More help, backing of management for culture changes, change of scenery - not tied to desk or site all the time. Positive reinforcement”

“Good pay and benefits and strong buy in from senior leadership.”

“Compensation and support by top management. Do not have the EHS professional report to operations.”

“Opportunity for advancement of their careers. Increased compensation.”

“Better salaries, openness to change culturally.”

“Better Pay.”

“Companies remain open, vendors pay bills.”

“Better wages and Management support”

“Good pay and management support”

“support from upper management”

“Respectful safety culture with full support of top management”

“No opinion”

“People do not leave companies. They leave Managers. Ensure Directors and Executives are leading with people skills.”

“I don't have a specific opinion on this.”

“Buy in from management and supervisors. It always seems to be a struggle.”

“Unknown”

“Provide more support.”

“Encourage professional organization participation, provide appropriate resources such as access to training and industry standards”

“Provide better pay. Provide better working environments. I have worked for some top 10 companies that treat there safety people like trash.”

“Better pay at site level, organizational support for safety.”

“Pay for the job being done and more specific on job responsibility. Train on the responsibility given.”

“Successful safety records and personal satisfaction are imperative to have professionals stay with a company. Some need recognition and new challenges to continue on their career path.”

“career development within the organization”

“Good pay and benefits, career ladder.”

“Money and Stability”

“company paid training, improve pay,,”

“More upper management "buy-in" to the safety programs put in place.”

“Better pay”

“Behavior based systems and processes take a long time to change and requires patience. Educate the younger genration on the "greener pasture suyndrome" that has occurred in the past.”

“The biggest thing as with any job is better pay. Also, there is still the fight to have resources to properly protect employees and the company. I have seen people leave over micromanagement by Management that do not understand or want to understand the safety profession. And there is still the notion that the Safety Professional is an uncompensated expense for the company and the employees look at them as the bad person.”

“Management support, treating S&H professionals as a valued added member of the organization, not "just some one to avoid a non-compliance matter". S&H is still seen in many companies as an cost center to be minimized and out sources as much as possible.”

“Full support from top management.”

“Better pay!”

“In ordered for an organization to maintain their current safety professional talent the organization must recognize the safety professional as added value position not a cost avoidance position. Additionally most organizations see the safety professional a cost not an asset. Therefore, most safety professionals are always on the market for a better place to work, were their talent can be appreciated and recognized.”

“Realize and communicate that Safety behaviors and conditions don't change overnight, they take time and perserverance. Stick with it or you'll constantly be starting over and get frustrated.”

“Not a Clue”

“Mo' Money.”

“Show that they’re valuable all the time, not just in the moment of need following an incident.”

“Have a promotional path for safety and health professionals. Many organizations are not large enough to have entire safety and health professional teams/departments, so it is hard to find a role that will allow you to grow.”

“All levels need to buy into safety. safety is number one always. Safety is not a convenient. Make safety convenient.”

“Advancement opportunity.”

“Recognize that safety is an integral part of any business. Healthy employees are productive employees. Develop and promote a mindset of safe work practices regardless of what role individuals have in the organization.”

“Incentive programs and the opportunity to grow current programs and be more involved with workers.”

“Better pay”

“Better pay. Paid training and certifications. Let the safety professionals put programs in place and stop wanting to push them off.”

“Offer more training and a path to a higher level within the company. Title changes are important and knowing that there are steps within the company that make the worker feel valuable. If the worker wants to, allow them to present at or attend conferences that will keep their interest level high within their profession.”

“Management buy-in to safety efforts and programs. If management does not implement and reinforce the program, the program will fail which is frustrating for those that work hard to make changes to the EHS programs within a company.”

“Continued education, salary, respect, and compliance.”

“Better Leadership understanding of their value to the organization and less second guessing their value of their decisions/consultation”

“Offer fair market wages for positions. Most companies only have one safety professional that wear many hats within the company and are involved with many things. Some also handle environmental duties. Most manage the department even though they are only in a coordinator position that is a lower paid position.”

“Good work environment.”

“Better pay and support from management.”

“Better pay and/or incentives”

“More money.”

“Defined career path.”

“Good, integrated management support. Where I work, HSE is integrated in everything we do.”

“It would take companies to give the safety professional all of the tools they need to make their safety program work.”

“Better pay, opportunites to cross-visit and bench mark, ability to attend safety conferences”

“Upper management to support and value the position”

“N/a”

“C-suite support of safety. Encourage professional certifications and memberships.”

“Market value adjustment of salary.”

“More money for the work load that has to be done.”

“Management needs to stop interfering with the Safety offer's programs. They continue to downplay the risk of things happening rather that planning how to avoid the hazard and train the employees for the possibility of the event and how to handle it event if it did occur. "The best RESCUE is the one you don't have to make."“

“Ensure they are given the resources necessary to complete their job duties. There are plenty of EHS I know that have enough work for 1.5-2 people, but are forced to complete it all themselves. These are the only EHS that I know are unhappy.”

“Support from higher management.”

“Management support.”

“Higher wages”

“Training and pay”

“Pay and Value.”

“Build realistic career paths”

“They need to see that that their hard work makes a difference and they are needed within the organization”

“Support from top management that values the role and person.”

“Better support, not just financial. Flexibility and reasonable expectations”

“Higher salaries, permanent positions, more opportunities to progress.”

“Make sure the employees understand the Safety and Health professional has authority and has support of upper level management. If upper level management (CEO's, CFO's, etc.) does not fully back the S&H Professional, multiple safety endeavors will be discarded as rhetoric.”

“Pay them better and treat them with the respect that the position requires. EHS is 24/7; 365 day profession. I have been on many interviews when someone with experience comes in and they balk over paying decent salaries for expereince and expertise.”

“Management Involvement, back safety”

“I think burnout is a huge problem... there is limited mobility in EHS and most leave for that reason.”

“Offer them a track to an executive leadership position. As stated in Q21, in my experience I do not see large corporations elevating safety professionals beyond Director or Sr. Manager levels.”

“Provide remuneration that is in line with the responsibilities that come with a position in Health & Safety.”

“salary & benefits”

“The organization should be willing to encourage professional development, assist with membership dues in professional organizations, (ASSP, AIHA) and not fill positions from within with inexperienced, un-credentialed individuals.”

