What They Do
Health and safety engineers apply their knowledge of industrial processes, mechanics, psychology, and other disciplines to promote worksite or product safety.
Duties
Health and safety engineers typically do the following:
- Apply knowledge of current policies, regulations, and industrial processes related to health and safety
- Review plans for new machinery and equipment to make sure that they meet safety requirements
- Inspect facilities, machinery, safety equipment, or products to identify and recommend corrective action for potential hazards
- Investigate the cause of industrial accidents or injuries
- Direct the installation of safety devices
- Create new or review existing employee safety programs and recommend improvements
Health and safety engineers evaluate worksites, products, and systems to ensure safety. They identify concerns and recommend changes to address potential risks. Their work duties and job titles may vary by position. For example, fire prevention and protection engineers analyze potential fire hazards of buildings, materials, and transportation systems.
In addition to focusing on prevention, health and safety engineers investigate industrial accidents and injuries to determine what the cause was and whether the incidents were avoidable. They interview employers and employees to learn about work environments that may have led to accidents or injuries. They also evaluate the corrections that were made to remedy violations found during health inspections.
For information on health and safety engineers who work in mines, see the profile on mining and geological engineers.
Work Environment
Health and safety engineers held about 23,800 jobs in 2024. The largest employers of health and safety engineers were as follows:
| Manufacturing | 23% |
| Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals | 11 |
| Construction | 9 |
| Engineering services | 7 |
| Management, scientific, and technical consulting services | 7 |
Health and safety engineers typically work in an office setting. They also may need to travel to worksites.
Work Schedules
Most health and safety engineers work full time, and some work more than 40 hours per week.
How to Become One
Health and safety engineers typically need a bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related field to enter the occupation. Completing an internship or cooperative-education program may be helpful for gaining hands-on experience while in school.
Pay
The median annual wage for health and safety engineers was $109,660 in May 2024.
Job Outlook
Employment of health and safety engineers is projected to grow 4 percent from 2024 to 2034, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
About 1,500 openings for health and safety engineers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.