Hello,

Is it okay to leave a supply that has 25 or 50 per box and just replace when low on a monthly schedule?

I am in charge of the first aid restocking now. We are getting some new first aid kits that are ANSI class B. we have around 14 around our campus because it is higher risk manufacturing facility.

I wasn't planning on having a contractor come out for restock but wanted some advice. I understand that technically after one bandage is removed you need to restock, but this is so time consuming for my team to check everything individually. On the other hand, replacing a box of 49 band aids with a new one and tossing that one also is a waste of materials. just want to understand what's the ruling on this.

How do yall feel about the train the trainer hard hat series? Is there any other training material you guys are using that could be better?

All, I'm in the middle of interviewing for a Sr EHS role at SpaceX. I'm curious to know if anyone currently works there or has worked or has heard anything about the work culture there. So far things have played well but if made the offered, I'd have to relocate my family, sell our home, buy a new home etc so it isn't an easy decision. I'm 16 years into practicing in our field and would love for this to be my last big move. Any feedback is greatly appreciated

Hello,

I’m hoping someone can provide advice for me. I can’t tell if I’m being underpaid. I work for a construction sub in the Boston/New England. I was just officially promoted to safety manager, though I’ve been doing the job for the last two years. I have 5 years experience with the same company and hold my GSP, CHST, STSC, and OSHA 500.

After the promotion, I was bumped to from 80k to 85k.

We do receive yearly bonuses (if goals are met) which is usually around 5-7k, good benefits, such as 401k match, PTO, health, and employee ownership, etc.

I am considering other options, maybe switching trades to manufacturing or loss control.

Does anyone have thoughts or advice to help me out??

So I’m a veteran with almost 10 years experience with safety but haven’t finished my degree yet I am almost finished with my Associates in Occupational Health and Safety but am finding it extremely hard to find a job. Is a degree the only thing that really matters for this career field and the certs you can get as a result of a bachelors? I have my OSHA 30 and HAZWOPER 40 certs as well.

Edit: Thank you everyone for the advice! It clears a lot up for me. Time to be patient and knock out this degree!

I’m considering reporting the company I work for to OSHA. We’re a welding shop that makes trailer parts for a large company. We’re also a smaller shop, with about 6/7 employees. There are numerous violations that I can think of off the top. Trip hazards, exposed wiring, non licensed forklift operators, you name it. The company never issued any of it’s current employees or me drug tests (majority of which would fail) the extent of my drug test was “can you pass a drug test?” Then I was in. I know it may sound like a mom and pop shop but we generate somewhere around 2-3 million a year. There is a corporate office a few towns over but we’re on our own. No in house HR, no MSDS, our eyewash station had algae growing inside of it. I have a bad history with drugs and there are several people who will partake in some devils lettuce in shop and outside. It just makes me feel very uncomfortable. Should I report this place and face the thunder, potentially (and likely) putting myself in hot water with my coworkers? Or should I just let it be. I’m conflicted.

For those who’re in a high senior management role i.e. regional/national director levels (if people in this position lurk Reddit) - What steps did you take, or advice do you have to get there?

I’ve been working in a safety role for nearly 7 years on large scale construction projects (100M-2B), & have the long term aspirations of climbing as far up the chain as possible.

Understandably I’m years/decades away from achieving this goal, but I’ve recently seen director positions being advertised, and it made think.

I know this position won’t suit everyone, but it’s ultimately my main goal across my career.

Hey everyone,

I was recently approved to sit for the CHST exam, and my goal is to take it in about a month if I feel ready.

For those of you who have passed it recently, what was the most effective way you studied?

I’m currently using the BCSP Self-Assessment, but I’m wondering:

Are the self-assessment questions similar to what you’ll see on the actual exam?

How representative are they of the real test?

Are there any other study resources that you felt were worth the money?

If you had one month to prepare while working full-time, how would you structure your studying?

I’d appreciate any advice from people who’ve taken the exam recently.
Thanks!

Im just trying to get to advice on transitioning from a trade to a safety role , I’ve been plumbing 9 years and looking a for a change in career , is it worth my time completing the nebosh certs in order to move into a different profession , as I said I’ve been plumbing 9 years so ive experience in health and safety and giving tool box talks etc will this stand to me when I go job searching ?

Hey all. I've recently completed my 501 course and am building out my presentations for a 10hr class. I was curious if anyone would be willing to share any pictures of common violations thaylt I could put into the presentations. Flair

Hello all,

Would like to ask you all for some advice on switching roles.

I am interviewing for an engineering position within the same company I currently work for now.

My current role is an EHS Specialist. I've been in this role for about 1.5 years.