“more autonomy”

“make the job more interesting, I like to move from job site to job site and some out of state travel. and walk the safety walk...not just talk it, when production and time line are an issue, safety goes out the window”

“Increase salary & promote”

“Benefits such as medical, 401-K matches, and performance-based bonuses are nearly a requisite. Culture is everything in S&H, and the climate in which the H&S professional find themselves. Management teams need to be open to the cultural change that S&H provides. Closed minds and inflexibility will stifle an S&H professional, prompting them to look elsewhere.”

“pay, bonus”

“Increased salary.”

“Provide more tools and training and understand that one person can not do it all. It takes a village to run a business. Health & Safety professionals are expected to wear too many hats;
1. Health & Safety (Regulatory Requirements)
2. Worker's Comp.,
3. Facilities Maintenance
4. Preventative Maintenance
5. Life Safety
6. Sole Investigator
7. Security
8. Building Codes/NFPA,
10. Construction Manager, etc.”

“incentives”

“Support from on top. A culture that says Safety is not the Enemy. A pay scale that reflects their value to the company.”

“A clear career path, exposure to management of the company.”

“Upper management engagement and a commitment to actually implementing the ideas, suggestions and rules.”

“Offer competitive salaries, benefits and flexibility.”

“Increase the awareness of company leadership to accept the role as a vital portion of the company that has an ROI not an expense.”

“Integrate EHS into the core functions of the business.”

“Better pay. More support from upper management”

“Continued support in the area of safety; more involvement from all within the organization”

“willingness and involvement from owners & upper management”

“Organization need to see and communicate the valve of those EH&S positions throughout the organization and not make them the POLICE>“

“Provide support and increased training.”

“Employers needs to be supportive of their safety programs and their safety professional. Employers need to be willing to change so they can improve the safety of their employees.”

“better benefits and perks”

“trust from employer”

“Professionals need to know they are respected, need to be treated fairly and taken seriously and allowed to do what they were hired to do. Certainly, competitive compensation is a given.”

“Make sure they have the resources they need to succeed.”

“The culture of safety is changing in organizations and the correlation of the importance of this function has made the relationships between management and safety much stronger just needs to continue.”

“If organizations show safety professionals that they value what they do, then more would stay longer. If safety is something that a company does because they feel they are legally obligated to do, then that doesn't really motivate a safety professional. If a company takes safety seriously, and it is visible to all employees that the head honcho walks the talk, people will stay longer.”

“Engage them in the big picture management decision making process”

“Clear path/opportunities for career progression”

“Better pay and benefits, flexible schedules.”

“Treat safety professionals as a partner instead of someone that is a necessary evil. My organization tends to fight the safety staff at every corner.”

“It's always about the money.”

“Benefits. Culture of Safety with upper management”

“More support from senior and middle management.”

“More Money”

“I don't know.”

“Better salaries - more cooperation from management.”

“Pay them accordingly.”

“Provide better career path options for OSH professionals”

“Respect for the job and knowledge they bring to the position they hold, competitive pay and benefits package.”

“this has to do with the organization. If the org understands the commitment they made by hiring someone and don't ask them to short cut, there is good reason to stay. Developing a program takes many years.”

“In my opinion, organizations that focus on people-centric safety cultures as opposed to compliance-driven safety cultures tend to retain their EHS leaders.”

“Competitive salary increases to keep with industry trends.”

“Adequate budgets, resources, and training. Help with burn out.”

“Better pay and/or incentives.”

“Better career paths and horizontal structuring to develop additional skill sets.”

“Better pay and/or incentives”

“All depends on their boss”

“Treat them as professionals with pay to match”

“Making sure that safety is the top priority within an organization via actions, not just words.”

“Increase pay and benefits. Make work meaningful by supporting participation in professional conferences and other educational opportunities.”

“Provide support form top management. Provide career growth with training and education. Provide financial and resources to Health & Safety Department.”

“Cultivate better safety ethics of leadership.”

“Help with compliance”

“Better benefits and more cooperation between upper management and Safety Professionals”

“Safety and health professionals leave their jobs for two reasons: lack of support for the safety program and opportunities for promotion. Providing these would cause safety professionals to remain with their organizations.”

“Pay, tuition reimbursement”

“Upper management participation. They put out edicts, but never show up on site to kick off any initiatives. It doesn't work if only the safety person is talking safety. It is hard to stay with a company as a safety manager when you are the only one pushing safety.”

“Better development opportunities”

“Recognize the job ad a profession. Stop treating the role as an add on or necessary evil for compliance.”

“From my limited experience, support and enforcement of safety and health rules would help to retain S & H professionals.”

“The realization that no matter how small, they are making a contribution to the cause. If they can survive on their income ! Stability is a beautiful thing, but requires both sides to cooperate.”

“Stop making it a cut throat profession. Where safeties and employees can say something without repercussions.”

“More buy in from the top. Too often safety is sidelined in lieu of production.”

“Upper management commitment and not just the words.”

“Incorporate them more into the companies long term program”

“As employees rise up through the ranks to become management, companies need to incorporate Safety & Health as part of the training and culture. This will "set the stage" for management to think of the safety professional as a partner, and not an adversary to "just deal with", or as an impediment to production.”

“career tracks”

“Have them become more of a generalist then a specialist in one or two safety and health disciplines.”

“A true commitment to creating a safety culture.”

“That is a very hard question to answer........ SH&E professionals have to be in a position where they feel they are making a difference. But they also cannot get frustrated when everyone else is not on the safety bandwagon/or they feel some are not fully doing their part to support the safety culture. Maybe having a mentor, or someone with more work experience, who can be used as a sounding board for the safety professional to voice their frustrations. In short, maybe having a support network for safety professionals; especially those that don't have access to upper level management.”

“More positions need added to ensure no one person is over-loaded.”

“In my organization to treat the more senior employees with respect.”

“Open promotion opportunities within the organization but this is difficult because a lot of organizations only have one or two Safety Professionals that deal with the same discipline, especially in the military.”

“offer additional training and room for advancement.”

“Offer professional growth opportunities. Offer compensation in line with market value. Provide strong management support.”

“The pay scale needs to match up with the job expectations better”

“Training and material support. That allows the safety personnel to know what to do and have the equipment to do it.”

“Interpersonal Skills, education”

“OSHA knowledge, people skills, the desire and work ethic.”

“It seems the craze right now is having certain designations behind your name.”

