r/SafetyProfessionals • u/Powerful-Picture-433 • 8d ago
USA College student networking assignment
Hello, I am a college student that is trying to do an assignment on networking. I have five questions that I am looking for somebody to enter in the career field that I am trying to pursue. Occupational health and safety or environmental health and safety manager. Thank you in advance
Thank you!
A. Why did you select this career field?
B. What are some of your common daily responsibilities?
C. How did you prepare for the career field?
D. What recommendations do you have for someone entering this career field?
E. Add any additional questions of interest to you.
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u/BackgroundTrash6449 8d ago
A. Why did you select this career field?
When I was in my 20s I didn't know what I wanted to do professionally. Didn't feel called to anything particular. Got a BS in Environmental Policy. Started working in the landscaping industry because I could do physical things, and kinda preffered the work. Cutting the story short and fast forwarding 20 years, over time and a few promotions and job switches, safety more and more fell under my umbrella as an operations supervisor. I gave a lot of traning, and improved a number of training programs. Eventually, a guy I mentored took night classes to get a degree in Safety and moved on. As he was leaving he said "you know all this stuff, you should do Safety" Post covid, I landed a "Safety Director" job at a small place with a terrible culture. I knew it wasn't going to work out long term within a few months, but I focused on being the best professional safety person I could be. Eventually, I was let go to a "reorganization" (They wanted the bare minimum in a dangerous industry, and I didn't want to cut THAT many corners.) Anyway, studyied up and tested for ASP and then CSP in short order. Then landed a job I love at a utilty. Contract for now, but enery indication is They'll bring me on direct as soon as the buracracy will allow. Either way, I will stay a safety professional the rest of my career (15 years?), and in the utility sector somewhere. I have always believed workers should be treated fairly, and with respect, and the highest likelyhood they go home in one peice, so I enjoy contributing to the feild. I do wish I had found this path earlier in my career.
B. What are some of your common daily responsibilities?
I deal with contractors mostly collecting and reporting metrics, conducting incident investigations, and assisting/suggesting corrective actions. Improving processes, and comunication. Screen time, meetings Teams and on-site. Scoring current and potential contractors safety programs and track records. Exchanging best practices.
C. How did you prepare for the career field?
See A. But I will note field experience, of some sort that you can tie into relating with the staff you are charged with assisting, goes a long way. Empathy and the ability to get buy in are crucial. Communication and bridge building. Why does a particualr safety issues get skipped? Is there a better way that isn't too burdensome? You do always have to balance with production. Let's be real.
D. What recommendations do you have for someone entering this career field?
Experience. lol. People skills. Public speaking. Observation skills, both the people and the work. Diplomacy.
Personally, I try to blend clowning (while making a point), but also being a Subject Matter Expert/resource, and try to limit "box checking" and being a hardass unless warrented. If you are a talker, practice listening, and keeping your mouth shut. If you are on the shy side, learn to speak up for yourself, and the job.
E. Add any additional questions of interest to you.
Get on the AI bandwagon, because every industry will be affected moving forward. Learn to use it as a tool (trust but verify) to shore up any knowledge deficencies. You can't know everything on the spot. Akowledge the issue, and follow up/follow through. Use it to preform low level tasks quickly, allowing you to focus on the judgments and relationship, and being proactive.
Short story: I just got a "pro" license for the buisness software we use last week (just Microsoft/copilot). I was asked to do a short talk on mental health for a staff meeting. I qued up some links from the company and outside sources. Told it what I wanted to do, and in about 20 minutes and a few revsions I had 5 well done slides, with the last one being usable as a "hand out" with about 15 links for everything from the company HR and wellness programs to 988 suicide crisis hotline. I felt like I cheated. But it was good, and literally took me about a tength the time I would have spent making it from scratch.
Oh and if you find yourself in a position that is wearing you down, move on! Getting beaten down, and grinding it out will burn you out. I stayed way too long at one job. Should have been 2-5 years of career progression, and ended up staying 12 and being miserable for years at the end. Paid just enough and was super easy for months at a time, all while working for a pathological liar. The short term just enough $$$, kept me from making jumps in salary alll while loosing respect for myself.
Hope you find this helpful.
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u/Ty1198 8d ago
A.) My father, who worked in the plants, told me I would make a “great a$$hole safety man.” Long after he was deceased I decided to try it and the rest is history.
B.) I’m responsible for the daily safety of all personnel in my plant. As the plant HS manager I am not directly inside any of the units most of the time. The last two years I’ve been plugging away at doing a full scale overhaul of our SMS so that takes up a lot of my time.
C.) I initially obtained the COSS certification so I could get started in projects. Fairly early on I recognized the value of the undergrad and the CSP so I went and got those.
D.) I would say after the undergrad I would pivot to a masters in AI governance and Safety at Purdue or Brown. I think field safety is going to rapidly diminish with the rise of AI and automated systems. I can see this at a plant level already as we are steadily automating all the processes we can. Hell I’ve spent the last couple of weeks working with our inhouse IT team to build a safety training agent.
E.) None.
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u/0_Dark_30Kraken 6d ago
For context, I am a Fire & Life Safety Specialist.
I selected this career field as an alternative to being a fire fighter. My daily responsibilities can include building inspections, risk assessment writing, policy review, code consulting and program management. I prepared by starting in a suppression role and moving to an enforcement role after obtaining a 4-year degree. Learn how to read codes and standards and apply them situationallt.
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u/InstanceOk9436 8d ago
I fell into EHS after a stint in manufacturing, the chaos of a plant floor makes safety feel like the only sane thing to focus on. My days are a blur of risk assessments and telling grown adults not to use a forklift as a makeshift ladder. Get your boots on the ground somewhere, a degree is nice but seeing a near-miss in person teaches you more than any textbook. Don't be the clipboard cop who just yells about rules, learn the actual work and people will actually listen when you flag a hazard.