Career
Path Forecast
Employment of
occupational health and safety specialists and technicians Employment of
occupational health and safety technicians is expected to increase 14
percent during the 2008-18 decade, faster than the average for all
occupations, reflecting a balance of continuing public demand for a safe
and healthy work environment against the desire for fewer government
regulations.
More technicians will
be needed to cope with technological advances in safety equipment and
threats, changing regulations, and increasing public expectations. In
private industry, employment growth will reflect overall business growth
and continuing self-enforcement of government and company regulations
and policies.
Although
most occupational health and safety technicians work under supervision
of specialists, technicians can complete many of the routine job tasks
with little or no supervision. As a result in order to contain costs,
some employers operate with more technicians and fewer specialists.
Growth for occupational health and safety technicians may be hampered by
the number of manufacturing and other industry firms offshoring their
operations. Also, the increasing popularity of telecommuting, or working
at home, will result in less work space for technicians to inspect.
In addition to job
openings from growth, job openings will arise from the need to replace
workers who transfer to other occupations, retire, or leave for other
reasons. Health and safety technicians with a wide breadth of knowledge
in more than one area of health and safety along with general business
functions will have the best prospects.
Employment of
occupational health and safety technicians in the private sector is
somewhat affected by general economic fluctuations. Federal, State, and
local governments provide considerable job security; workers are less
likely to be affected by changes in the economy.
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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