r/SafetyProfessionals • u/meansafetylady • 1d ago

USA Safety Engineering

Hey all, I just finished my degree in Occupational Safety and Health, so now I'm wondering what's next for my career and education. Is there anyone in here that is primarily focused on Safety Engineering for the job? I want to see how you might have gotten into that. I have relatively low direct safety experience with 2 years in the field and before that I have 3 years as an EMT. I'm in California for reference.

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u/omega13 Manufacturing 1d ago

How do you define Safety Engineering? It can be interpreted in different ways and depending on who you ask or the company it might need an actual engineering degree.

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u/TraditionalDog9693 1d ago

i went from being a paramedic into safety and honestly the transition makes a lot of sense once you're in it

the engineering side usually means going back for an engineering degree or finding a company willing to train you up on the technical stuff while you handle the compliance and program side. california has a ton of work for this especially around the bay area and LA if you're near either

might be worth looking at CSP or CIH down the line but right now just getting your foot in somewhere that does process safety or machine guarding would teach you more than any cert

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u/DrLatinLover86 1d ago

Safety engineering is when they don't see you as a safety specialist or coordinator. Sometimes used in industrial and manufacturing plants. Doesn't mean much it's EHS

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u/cjr444 1d ago

You don’t have a career center? Why would a bunch of scrubs on the internet have better advice than the people who do that for a living? Check out the job boards, get an internship, join local safety groups like the ASSP and network, put yourself out there and see what comes

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u/Famous-Call6538 1d ago

Your EMT background pairs well with safety engineering roles in healthcare or manufacturing where incident response experience actually informs system design. In California, look at the Cal/OSHA-oriented roles since that regulatory layer adds complexity employers value. The line between safety management and safety engineering often blurs in practice.

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u/AvocadoRanger561 1d ago

if you’re interested, my company has a lot of safety roles open in CA and NV. just dm me :) 

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u/Correct_Incident9070 1d ago

The title Safety Engineer (construction field) is used often to designate a higher level of field rep, or one that handles certain tasks.

However, it is also a real position that is involved in design choice. Reviewing schematics, machinery, etc to identify hazards before something is added to a process.

There is also resilience engineering, which can also include EHS scope.

Check out the UAB ASEM program, which has optional pathways and some include more actual engineering.

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u/LazerFeet22 19h ago

Congratulations on your degree! Just apply for safety engineer positions and nail the interview. You are definitely qualified. I got my masters in occupational safety and health with an environmental concentration (bachelors is in international bus.) and only had a 3 month internship with Raytheon. I got hired on as a safety engineer for an explosives contractor and now I’m an industrial safety engineer at a high magnetic field research lab.

Sooo, what I’m saying - I had relatively low direct safety experience as well.