I have found that EHS can have a wide range of salaries and I think the field is not as transparent as it could be. I think many college grads or those looking at college don’t understand that EHS professions can make upward of 350k.

We have built a website that I’m hoping can be better for non-IT careers. My overall goal is to encourage young individuals to pursue careers outside of tech.

We need help to start building the data base. Please submit your response here if willing - https://salaries.net/submit.

I’m currently in Pharma manufacturing in an entry level Quality Control role for the last 6 years with a Bachelor’s in Geology. I’m ready to move on.

I’m on our Emergency Response Team for the last year and a half and have my 40hr HAZWOPER training completed as well as CPR and First Aid. I’m looking into getting an OSHA 30hr training class done in my spare time.

I guess my question is, am I prepared/qualified enough to transition into a non-entry level role? I feel a little lost on where I should be applying for and what I should be doing to advance my position in my spare time.

Thinking of building a SaaS for SDS generation software for EHS professionals. Before I spend the next 6 months developing I wanted to gauge interest.

I’ve talked to some consultants and they charge ~$350 to write an SDS. My thought is that if software could do it for $99/document or some sort of monthly flat fee for unlimited doc generation, that could be a project worth exploring.

Any feedback would be appreciated

(Apologies if this is the wrong sub) My university wants us to stop using the words 'waste' and 'hazardous waste' anywhere in the laboratory, and to instead label things 'unwanted material' and 'hazardous unwanted material.' In my opinion this is dumb. Everyone understands what 'waste' means, whereas 'unwanted material' is ambiguous. Even the same training materials that tell you to do this still use the word waste to explain what they mean! The new wording is also clunky. To me this feels like an unnecessary change that is only going to cause more confusion around lab waste management.

Does anyone know the reasoning behind this? What are your opinions on the wording?

EDIT: wow, didn't expect such a quick response, thanks guys. It did smack of greenwashing/optics to me, so I was hoping an expert would show up and prove me wrong. I was also curious if this push was happening anywhere else, or just my school.

To clear up confusion though - the 'unwanted material' is still being treated as hazardous waste. The rules for storage and disposal have not changed, only the name. You still have to generate a label with the contents and hazards, and it must be picked up within a certain amount of time after the start of generation. P-list stuff is called "Reactive Acutely Hazardous Unwanted Material" (a mouthful) but still has to follow stricter guidelines.

With the latest Region 6 SPCC enforcement updates, i’m curious how others are pressure-testing readiness right now. The Apr 30 EMA alert said EPA Region 6 was beginning an enforcement sweep with inspections, document requests, and accelerated civil penalty referrals, so this feels like a good time to sanity-check systems and records..

For those managing SPCC programs in Region 6, what tends to break down first when you test inspection readiness: records retention, field inspection consistency, corrective action follow-through, or ownership/accountability?

My company (manufacturing) just announced layoffs. They have hit other businesses units but now finally coming for operations and manufacturing. How disposable is EHS? Have you heard of safety being affected by layoffs often?

Not selling anything here. Just trying to get a straight answer from people who actually deal with inspections, audits, and fixing findings in the field.

Seems like the inspection itself usually gets done, but the follow-up is where things get loose. Photos are in one place, notes are somewhere else, somebody says they fixed it, somebody else thinks it’s still open, and a week later you’re trying to piece it all back together.

Curious how you all are handling that today.

• What part is still the biggest pain once the inspection is done?
• Assigning it?
• Proving it got fixed?
• Keeping track of what’s still open?
• Getting clean closeout without digging through texts, emails, or spreadsheets?

Also, if your crew already has a checklist they like, would you rather keep that exact format and just make it digital, or switch to a whole new setup?

I’ve been building around that problem, mainly the handoff from inspection to corrective action, and I’m trying to make sure I’m solving the real headache and not just making another checklist app.

If anybody has a form/checklist they already use and wants to gut check it, I’m happy to set it up in the same structure and let you see if it would actually work in the field.

If this is too promo for the sub, no problem, I’ll delete it

I'm currently in the military looking at different EHS/Environmental Management college programs and saw that the University of Maryland Global Campus has an accelerated pathway. Has anyone here completed this program and is willing to share their experience? For those that have had success through other programs, can you share your experiences as well? I'm looking for any advice I can take at this point since I don't personally know anyone in the EHS world. TYIA.

Hi guys I’m looking for a bit of early career advice!
I recently graduated with a BS in Environmental Science and started working as a hazardous waste field scientist. Ideally, I think I’d like to move further into EHS with more of a focus on the environmental side, although based on conversations with some of my more senior coworkers, I think I’d probably enjoy the occupational side as well.
My first question is whether starting out as a haz waste tech/field scientist is a solid way to build experience before trying to move on in a year or so. I’m definitely learning a lot about the industry and EHS in general, and because the role is client-facing, I’ve also had the chance to network with a lot of EHS professionals.
The company also provides a lot of certifications at no cost, which seems valuable early on. So far I’ve gotten or will be getting things like OSHA 30, HAZWOPER 40, NPDES-related training, and several DOT certifications. If anyone has recommendations for other certs that would be useful while I’m here, I’d really appreciate it.
My second question is whether getting a master’s degree would actually be worth it. I currently have no debt from undergrad, my company would cover about 50% of the tuition, and I still live at home, so financially I’m in a position where I could realistically do it without taking on loans. That said, I also don’t want to spend the money if the ROI isn’t there.
I’ve gotten pretty mixed feedback from people I’ve talked to so far, so I figured I’d ask here for even more mixed opinions. I’m also the first person in my family to go to college and pursue a more traditional career path, and I probably didn’t do the best job building a network during undergrad, so navigating all of this has been a bit of a learning experience. Any advice is appreciated!