“The ability to research standards and write policies and procedures”

“hands on experience”

“Communication skills”

“Environmental management”

“it is best to gain experience from the field then into the office. too much emphasis is placed on certifications and not on practical and critical thinking skills”

“Understanding the continuous improvement process of behavior based safety and cultural Indifferences”

“Knowledge of OSHA, MSHA, EPA, and chemistry.”

“People skills, influence management skills”

“Flexibility, caring and compassion. Most of all, must be able to negotiate.”

“Safety & health professionals need some practical experience for the industry they want to work in. I've seen too many that have never been in a manufacturing facility try to instruct a worker how to be safe.”

“'- 'Big Data' analysts
- More Field presence (audit and coaching opportunities and associated skills)”

“soft skills like dealing with people, customer service even for internal "customers". I get way more done by being nice even if I have to be tough.”

“Technical skills and degrees. The field is people who just fell into EHS without a technical foundation. That makes for good administration but when tough technical issues come up those EHS people can be at a loss for good ideas.”

“People skills and project management skills. You also have to have compassion to be great at this job.”

“The ability to simplify is key. Regulations are difficult enough for professionals to understand, let alone employees in the field. If we can avoid the trap of making it complex for the sake of complexity, and instead make it simple, the profession will be held in higher regard as a contributor to the success of the organization.”

“Ability to communicate with multiple personalities; discipline to complete tasks on time; responsibility to ensure projects and personnel follow guidelines.”

“Credibility in their field: Demonstrable incident reduction statistics, "Mature" certification(s) for ISO OHSAS, successful program implementation covering safety leadership training and development. Knowledge of respective business and participation in key business decisions to promote safety. 1910 and 1926 experience.”

“Ability to effectively communicate with a diverse workforce to influence safety behaviors.”

“Integrity, communication, adaptability, able to deal with ambiguity, don't be upward limiting. In summary, typical leadership competencies.”

“willingness to be trained for the duties that will be required ; being able to retain knowledge / experience and apply those to current situations ; the fact of persons having 'book' knowledge does not necessary indicate competence ;”

“People know when other people really care about them. The person to person or soft skills are equally important to hazard recognition and compliance knowledge.”

“To be certified outreach instructors”

“Knowledge of NIOSH, CDC, ANSI. ISO”

“People skills are key. A professional can understand the law and rules, but unless they have the ability to connect with people it falls short. Opportunities that develop people skills are key to successful programs.”

“Communication, Technical Writing and net-working”

“communication, team player, knowledgably in multiple areas, understanding of labor and workers compensation laws.”

“Knowledge of OHSA standards”

“I conduct research into the core competencies and critical skill sets for EH&S professionals, both entry level and senior level folks. I've found a significant variance between the expectations of teaching faculty and those of hiring employers for EH&S positions, and have made serious recommendations for modification of university curricula to be responsive to changing market needs while maintaining standards within the EH&S profession. To my knowledge I am one of the very few looking at these criteria. My results are published and readily available, and I'm always glad to share.”

“Good field presents, team player, multi tasking ability”

“Strong understanding and ability to influence and guide behavior.
- Strong knowledge, skills, experience
- Strong negotiating abilities
- Real, Genuine, Honest passion for a need to help people achieve greater
- Strong communication skills
- Thick skin with determination and grit to stay focused on strategies for winning the war, knowing a few battles may be lost along the way
- Flexibility”

“Individuals that have experience or at least familiarity with the product or service of an employer need some formal safety training and certifications. Or individuals who have safety education resulting in certifications can learn the product or service of the employer. Some experience and some training and then practice, practice, practice.”

“Knowledge with technology. It seems like everything is going digital or paperless. Technology is leaps and bounds over what it used to be even 10 years ago. I believe future safety and health professionals will need to have a good grasp of different technologies or have the ability to learn them.”

“Correct positive attitude and ability to work well in a team.”

“*Communication
*Problem-Solving
*Synergy
*Integration”

“OSHA training”

“Enthusiasm”

“Analysis, Organization, and Problem solving”

“Computer skills are a must. Communication skills as well. I lost my fear of speaking in public some years ago, but it haunts many to speak in front of others. A background in construction has helped me immensely.”

“Empathy, the ability to ask questions, the ability to communicate clearly, the ability to facilitate dialogue, human factors engineering.”

“Learning and understanding the changing regualtions.”

“Training on all aspects. Not just narrow of what job in tails.”

“Some level of education, likely to be a degree from a prestigious university and a BCSP designation.”

“Communication and coaching”

“The ability to communicate effectively with all levels of employees.”

“Experience, good training, willingness to learn and get involved. Not someone just sitting at the desk and making rules because they have or told to.”

“People management, it's great to have the technical know how, but the people management side is going to be very important. Identifying ways to connect with your employees (your customers) and varying levels within the organization. That's going to be very important.”

“Excellent people skills, excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong legal/regulatory aptitude, strong mechanical/processing aptitude, the ability to self-motivate and stay organized and excellent people skills. The safety profession requires a high level of discretion and confidentiality. A good reputation and a genuine concern for others are a must. The modern safety pro must be highly adaptive and an agile learner. Corporate management and safety cultures are evolving at a rapid pace and you cannot be left behind. A minimum of a bachelor's degree in a relevant field and/or 5-10 years of practical field experience are prerequisites. Advanced degrees in safety and/or BCSP (ASP, CSP) Certification is highly sought after as well, and is considered a requirement in certain areas of the safety profession. Stay hungry and never stop learning.”

“Knowledge, education, skill, communication, and experience.”

“Knowledge of safety practices and good communication with workers.”

“Knowing the regulatory side of it and how to ensure compliance.”

“to be able to read and comprehend what the regulations. Also, to really learn the skills of what needs to be done at their job sites so they understand the area of focus so they can provide clear and prescise safety training for their company.”

“solid knowledge of the field you are working in.
solid knowledge of the safety issues.
as the go between for management and employees you have to be a team player and a team builder.”

“Communication, communication, and communication. It does not matter if a safety professional is a technical expert in every discipline. If that person does not have good communication skills (verbal and written) at all levels, very little chance they can be successful. While good communication skills are essential with any position, I believe they are paramount in the safety and health field in particular.”

“Go through the field and learn the life lessons. Then learn the book.”

“A mix of schooling with real world experience.”

“Great communication skills. Good research and networking skills. Don't hesitate to consult with your colleagues about what they are doing and what didn't work well for them.”

