Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors
In the summer of 2021, in the city of Giza, Egypt, a tragic accident occurred at a factory that claimed the lives of five people. On the morning of that ill-fated day, these five men had no idea that the oil boiler they operated at the factory where they worked would malfunction and cost them their lives while they tried to fix it. They fell into it during maintenance work, but they didn't die by burning -- they drowned, because the boiler wasn't running, yet it was full of oil, and it was 6 meters deep and 3 meters wide. You might think this was just an isolated incident that rarely happens, but if that's what you think, we need to share some numbers with you. Every year, 270 million workplace accidents occur around the world, killing nearly 355,000 people annually, and 160 million people are injured every year in illnesses related to work accidents. Whenever a workplace accident occurs anywhere -- in factories, laboratories, construction sites, or elsewhere -- the authorities send in specialists and experts to investigate the causes, called "occupational health and safety engineers." Health and safety engineers are responsible for determining the technical causes behind accidents, and they also provide recommendations to prevent them from happening again. They're tasked with protecting workers and all employees in various work environments and ensuring they aren't exposed to any hazards that could affect their health or lives. The job of health and safety engineers isn't limited to investigating accidents after they happen and trying to prevent them from recurring -- their main work is visiting factories and hazardous workplaces to make sure machines and all work procedures pose no risk to workers, spotting any faults and warning about them, and giving recommendations on alternatives and best practices that ensure no accidents occur.
Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa
What You'll Actually Do
The core tasks and responsibilities that fill a typical day.
- Investigate industrial accidents, injuries, or occupational diseases to determine causes and preventive measures.
- Conduct research to evaluate safety levels for products.
- Evaluate product designs for safety.
- Conduct or coordinate worker training in areas such as safety laws and regulations, hazardous condition monitoring, and use of safety equipment.
- Maintain and apply knowledge of current policies, regulations, and industrial processes.
- Recommend procedures for detection, prevention, and elimination of physical, chemical, or other product hazards.
- Report or review findings from accident investigations, facilities inspections, or environmental testing.
- Evaluate potential health hazards or damage that could occur from product misuse.
- Evaluate adequacy of actions taken to correct health inspection violations.
- Interpret safety regulations for others interested in industrial safety, such as safety engineers, labor representatives, and safety inspectors.
- Review plans and specifications for construction of new machinery or equipment to determine whether all safety requirements have been met.
- Participate in preparation of product usage and precautionary label instructions.
- Interview employers and employees to obtain information about work environments and workplace incidents.
- Provide expert testimony in litigation cases.
- Review employee safety programs to determine their adequacy.
- Conduct or direct testing of air quality, noise, temperature, or radiation levels to verify compliance with health and safety regulations.
- Provide technical advice and guidance to organizations on how to handle health-related problems and make needed changes.
- Develop industry standards of product safety.
- Maintain liaisons with outside organizations, such as fire departments, mutual aid societies, and rescue teams, so that emergency responses can be facilitated.
- Plan and conduct industrial hygiene research.
- Compile, analyze, and interpret statistical data related to occupational illnesses and accidents.
- Write and revise safety regulations and codes.
- Confer with medical professionals to assess health risks and to develop ways to manage health issues and concerns.