Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Specialist
Impact: Worker safety, environmental protection, regulatory compliance, and corporate sustainability.
Ensures compliance with environmental, health, and safety regulations by developing, implementing, and monitoring programs to protect employees and the environment. Conducts inspections, risk assessments, and training sessions to foster a safe and healthy workplace.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- 10-20% local/regional
- Schedule flexibility
- Moderate
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 40-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $85,000
- Entry-level
- $55,000 - $75,000
- Senior
- $110,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 7% (average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Moderate
- Salary growth potential
- High to 80-100% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $30,000 - $60,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- OSHA regulations
- EPA regulations
- Risk assessment
- Industrial hygiene
- Environmental management systems
- Safety audits
- Data analysis
- Emergency response planning
Soft skills
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Attention to detail
- Adaptability
- Leadership
- Critical thinking
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- Optional
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- EHS Specialist
- Senior EHS Specialist
- EHS Manager
- Director of EHS
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% to low risk
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.9/10
- Meaning
- 4.2/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.5/10
- Prestige
- 7.5/10
- Social perception
- High