“People skills. The ability to be able to talk to anyone anywhere. Have the courage to get out and talk to the people. Great customer service skills is a must. Even if you don't know the answer, let them know you will get back to them and do it.”

“Certifications such as the CSHM, or CSP designations.”

“Time Management, medical management, safety certifications and field experience.”

“A basic course of being a safety professional and what exactly that position typically entails. A lot of us graduate into one of these positions with little or no knowledge and kind of wing it as we go. Some kind of basic outline for what a "for profit" company's safety department should be inclusive of vs. what a "non-profit, government & local municipalities funded" organization might look like. Example: I'm a safety supervisor in a non-profit, government and lm funded company. In order to qualify for some of the funding grants on a national level, my company must posses and keep updated an SSEPP. We're not a company that is necessarily OSHA mandated, however we do operate according to 'best practices' in accordance with OSHA guidelines, up to and including having safety supervisors 30 hour certified through OSHA. It's like I'd be suggesting a 'roadmap' per say, not so much as just an outline.....which I'm trying to get developed in full for the company I am with because no predecessor has done so.”

“The creation of soft skills training curricula would be most beneficial. There is a tremendous opportunity to help people connect, if they know how to speak to each other.”

“on the job, real life”

“public speaking, negotiating, persuasion (sales)”

“Communication (written and oral), interpersonal relationships, organization, detail oriented, and computer”

“I look for ASP/CSP. A certain number of years hands on and in the field. Communication skills.”

“It seems all everyone wants is a degree. Too bad, as experience doesn't seem to count for much any more”

“Compliance is only a portion of the EHS professional duty. Those professionals that have personnel skills along with the technology skills will be most employable.”

“Schooling
Personality
Ability to change and grow”

“Having not only the safety and security background but a law degree as well.”

“People skills - able to change with the new systems - being compassionate for peoples safety and health”

“People skills”

“Good solid communication skills, understand the regulations and work well with others.”

“Psychology. Need to be able to deal with people; specifically those that do not care to practice safe work habits for their self.”

“Practical, hands-on knowledge and skills for the applications they will be working in.”

“A combination of hands on experience and knowledge. It's important to be knowledgeable about what you are preaching but at the same time understand the practical component of what you're preaching. There is much better buy in from employees when they know their safety professional has that hands on experience and are able to relate better.”

“organizational skills”

“Degree”

“Interpersonal skills, management training, budgeting skills, and the ability to adapt.”

“Experience, environmental..”

“People skills”

“Behavioral based safety, and language barriers.”

“OSHA 501, experience developing training materials and written plans, training in EHS AMD iH.”

“Field experience in construction, maintenance & engineering in almost any industry”

“As indicated above, nano materials, robotics safety, but not in the old version of robotic arms and cells, safety embedded in the codes for collaborative robots, or AGV´s autonomous vehicles. Crisis Management, or Enterprise resilience”

“persuasion or sales skills”

“People skills!”

“Education, experience and empathy.”

“Problem solving skills, communication abilities and strong writing skills”

“Ability to train/motivate employees to work safely. Have to have a strong presence with front line employees.”

“Technical ability and people (soft skills). Good oral and written communication skills.”

“Ultimately not about skill but the genuine interest from the operations leadership”

“Attention to detail. Proper attitude towards Safety, regulations, doing what's "right" and Upper Management support of activities.”

“'- Understanding and managing the Company organization in order to advance the HSE program among all the inconsistencies in the working environment.”

“Depending on what the employer wants or looking for.”

“Knowledge of the standards, people skills such as learning how to listen, always be willing to learn something and most of all realize you are not always right.”

“People skills”

“Certifications versus Bachelor's Degree- A certified safety professional (CSP) has more clout since it's tougher to be certified. You need the experience of working out in the "real world" more than you need that degree that taught you the basics.”

“Soft skills”

“Must be able to engage with operational leadership and integrate into operations function as opposed to acting as an outside influence on business.”

“Obtaining a CSP or a degree in Occupational Health and Safety”

“Soft skills, communications.”

“Communication skills to employers and employees for a clearer buy-in to the goals”

“apply common sense to their knowledge and to have worked in the positions that rh e,safety person is overseeing”

“Have a Safety certification.”

“Soft skills-leadership, training, management”

“Showing/adding value to the bottom line.”

“Hands on experience”

“I think for focus on design, engineering and hazard identification. Safety professionals need to show companies their worth and not just ask for money and identify problems. A good safety professional will also come up with the answer.”

“Experience computer and business skills”

“Communication skills and teaching.”

“Aside from the everyday OHS&E skills, it's imperative there is a core understanding of Organizational business concepts. Speak the language relate to the business case for OHS&E.”

“Good education and common sense”

“Communication, communication, communication... especially at the c-suite level.”

“Understanding the rules and regulations of compliance is a given. The additional skills I would include would be proficiency in the following; Risk Analysis, Teamwork, Approachability, Presence, Work Instructions, Evaluations and Auditing, and Follow up through the CAPA Process.”

“real world knowledge like CPR certification.”

“Building strong relationships and the ability to exhibit leadership qualities are a good foundation, along with knowing, understanding and effective communicating safe practices.”

“Good strong communications skills
Subject matter knowledge”

“Working in the fields hands on”

“A good foundation in technical skills has always been important, but they will also need better soft skills - how to influence people, how to explain technical information in less technical language, etc.”

“knowledge of regulations, training skills, hazard risk assessments skills.”

“on the job experience. none of this straight out of college, never been on a job site. get educated, get trained, and get some field experience.”

“Being willing to work a job that may not be the most desirable to gain knowledge, skills & experience to step to a position more closely in their interest.”

“Regulation knowledge. Persistence and consistency. Have a passion for what they are doing and show the value of their efforts to upper management - lower TRIR, lower cost, increased productivity, improved moral.”

“Hygiene orrregonomics”

“Attitude and willingness to work with all levels of management for solutions and building relationships.”

“Communication skills”

“Field experience in the trade”

“Combine safety training with employee who have licenses or have been in their construction trade for some time. People who are familiar with the construction environment. Not just out of safety school without experience”

“Interpersonal skills, internet research for correct answers”

“The basic skills of different programs and Processes, such as LOTO, Fall Protection , understanding JSA ETC. Some of the courses for the SMS and others cost too much or getting grants to pay for those courses would be great.”

