Safety Specialist (General)
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Safety Specialist works with safety specialists to inspect and test workplace environments and equipment and develop workplace safety programs. May specialize in product and equipment safety, and work to identify and correct safety hazards before they affect a customer or end user.
Job Outlook
There were 387 Safety Specialist (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 10602 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Safety Specialist / Coordinator industry, which includes the Safety Specialist (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Safety Specialist (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $65,192.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $60,450.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Safety Specialist (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $51,920.
Education and Experience
Posted Safety Specialist (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 11.47% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 54.85% |
| Master's Degree | 8.83% |
| Doctoral Degree | 1.38% |
| Other | 25.24% |
Posted Safety Specialist (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 40.71% |
| 3 to 5 years | 48.24% |
| 6 to 8 years | 7.06% |
| 9+ years | 3.99% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Safety Specialist (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (44.81%)
- Management (41.24%)
- Investigation (39.42%)
- Operations (32.29%)
- Leadership (21.86%)
- Writing (18.83%)
- Microsoft Office (18.66%)
- Microsoft Excel (18.51%)
- Customer Service (15.05%)
- Planning (14.2%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Occupational Safety And Health (30.29%)
- Auditing (32.3%)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (40.47%)
- Environment Health And Safety (42.83%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Public Health (10.71%)
- Safety Culture (7.72%)
- Regulatory Compliance (10.23%)
- Environmental Health (17.29%)
- Risk Management (10.22%)
- Biology (11.83%)
- Emergency Response (12.69%)
- Process Safety (3.52%)
- Project Management (11.51%)
- Risk Analysis (13.06%)
- Occupational Hygiene (16.09%)
- Safety Standards (9.8%)
- Safety Training (24.3%)
- Safety Audits (10.23%)
- Construction (11.62%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Occupational Safety And Health (46%)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (61.45%)
- Environment Health And Safety (65.04%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Safety Specialist (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Safety Specialist
- Environmental Health Specialist
- Environmental Health and Safety Technician
- Safety and Environmental Specialist
- Environmental Health and Safety Specialist
- Public Safety Officer
- Field Safety Specialist
- Safety and Security Specialist
- Security Specialist
- Clinical Safety Specialist
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Safety Manager (General)
- Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Coordinator
- Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Specialist
- Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Safety Specialist (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Kiewit Corporation (122)
- Entergy (89)
- Actalent (72)
- Commonwealth Of Virginia (62)
- Johnson & Johnson (60)
- State of Florida (55)
- Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation (51)
- Johnson Controls (45)
- Sturgeon Electric Company (45)
- AECOM (40)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina (8)
- Bmwc Constructors (8)
- Adams Electric Company (7)
- Seattle Colleges Foundation (7)
- Davidson County, Nc (6)
- Adams And Associates (4)
- East Carolina University (4)
- Piedmont Community College (4)
- Efi Global (4)
- PSSI International (4)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.