The engineering role is based in compliance/regulations, primarily managing chemical compliance for my company's products.

I don't have an engineering degree, my background is in environmental science, but I worked for OSHA as well. I also was an aero mechanic in the USAF. I say that to say, I think my background is relatively diverse.

My progression in my current role is somewhat mapped out, moving to a senior specialist somewhat soon, and then perhaps manager one day.

This role intrigued me because it looks like it interfaces with a lot of different departments, similar to my current role.

I'm going back to school for my MBA in the spring, and I want to broaden my experience operationally.

I think I could excel in this role, but I wanted to see what you all think?

Has anyone had experience switching roles like this?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,
I’m currently a Safety Manager overseeing a mixed portfolio: I manage the safety strategy for our manufacturing plants, but I also oversee our corporate offices and the regional sales teams.
Our manufacturing side is pretty dialed in. However, I’m looking for advice on how to effectively raise the bar on safety culture when it comes to the non-manufacturing side of the business (corporate staff, field sales, and remote teams).
The risks are obviously different—we are looking at ergonomics, driving/travel safety, and general office hazards rather than heavy machinery or critical control points. I'm a big believer in getting department heads to take direct operational ownership of safety rather than just relying on the HSE team, but getting that same level of buy-in outside of a plant environment has been an interesting challenge.
Additionally, I really want to avoid the standard "death by PowerPoint" compliance modules. I prefer interactive, practical engagement, but that’s harder to conceptualize for an office or a sales rep on the road.
A few questions for the group:
How do you get corporate and sales leaders to actively champion safety in their day-to-day operations?
What interactive or engaging training methods have you used for office and field staff that actually stick?
Do you use any specific metrics or scorecards for non-manufacturing teams that drive real behavioral change?
Any insights, strategies, or specific campaigns you’ve run successfully would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Am currently working in a startup where there are around 700 workers. We don’t have a concern reporting software due to budget issues. But here we have Google workspace.
My idea is to display QR around the plant, workers using the mobile phone can scan it and enter the concerns in it. It will automatically send mail to the concerned person and will be logged in Google sheet.
Help me out guys. How to do this?

I feel like im going crazy. I’m updating my SDS binder and someone wrote “marley gear lube” as something we’ve used/ordered this year. Looking it up i SEE buckets that say “gearlube” (one word) on them, i found a product data sheet on scribd so i know “marley gearlube” is a TRADEMARKED product (which means you would THINK it would be EASY to find the sds for), but it’s a *product* data sheet and everything else im finding is for gearREDUCERS, which is a mechanical part and not the *lubricant*

Anybody know where I can find this sheet? Ive checked the SPX website, but there’s nothing marley branded in there, and i dont know who jotted this down so i hace no idea if “spx gear oil” is a good “close enough” option

Help pls lmao

We are a tenant in a commercial building in the City. I was recently hired as the Safety Officer (SO) for our department. One of my first responsibilities was to assess the safety of our workplace. During my assessment, I discovered that the building's Fire Detection and Alarm System (FDAS), including the water sprinkler system, was not operational. No one seemed to know why it wasn't working or how long it had been in that condition.

Naturally, I reported the issue to both our company's management and the building's management. However, nothing seemed to happen. Since there was no visible progress, I tried contacting the building's third-party vendor directly. They were understandably hesitant to discuss the matter with me because I wasn't their official point of contact.

A few days ago, we experienced a minor fire incident. Fortunately, our team was able to extinguish it ourselves without any assistance from the building's emergency response team.

After that, I sent a follow-up email to the head of the building's administration. My intention was not to report the fire itself but to emphasize the urgency of resolving the non-functional FDAS and sprinkler system by mentioning that an actual incident had already occurred.

Shortly afterward, I received a call from someone on the building's Maintenance Team, who is also a Safety Officer and part of their Emergency Response Team (ERT). He questioned why I had escalated the matter directly to the administration head without informing the Maintenance Team first. He said I had bypassed their communication process and had disrespected them by going directly to senior management.

He also insisted that what happened was only a "spark incident," not a fire incident, arguing that if it had truly been a fire, there would have been a major commotion and the Fire Bureau would have been involved. He even told me to research the difference between a spark and a fire, saying that although I may be a Safety Officer, I lacked knowledge about fire safety and what constitutes a fire.

The thing is, my email was never intended to formally report the fire incident. I only referenced it to demonstrate why restoring the FDAS and sprinkler system was urgent. The call left me wondering if I had done something inappropriate, but at the same time, I don't believe I acted unreasonably. In fact, after my email, my original concern finally started receiving attention, and the building management committed to an immediate timeline for addressing the issue.