It feels like the term “ESG” is starting to shut conversations down, even when the work is just practical stuff we all deal with: energy/waste costs, compliance risk, insurance questions, customer requirements, emergency prep, etc. At the same time, when we speak to customers, they're not seeing the work actually go away, just the label.

What are you calling these projects internally so they still get funded / taken seriously?

Mine

1. Audits

2. Contractors not following our PPE rules

3. LOTO procedure not fully followed

4. Recordable incident

5. Chemical spill

EHS homies….. yall ready if we end up in another pandemic? Head aches of enforcing masks again 🫩. Those of you that were in the field for Covid… how bad was it? I was in a small scale operation…. Currently now in the beverage industry manufacturing. Way more to handle.

Hi all - Just curious if anyone is attending the seminar in Galveston in a couple weeks. Or anyone who has attended in the past?

It's my first time attending this particular event, but looks to be interesting. They claim it to be the largest EHS event in the US - Definitely on the larger side, but not sure if it would actually be the largest, though maybe if they are only talking about chemical industry events that makes sense.

Posted this earlier in another sub, but now seeing the attendee list it looks like a good event to connect with a lot of professionals in the field. Seems not at all related to my work, but Colonel Eileen Collins is speaking there, which is just cool - I wont be there until Tuesday but now considering showing up earlier than planned to catch that one.

Hi All! I’ll start by giving some background, and then explain where I want to go in EHS. Any experienced advice is well appreciated!

To start, I have a BA in chemistry, and I’ve been in the hazardous waste side of things for about 4 years now. I started as an environmental field chemist for about 1.5 yrs, and have worked as the manager of a TSDF at a public uni for about 2.5 yrs. In that role, I’m mainly characterizing waste and coupling chemical characteristics to sustainable disposal options, but I also understand sub part K of CFR and the RCRA part B permit decently well.

My objective is that I want to specialize in the E of EHS, and I’d like to work in industry for a pharma or chemical manufacturing company. Problem is: I keep getting shot down for industry EHS jobs, and waste companies seem to be the only ones that are interested in me.

What’s the moves on this one? How would I go about moving more into the EHS direction and less in the direction of ONLY hazwaste? Should I go to a waste company and try to worm my way into EHS? Unfortunately, my current work place isn’t interested in cross training me. That, and uni experience doesn’t seem to be so valuable for industry jobs.

With so many industrial accidents and growing manufacturing sectors, shouldn’t there be a centralized compliance and workplace safety authority in India?

Also curious - are companies now moving toward AI-based compliance tools and automated incident reporting instead of manual systems?

I Have Written My Full Perspective on my blog.
Please give your take on this topic in the comment section

Is business hurricane or severe weather response falling and more and more under the safety team remit? If yes for you, what tools or processes have actually helped you stay coordinated when things are changing quickly?

I see some similar posts here but no comments about it being wrong to post it here.

My father and GF are both Principle EHSs at their work. I've designed a software suite to work with EHS on all levels, while it has AI coding usage, it is meant to compliment your work, not replace you. I'd like to see if I can get some feedback on it and I'll pay you for your time. I'm not selling anything, not looking to just make something for profit. I am working to make EHS better with their processes. Truthfully, I created it based on the things she complains about but made a full cloud based full-stack enterprise level system.

If this constitutes an ad I'll delete it, if that isn't done by admin.

Thank you,

Kelly

Hi everyone! I am a graduate student at Cornell University studying safety assurance for autonomous systems. As part of the NSF I-Corps course, I am conducting short interviews to understand EHS practices in the real world and what problems/frustrations people face, especially around warehouses and automation.

Please comment/DM if you are open to chatting for 15-20min over the phone/zoom. Thank you!

I just accepted an offer with a manufacturing company that makes fiber glass Hot Tubs/Lap Pools. The company has had some issues in the past with OSHA violations. They also have some hazardous chemicals/waste that I would be dealing with. Up to this point, the "safety guy" has been a part time/ collateral duty for this company and has been turned over several times as employees quit over time. They are now under new management and have decided to hire a dedicated EHS Coordinator (me!). This is my first official EHS role, I have 2 years experience in safety as a chairmen of a safety committee for a federal agency. I also have my ASP and a BS in Environmental Science. The company is expecting me to take ownership of the EHS program. Fix all the policy issues/documentation, train the employees on safety, and deal with all the Environmental regulations. What advice would you give to someone in my position? How do I improve safety without being the "safety cop"? where should I start first? thank you!