Safety engineers make an early design of the system and analyze it to find what all faults can occur in the system and according to the observation, propose safety measures. Then these proposed measures are applied to the existing system to make them safer. Safety engineers have to spent lot of time on the site inspecting the safety conditions. They also have office work to do which includes analyzing and interpreting data and preparing reports based on that data. Their job even includes traveling form place to place for attending work sites, conference and seminars. Safety engineers meet with clients, workers, and managers. Safety engineers working for insurance companies provide consulting services where they spot the hazards and recommend ways to eliminate them. For those working in trucking industries reviews the traffic pattern for accidents, which includes study of routes, loads, and speed schedules. From this they determine the factors causing accidents. For mining industry they have to check whether the mines meet the laws set by federal government.
The responsibility of a safety engineer is to keep people free from danger, risk, or any kind of injury in the workplace. Their work is to develop safety programs to reduce losses which may be in the form of injury or property damage. They have to identify and evaluate destructive conditions and methods. Developing a hazard control program and explain it to others. They have to formulate future safety plans and develop hazard control designs, methods, and programs. They have to make people understand the need for safety measures and should convince them.
Safety engineer must possess good communication skill. Safety engineers must be intelligent and should have a pleasant mind. They should possess team spirit. A bachelor's degree in the field of science or engineering is a must for safety engineer. Apart from having good knowledge in engineering field, it is necessary that safety engineers must be well versed with an industrial mind set, safety laws, and management methods. Subjects such as behavioral, medical, and social science must be part of undergraduate courses. It normally takes around four years to go through training. In some cases students undergoing two years of graduation program can also become a safety engineer after certain years of experience as technician in this field.
The salary of the safety engineers varies. It depends on the educational qualifications as well as on the experience. The average annual income of safety engineers is about $63,000. Some employers desire graduates with a special degree in safety management or occupational safety and health. On the other hand some employers prefer people having a master's degree or some years of work experience. The average salary of safety engineers with experience of less than one year is $36,000 to $50,000, those with experience between 1 to 4 years get $44,500 to $62,501, and with experience between 5 to 9 years it ranges from $56,759 to $71,459.
Each and every industry demands safety and so the career prospects for safety engineers are excellent. Safety engineers can take up the post of manager in charge of safety either for a large department, plant, or more than one plant. Safety engineers work for a large varieties of industries and commercial companies. Some even work for insurance companies. Some safety engineers love to teach in colleges, universities or work as an independent consultant. Some are selected by government or safety organizations.
Safety engineers play an important role in industries and their job is a prestigious one as it takes care of the life of people. Safety engineers have great demand in almost each and every industry. The field of safety engineering is progressing at a rapid rate since safety is the first concern for all and so the job as safety engineer has a great scope and therefore their pay scale is significantly high.