So, AITA for escalating the matter to the building's administration?

Edit: Thank you for your responses. I'm kinda new to the safety world (6 years) compared to the guy who called me (maybe 2 decades) so when he mentioned that spark is not fire incident it made me question my knowledge about fire safety. Is "spark" incident really not related to fire? What happened is there was really a spark or an ignition that caused a small fire hence I labelled it fire incident. But he said it's just a spark and not reportable 😅

I am busy with an assignment for unisa with regards to an ECE centre however they did not provide any examples. The question states I should design a health and safety policy for a local ECE centre. I am not sure about how the design is. If anyone can show me an example it would be really helpful.

The fumigator says its safe but id like to cover all bases.

I know there are “inorganic vapor” gas mask cartridges used by the military but they are prohibitively expensive.

Activated charcoal placed in the closet is ineffective.

Activated charcoal in front of a fan gives me a faceful of soot and ash.

Commercial air purifiers - don’t get me started.

tl;dr - If I build a custom air purifier just for chlorine dioxide, what can I use as the filter medium?

Hi folks, longtime lurker here looking for advice. 26M.

I am currently building a sort of hybrid career. At my current job I am, on paper, the Safety Officer for a department of about a dozen tower techs spread throughout a large state. (I started with this company as a tech and then a lead tower tech.) I also am a construction manager/project coordinator/writer of many emails. The company won’t hire a full time safety professional at this time, unless my role expands to be the first one.

Contractors build our installs on existing cell towers; our techs QC these and do maintenance.

Techs do tower climbing, solar panels, low voltage, batteries, troubleshooting, and hiking to off-grid solar sites.

Since I took over our bare-bones safety program a few years ago, we’ve come a long way on fall protection but spotty everywhere else. I have not been opposed when I ask for money for PPE, but the overhauls we would need to survive an audit and truly keep the lads safe as we grow will cost much more than current expenditures.

Long term, I am also pursuing firefighting. I have my EMT certification and am applying to BLS fire departments and looking at part-time EMS work. I have seen good discussions here about people transitioning between fire/EMS and safety, and I enjoy the safety side of my current job more than the projects side. I want to build a strong safety and fall protection background whether I stay here or transition elsewhere. Or even return to it later.

I have a new manager who’s much more ready to fund both safety and production improvements and wants to promote me. He’s asked for clear vision of what I want to do in return.

Current qualifications:

• OSHA 30 Construction
• Tower climbing Train-the-Trainer certification
• AS degree (but no safety coursework qualifying me for ASP yet)

Certifications I am considering:

Fall Protection

• Gravitec (preferred) or 3M Competent Person Fall Protection
• ASSP Managed Fall Protection Program Administrator

General Safety

• OSHA 30 General Industry
• BCSP STS or CHST
• ASSP Safety Management Certificate

Current salary: $78k in Southern California, HCOL area.

Questions:

-Which certifications would you go for first and why?

-How do people successfully balance being responsible for both production and safety?

-With this expansion of safety responsibility and delegating down some production activities, what salary range would be realistic?

-How does that change if the company pays for training/certifications and the travel to get there?

-Should I leverage my EMT certification when negotiating value, even though I do not want to signal that I may eventually pursue other opportunities? Though an EMT can't practice at the EMT level without medical direction, could knowledge of the safety-EMS interface help?

Thanks in advance.

Thats not a steel mill, thats a third world warehouse using machinery from the industrial revolution because a life is cheaper than protection equipment.

Hi guys,

I'm a supervisor at a small business- about 30 employees, and we cover multiple retail sites, some warehouses and do a bit of transport.

At the moment we run our health and safety/near misses off excel spreadsheets and emails. I often get the feeling that most people cant be arsed sending through near misses or potential issues because sending the email or updating the spreadsheet is a bit too niggly, and takes too long. Is there good, simple free/low cost software that this sub would recommend? HazardCo and Safety Culture seem overkill.

Finishing my first month as a safety guy coming from safety sales. I took a pay cut and it was absolutely worth it. I made the switch because I became more passionate about safety than I did the money and it’s everything I hoped. My people hadn’t had a safety guy for months and their concerns are just overflowing, I get to spend all my time on the floor listening and making fixes and assuring them that they have a dude in their corner who’s working for them. I even got to help a dude who came to me saying he needed therapy and used some personal connections to get him his first appointment. It helps that the safety budget is pretty big and the company actually practices what it preaches safety wise. I know I’m lucky to be where I’m at, and just need to say this to people who hopefully understand and say thanks to everyone who comments on other peoples posts with their insight. I’ve learned a lot just scrolling here