“Certifications”

“Social media, electronic content management”

“Working knowledge of Environmental and Quality, as the skill sets are getting more entwined. ISO 9001:2015 Quality Systems requires risk assessment for "Interested Parties" That not only includes Customers and Suppliers, but now includes OSHA and regulatory agencies like the DEC, EPA and local authorities.”

“Experience within the industry for which they will implement safety. For example, experience in road construction or chemical manufacturing facilities.”

“1) Credentials.
2) Get educated in public speaking and presentations. Toastmasters helped me.
3) Make professional licenses mandatory. Doctors, nurses, engineers, even BARBERS have to be licensed!”

“The skills most important in my opinion will be versatility. The versatility to sit down in a professional meeting and handle the situation well. As well as being able to communicate effectively with field employees.”

“Always willing to be on the go. supportive.”

“Soft skills”

“Know how to work "smarter" - lean with less. A great delegator. Auditor skills. HR skills (most companies are changing the HR environment - managers doing the usual HR tasks of managing leaves both medical & personal, discipline, termination, staffing). Know the business.”

“business skills, soft skills”

“Understanding the type of industry you will be working in”

“OSHA knowledge”

“Certifications; understanding of safety management; risk assessment skills; self motivation. This is not a skill but having a mentor benefits greatly.”

“unsure”

“Training”

“common sense”

“Knowledge of OSHA requirements and good hands on experience.”

“Some experience in workers compensation awareness. The ability to partner with departments and educate them in good safe practices.”

“It looks like database management since the database managers have been very successful in selling their product to major and pushing everything down to the contractor to do with getting any additional compensation.”

“Knowing with the work that is being done for the company that you wish to work for.”

“knowledge of business operations & interpersonal communication”

“quality training that is the same across the board. more training at a reasonable cost so employers will be willing to send their people to and training that is convenient to get to attend. I travel a minimum of 2 hrs away for anything I attend and a good bit is 5 hours away.”

“Ability to navigate the technical and communicate on a simple level what it all means. Establish expectations and follow through with developing a culture that expects those expectations.”

“communication
communication
communication”

“Diverse experience. Foundation of resources not only for the individual but also for the departments within their organization. Continual learning; set goals to learn one new subject to improve individual growth, but, also, to improve the inner working of their place(s) of employment”

“Presentation skills such as speech / communications.”

“unknown”

“Degrees, certifications and work experience.”

“Being organized, able to prioritize and juggle many projects at one time. More and more all EHS duties are being put on one or two EHS persons to do all EHS for an organization. Where in years past there used to be separate Safety & Environmental Dept.'s each with their own multi person staff.”

“Communication and leadership skills are key.”

“Adaptability, good communication skills, good management skills, good political skills.”

“Education with a background in H&S monitoring equipment and field experience with experience using H&S equipment, not just having knowledge of H&S.”

“Leadership skills, sales skills and an ability to communicate effectively at the executive level on how a good safety culture impacts the bottom line.”

“Understanding human behavior and psychology, knowledge of applicable laws and consensus standards.”

“Training and certifications”

“A good understanding of dealing with different types of people. Job knowledge and multiple ideas for changing or modifying behavior in troubled work situations.”

“Ability to communicate with all levels of employees. Trust and confidence from upper level management. By-in from lower levels and other supervisors.”

“Organizational and Soft skills.”

“Leadership
Communication
Technical Knowledge and skills”

“Adaptability.”

“Interpersonal skills are critical to interact with both hourly & management”

“With everything going computerized, automation, robots, etc., a new professional should have some knowledge about the new systems in manufacturing and how safety relates to each process. Then knowing how to speak to the level of your audience when discussing occupational safety concerns with them.”

“MULTI-TASKING
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS”

“Interpersonal skills, understanding ergonomics, being able to go to the process areas to talk to and assess team member's role, postures & process barriers. Being able to offer viable suggestions to the team member and make them understand that they can fix most of their at risk postures & habits to keep themselves healthy.”

“Management
Organizational
Social
Regulation Knowlege”

“The ability to adapt; to changing conditions, hazards, and industries.”

“Global knowledge.”

“Technical knowledge will remain critical, but soft skills are very important to driving improvement.”

“The industry, unfortunately, is driven by corporate level directors who only look at degrees and certifications instead of focusing on the years of service of being a safety professional. If they focus only on their degrees and certifications, they will miss out on the opportunity on some people who could become a very stable, reliable and long-term safety professionals.”

“People interaction skills”

“Experience, knowledge of how to work to keep production going (don't stop production safety cop!), negotiation skills”

“Risk management, terror threats, school shooting, Bio-Terrorism, environmental changes, Active shooter, first aid, sexual harassment.”

“Flexibility to handle other management tasks outside the normal safety and health realm.”

“Diversity of experience.”

“People skills - have to be able to work with all levels and be able to communicate at their levels
Communication skills - verbal and written - can you sell your message to all in the way they receive it best
Technical - Strong generalist knowledge and how to apply it real world situations”

“I think that in the world outside of government it is getting the new safety professionals the mentors that they need to add tools into their toolbox. Being a recent graduate with a BS in Safety, having a mentor in my arena would have gone along way to help guide me and be a sounding board. I feel left out with very few options to seek to help promote safety in the way that it should be. Having access to the board certified safety people in your work area would help. My needs as a safety officer are different than the needs of the safety officer in the construction world. Having that professional connection can go along way in helping to promote safety in areas that only talk it but do not walk it, until it is too late.”

“security issues and changing requirements”

“Interpersonal communication skills”

“People skills and computer skills (spreadsheets to track/trend incidents).”

“Universities and colleges that have occupational health programs need to start combining engineering classes. I interview several Occupational Health students for an internship program and ended finding out that their understanding of equipment and processes was none. I ending up hiring a Mechanical Engineering student for my internship.”

“Certification, hands on experience.”

“getting more education in the silica, asbestos programs of safety”

“Ability to work well with people. Negotiate, motivate, communicate. If I were looking for an EHS professional to hire, I'd concentrate on these skills more that I would on a degree in safety management, or a bunch of safety certifications.”

“conflict resolution”

“Data analysis
Various computer program skills
Being multi-lingual would be a plus”

“Backgrounds in the industry for which they are applying.”

“Communication and teaching skills.”

“Technical skills are important. Individual's need influencing and communicating skills to put those technical skills to work and build a safe place to work.”

