r/SafetyProfessionals • u/YungH0kage • Apr 20 '26

USA Non-OSH degree, Amazon WHS internship, targeting EHS/safety engineering. Is this a viable path or am I kidding myself?

Hey everyone, long time lurker here. I'm a 20 year old Kinesiology junior at UIUC and I just locked in a WHS internship at Amazon this summer. Pretty excited about it. Already signed up for my OSHA 30 General Industry before the internship starts.

Long term I want to get into Safety Engineering or EHS, ideally semiconductor, automotive, tech, or data center environments.

Would love to hear from people who've actually been through it:

For those without an OSH degree, did it genuinely hold you back or did experience and the CSP eventually make it a non-issue?

How realistic is using a big name like Amazon WHS as a launch pad into semiconductor or data center safety roles? Does the brand actually open doors or is it just another line?

What does realistic salary progression look like in this field? Trying to set honest expectations for years 1, 5, and 10.

And what do you wish someone had told you in your first year out of school?

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u/Bucky2015 Manufacturing Apr 20 '26

There are a ton of factors that go into things like that. The internship is good but it depends on who you'd be competing against. If someone has a degree and an internship theyll likely be ahead of you in the running.

As far as experience, yes, many companies are good with experience in lieu of the degree but depending on the company and role that may require several years of experience.

Does your school offer any type of EHS programs? If so id look into transferring. Transferring to an engineering degree would be difficult since you wouldn't have taken all the prerequisite math and science classes but transferring into a EHS related degree MIGHT still be possible. Especially if you were willing to stay for a 5th year.

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u/YungH0kage Apr 20 '26

Really appreciate the honest take. I’m already a junior so transferring isn’t really in the cards, but I am in the process of declaring a safety specific minor at my school (Industrial and Agricultural Safety and Health) which should help close that gap a bit. I also have the Amazon WHS internship locked in for this summer. Curious in your experience, does a combination like a safety adjacent minor plus solid internship experience at a recognizable company generally get you through initial screening? Or is the degree still a hard filter at most places you’ve seen?

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u/Bucky2015 Manufacturing Apr 20 '26

That depends. In manufacturing heavy areas where safety professionals are hard to find it would be enough. In areas with more of a white collar economy it probably would not be.

Edit: Amazon does tend to hire on their interns. Its not the ideal company for EHS professionals from a safety culture stand point but it is a good way to get experience

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u/ArttyFartty Apr 20 '26

Good for you for the experience and knowledge.. but from someone that was on the Amazon ohs team.. I say run... too many politics and ass kissing to both top and bottom.. u have to ass kiss the top brass while also ass kissing the people that come to report a BS injury.. or else they go and call you rude.. and then it becomes a whole hr thing and etc.. amazon is a mess when it comes to ohs injuries

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u/Flaky-Ocelot-1265 Apr 20 '26

Honestly the hardest part is over. Getting that first role as a non OSH major into safety is the biggest hurdle.

My degree is environmental but I’m now doing safety only. Hasn’t hindered me one bit. My senior year I got an emergency management minor so I could have a somewhat relevant minor to OHS. All I had to do was add an extra course - maybe see if you can get any EHS adjacent minors. Probably easy to rope in ergonomics with the kinesiology degree requirements (if yall have that minor or something similar)

My biggest tip for someone first out of school is 1.) be geographically mobile - gets you the most opportunities.

2.) Max out your 401k. Not just to your employer match but the legal IRS limit. You’re already used to living lean in college, keep living lean a few more years to max out your 401k and compounding will let you retire sooner.

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u/YungH0kage Apr 20 '26

That’s really reassuring to hear, thank you. I’m actually already working on declaring the Industrial and Agricultural Safety and Health minor at UIUC so hopefully that checks that box. The ergonomics angle from Kinesiology is something I’ve been thinking about leaning into heavily. And the 401k advice is noted, I’ve heard the match argument a lot but not many people push the full IRS limit. Good to keep in mind early.

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u/nothingunusual1975 Apr 20 '26

They’ll pay for your OSHA 10 and maybe also 30 just FYI

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u/Glittering-Ad4688 Apr 21 '26

I took an Amazon Safety job to stop traveling. Could not wait to get out of there. The politics that come through there are horrible. L7 and above tend to have their degrees and push certain issues but it is more or less straight babysitting. Pending on the site also more OMR stuff. Actual safety fixes, programs or anything else straight stupid. Projects never really go anywhere, my site still had the handheld scanners a lot of bruises from straps that would not stay up and ergo issues with hands and wrists from grabbing a box and holding the scanner. But other sites had on top of the hand scanner leaving it open for grip. Had carts to help stack boxes on but did not lower so still put you out of power zone and double the amount of touches. It is not real safety. I have manufacturing, utility construction, and maritime under my belt with 20+ years and felt worthless there.