“'- Leadership Skills
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Technical safety skills
- Ability to help people and demonstrate their value to the organization”

“Communications - oral and written
Creativity
Ability to accept and implement change as a positive - we are in a rapidly expanding AI culture. We'll have to be able to adapt.”

“communication(listening and teaching) and knowledge”

“Ability to self monitor and deliver exceptional service.”

“intercultural and psychology.”

“SMS, Project Management, IT, Statistics, Synthesis, Analysis, Geometry, Math, Publishing, Communication.”

“Ability to communicate professionally with people at all levels.”

“People skills without a doubt - followed by data management, process control and continuous improvement and facilitation skills.”

“Professional certification and safety professional development.”

“First, a degree in safety is necessary. This gives a foundation and credibility on which to build and sell safety concepts to that top person. Then continuing training and education to keep up with changes in standards and forecast for new safety standards. And, most importantly, make communications a part of the degree programs. There was a time when time was available to read and research and prepare for upcoming changes and to be prepared when the became effective. This is no longer true.”

“well trained”

“Great communication and people skills and the ability to adapt to changes are skills needed. Safety and health Professionals must also show a willingness to continue with professional and personal development.”

“Safety Management System knowledge, risk analysis competency and root cause analysis competency. Will need to be willing to improve with technology.”

“With turnover being an issue in the future there will be a lot of young people that don't know how to recognize hazards and along with that safeguards. I believe some way to train young employees to recognize hazards and how to safeguard.”

“Coaching, interpersonal skills”

“Backbone; being able to help determine the correct path and stick with it, even if it may cause a few very important people some heartburn.”

“Safety management skills, communication skills and business management skills.”

“A very diversified skill set; safety, industrial hygiene, environmental, occupational health, hazardous waste, security, insurance acumen, etc. They'll require thick skin and better than average communication and speaking skills. Mind reading would be a huge plus! They will need to understand how to gain strategic allies and sell them on safety as a service they need. If social acceptance is important to potential hires, they won't get it in this profession.”

“Good safety knowledge, emotional intelligence and good collaboration and communication skills as well as the real desire to help people.”

“4 year safety degree, obtain Certified Safety Professional certification, completing an internship while in college when possible, able to build and maintain relationships with a good attitude. If seeking a higher level degree past bachelors, I would recommend an MBA vs. Masters in Safety. Both better, but if I had to choose, would take MBA.”

“Computer skills, flexibility, good communicators, multitaskers”

“The vision and technical expertise to support safe integration of co-bots with people, and wearable technologies with process controls. Also using wearable technologies for occupational medical surveillance and performance enhancement.”

“Excellent computer skills, people skills such as training and coaching. Data analytics skills.”

“Team building, coaching, and negotiation”

“Experience , training, certifications, and degrees. Having a competent senior member mentor and guide his staff is equally important.”

“People skills”

“IH”

“Previous field experience or supervisory experience goes a long way in construction safety. Respect for all. Ability to engage employees and to build trust with craft workers. Just going to school and reading a book is not enough. I've seen how that does not work. Young college educated safety people that have no skills outside that education. They can obtain their CSP and are not really good at what they do.”

“Hands on experience.”

“I feel the safety profession is very limited in some companies because upper level doesn't see the connection to safety and financial impact. Therefore bridging that connection and essentially being able to train/converse with those above you is a very important skill for a safety professional to develop.”

“Understanding of manufacturing procedures”

“communication up and down all levels, computer skills.”

“Safety training and computer experience”

“ability to put together workplace job specific training and evaluation plan.”

“OSHA training. Environmental training.”

“Proper work ethic, attitude/approach to working with teams.”

“Knowledge of the OSHA regulations and most importantly, being able to teach and train.”

“Frequently, in a manufacturing environment a successful EHS professional is able to influence employees at all levels of a facility oftentimes without authority. They need to have excellent written and verbal communication skills. They need to have many of the same skills teachers have. They need to be able to talk in front of large groups.”

“Those that have the new view of Safety (Safety 2).”

“organization, communication, and data analytics.”

“Proficiency in 3rd party safety sites, like Browz, PEC, IS Net, ComplyWorks, etc”

“People skills, the ability to rally and empower the frontline employees.”

“The ability to get employees to accept a safer way of doing things and that can only be based on trust. Employees have to trust you and you have to be visible every day, or they will NEVER listen and follow the policies and guidelines you put into place.”

“Strong rooting in the regulations is a requirement. But people skills is what is needed. Often a safety professional is not interacting with employees at their best moments (someone got hurt, doing an investigation, audit, inspections, etc). It takes a strong sense of we are all working as a team to keep people safe and healthy.”

“Management and personal skills.”

“Training”

“Flexibility and wide knowledge base”

“Basic safety and health technical skills such as conducting safety inspections and accident/incident investigations plus the added skills of communications, management, financial management and statistical analysis.”

“interpersonal skills
root cause analysis
management”

“The EHS technical skills are a given; soft skills to enable EHS personnel to relate (emotional intelligence) and communicate effectively within all levels within an organization must be nurtured.”

“CSP, social media”

“Well rounded knowledge of the industry they intend to work in.”

“Some type of background or even a drive to make the work place better and safer.”

“be able to learn and teach”

“Leadership and persuasion. We frequently have to get people to support us that don't report to us.”

“Practical experience as well as formal training. Get into the field and know first hand what takes place in the profession. Develop people skills. Safety is about making work conditions more safe, not making numbers.”

“It has to be a very people focused, able to relate and able to talk and listen to both employers and employees. I see us becoming more problem solvers in the work force so being effective at resolving issues is key.”

“Understanding of Budgeting and a good grasp of management of people, people skills are extremely important.”

“Background in industrial hygiene. An honest interest in Safety.”

“Business acumen, formally educated in OSH, certified.”

“'- Communication both in listening, hearing & delivering
- thinking outside the box as usually more than 1 way to approach”

“Able to communicate well with associates.”

“Knowledge of current regulations, ability to adapt, early adopters of technology.”

“Soft skills such as relationship management.”

“Knowledge in Hazmat, Industrial Hygiene, Safety Mgmt. skills and understanding of codes/regulations keeping current on changes.”

“Training skills.”

“Knowledge of Regulations, Insight to up to date Safety concepts, Training Skills.”

“Good Communication and technical skills.”

“Effective Communication, Technical excellence, Practical application”

“Field management or lead experience”

“Universities teaching EHS skills should emphasize clear concise communication skills along with science, math and writing foundations. Too many of the students we get cannot communicate unless they are on social media. Social media is useless in boots on the ground environments. Apps are tools not social skills.”

“Certification - CSP, CIH, etc.”

“Creative problem solving. The easy solution is not always the most cost effective, and therefore harder to sell to management. Creative and cost effective solutions are keys to success.”

“Companies do not place value on safety professionals. The culture will need to be changed.”

“People skills.”

“Knowledge of regulations, ability to use systems/tools at an administrative level, ability to work with various levels of employees -- from labor to executive management, self-sufficient problem solver.”

“Writing skills.”

“in addition to safety technical knowledge, safety professionals need to understand communication, organizational dynamics, and psychology.”

“Speaking ability and know how to motivate supervisor and mangers that are a pay grade higher.”

“Knowledge is the key to promotions and you should never stop learning. Human interaction with employees and employers for both the safety side of a job, and the sincere concern for the health issues that the environment could create or awareness of individuals needs are very important.”

“Experience/knowledge of environmental regulations”

“Project Management, Information Technology skills, ability to support organizational business initiatives while prompting Health and Safety.”

“very good at Organization, training, multi-tasking, leading, politician, social worker, good work ethic, COMMON SENSE, thinking outside the box, problem solving, knowing the (OSHA. EM - 385 rules, etc.)THICK SKINNED (sorry; you will never be popular or "loved". tough concept for the Millennial's'.”

“education is important”

“Work experience”

“HSE education combined with operational experience are the key to long term success.”

“This is simple as we continue to shrink in size as the population decreases, the most important skills to have are these:
1. Ability to work in all disciplines of EH&S and be proficient in them
2. Be able to do at minimum basic IH work
3. Be able to interact with people
4. Be a good leader. That is by earning respect instead of expecting it.”

“business management ... as important as the technical skills.”

“Education
experience”

“SP must understand that might is not right! Folks will change their behavior if you help them understand that they want to leave work safely to live outside of work.”

“In order to achieve a top level safety position a safety professional must be diversified. They need to be able to function not only as a safety officer, bust as an environmental coordinator, facilities manager, plant engineer, HR manger. Additionally, safety professionals need to have people skills and all the legal understanding that comes with the job.”

“Critical thinking, strong written and verbal communication skills, good computer skills, data analysis, advanced Excel, Word, and Power Point. The previous skills can be taught, the most important attribute is a true passion for the safety of others including a positive, enthusiastic personality.”

“Psychology in management manipulation after learning the basics.”

“It’s not just their knowledge but more of the entire package. If they are super smart, but lack people skills they are good omg to go anywhere. I’ve had a couple experiences with this scenario in my past.”

“I think interpersonal skills are often overlooked but are some of the most important in the safety and health field. Someone can know all of the technical information, but not being able to relay this information on to the the workers who need the information can be detrimental. However, this should not come at a cost of hiring someone with no technical knowledge.”

“Passion and empathy.”

“Actual experience in the field they are managing Health & Safety, so there is a clear understanding of what the employees are faced with in their jobs on a daily basis. This gives the H&S professional immediate respect from the teams they are working with, there is an understanding that what they (the employees) experiences is truly understood and considered giving realistic solutions to the problems.”

“Communication will always be key. To be effective, one must be able to communicate effectively with top-level managers, supervisors, administrators, and most importantly with the staff who are exposed to greater hazards in the performance of their duties.”

“Being able to listen and follow through with problems that are brought to our attention. Inaction is certainly not an attribute. It's important to be able to see the big picture and experience is key.”

“Program management”

“Having a degree and certification.
Behavior safety skills.
Communication skills.”

“The ability to train workers in house instead of having to spend extra money to send them off to be trained in the use of equipment or first aid training etc. Instead of policing safety, a path to behavior based safety will be a valuable asset to a company. The interpersonal skills to work with employees and show them a positive or reward based path to working safely instead of a punishment based system.”

“Ability to accept and adapt to changing (multi-cultural and multi-generational) workforce, technology and influences of the political and cultural changes our country is experiencing.”

“Personality (ability to communicate with upper management, floor workers, and government officials), Drive, knowledge, attitude.”

“Certification with experience.”

“Environmental Health and Safety education and experience
Advanced certificates
Ability to work as a team
Communication skills
Teaching skills
Ability to work well with the workforce”

“People skills. The most important part of our skillset.”

“The largest issue I have seen is soft skills. We need to improve the way we deal with our fellow workers. We also need to keep abreast of new electronic programs and devices, including but not limited to computers, hand held devices, and the variety of programs.”

“Understanding of OSHA rules and regulations, specifically lock out, confined space, fall protection/prevention, understanding of tasks performed by the people they serve (we do serve as a resource), so knowing what is required for them to do their jobs would help immensely”

“Safety professionals should work in the field before being thrown into the safety world. They need to see what it is like before having to tell someone how to do their job safely. Someone with no actual work experience has no idea how to work. Books are good, but hands-on experience teaches lessons.”

“Experience in the field that they are working in ie. Construction, utilities, etc.”

“Some level of technical background. Good written and verbal communication skills. Planning and organization. Focus on the process and not just the results. Tenacity.”

“Job Safety Analysis.”

“ability to connect with people and win hearts and minds”

“Safety metrics”

“Safety professionals need to be able to connect what they do to the bottom line. They have to be able to show the benefits to a good safety record and how the company can market that record.”

“The skill would be communication and relating to people as it will help in many ways.”

“Public Speaking. Conducting Investigations. Ethics. Able to work alone and a self starter. Some computer skills would be nice.”

“OSHA 40 hazwoper, ability to multitask, project management.”

“Certified training.”

“Training Available”

“Communication skills.”

“Machine guarding and robotics.”

“Bilingual/Qualified in Incident Investigation”

“Communication skills and the ability to work with many different types of people. Any where from the lowest person on staff all the way to the CEO type.”

“Good analytical and technical understanding of processes. Critical thinking and technical writing skills. High level of EQ.”

“Computer, Information Management, ability to handle the EHS generalist roles as companies are less likely to have a specialist in each field”

“People skills”

“Unsure...”

“Companies think certifications mean competency. Education is important but real world experience goes a long way for EHS professionals. Today's EHS rpofessional needs to be more of a generalist rather than a specialist. Companies want more with less and many EHS are now performing security, logisitics and quality functions in addition to.”

“Employee relations/people skills”

“knowledge of laws and training.”

“Analytics, system development and comprehension of legal terminology.”

“Psychological and Sociological skills. The future of safety is behavior change. To change behaviors you must get inside the workers' heads.”

“Not withstanding ES&H knowledge, the ability to communicate effectively with management.”

“Communication skills, business management skills and social media abilities.”

“field experience, not just as safety professionals, but also some experience in the trades is very helpful”

“communication & technical skills ( attend training)”

“PEOPLE SKILLS.
Time and/or Project Management
Environmental Issues / reporting.
Data Management / Reporting”

“In my opinion, safety professionals are better qualified in construction if they have past practical experience, as opposed to strictly academic knowledge.”

“Adaptability. There will always be more than one hat to wear, know which hat you are this hour...”

“listening. being able to adapt.”

“Public speaking with an emphasis on tact. You have to be a good salesman to get buy in from the troops. You have to be a trainer/ educator. Promotions in safety are few and far between in most organizations.”

“Business acumen.”

“Organizational, leadership and computer.”

“Having excellent communications skills and staying current with new technologies are keys for S &H professionals to being hired and promoted.”

“Safety analytics. Spreading the language around significant injuries and fatalities potential and precursors. Being focused on past data only is hindering the future of the role. Forecasting potential is vital to behavior and human organizational performance.”

“EHS Professionals need to have a good understanding of leadership skills and how to integrate EHS accountability throughout an organization.”

“Experience”

“Front line experience in the field applicable to the position. Regulatory standards can not surpass the workers knowledge from day to day experience on the job.”

“patience”

“Communication and influence skills will be best tools to be used going forward. Books and technology can provide basis for program management but being able to communicate reasons and coach employees will make program work.”

“Ability to adapt quickly to every changing regulations.”

“The ability to listen well and really hear what the person is saying. We need to be good communicators with the ability to proactive different means to connect with people. Safety and health professionals need to be good teachers of various levels of personnel. Being patient is critical to getting through to people.”

“know business so you can talk to upper management”

“hands on working safety people”

“The ability to communicate to a variety of levels. To be personable with the employees "on the floor" helping to prove that they are important. Trouble shooting skills are needed as well. Depending on the company, the professional may need to know or be able to figure out how to complete their goals on a shoestring budget.”

“Good communication skills, social skills”

“A good safety professional has to have applicable skills drawn from experience and book knowledge can only provide so much of that experience.”

“1. I think that you need to be well rounded in areas of safety and have a knowledge base so you can deal with anything that comes up, but at the same time know when you need to use someone that has more expertise.
2. An important skill is that safety people need to have the ability to influence people, from Plant Management to hourly employees. We need line management to implement a safety system and for them to do that, they need to understand it and what we expect them to do.
3. Safety people must have a good plan on how you are going to prevent injuries. Ultimately, safety people are judged on the safety performance of the facility or company. One of the indicators is injury #'s.”

“Understanding which rules make a difference and being flexible when it doesn’t”

“Professional Certification(s). Advantage to those with duel certifications, such as CSP/CIH, CSP/CHMM, etc...”

“Experience in a wide variety of KSAs.”

“Understanding the culture and communication.”

“One on One people skills”

“Communication and computer skills”

“Experience”

“No comment”

“Knowledge of the rules and a willingness to step into the fray and not be afraid to make people mad.”

“People skills. Actively listening and working through Operations' challenges.”

“1. Risk assessment & risk management ,
2. The ability to integrate OSH into the organization's way of working and business systems
3. Emotional intelligence”

“Sound knowledge of safety rules and regulations as well as a strong business mind. Safety certifications or specialities are also becoming an inmportant factor in the industry today.”

“people skills are most important”

“General Leadership skills and business acumen”

“People skills interacting with co-workers & leadership.”

“Degrees, willingness to undergo on-going training, ability to work with people with a wide variety of backgrounds and the ability to make Safety important to everyone in the organization. Make it personal to all.”

“Communication skills.”

“The ability to adapt to and thrive with the exponential growth of technology.”

“STSC orCHST certification”

“Construction hands on knowledge”

“Computer skills”

“The ability to deal with workers in the correct manner along with knowledge of safety from a technical standpoint.”

“Industry knowledge and excellent communication skills coupled with analytical abilities.”

“Advance degree in EHS or IH. Certifications (CSP, CIH, etc.). Management skills.”

“Integrity and communication skills.”

“Target and goals being set and reviewed”

“Better understanding of what the job entails and an understanding of OSHA requirements”

“safety and health professionals are asked to cover a wide range of areas. Having cross training in multiple areas including environmental compliance will greatly help them.”

“Education and communication skills”

“communication skills, technical skills”

“Clear standards in alignment with INSHPO accord”

“The ability to read and comprehend regulations. To be comfortable with training and speaking to others. To be comfortable with enforcing policies.”

“People skills. We get all the technology and we are good problem solvers with a great deal of direction (CFR). The only piece missing is the need to be flexible and practice good people skills.”

“CSHO in whichever fields they want to work in. I hold both CSHO’s in general and construction industry.”

“People skills, patience, selling ideas and programs to management.”

“Soft skills. Motivational leadership skills.”

“relatability”

“Communication--verbal and written
Negotiation Skills
Understanding the culture of the organization they work so they can make chnage”

“Certifications, class/schoolwork, and constantly getting knowledge to keep the many changes in health and safety.”

“The ability to work with a large variety/levels of people within an organization. I have seen too many SH&E folks with some level of technical smarts; but they have little ability to tolerate the politics within an organization. They cannot understand why everyone does not bow when the word 'safety' is bantered about. They don't know how to fight in individual battles to win the war. They have no sense as to how the real world works. Maybe the term 'critical thinking' would apply here??”

“Attendance
Responsibility
Social Skills”

“In my organization you have to be young and female. I would say in the private sector know the processes of the company and the importance of culture.”

“Integrity in their word for the job. If they do not live by the rules than how can they expect their audience or workers to adhere to their precepts.”

“On the job experience.”

“Passion for safety.
Desire to make a difference.
Ability to influence others without direct authority.
Strong interpersonal skills - communications (oral & written).
Attention to detail.
Flexible.
Abilities to multi-task.”

“Any and all skills are necessary to perform this work successfully. Operations, finance, HR, etc. This work is very diverse”

“Attention to detail, critical thinking and interpersonal skills are needed to be a good SHP.”

What can be done to attract new people to the profession?