Is a Job in Health and Safety for You?

If you’re young, you’re probably trying to find a future career that will be fulfilling, provide the pay you need to thrive in life, and give you a sense of purpose. A lot of people in your predicament come across the Health and Safety field.

The Health and Safety field can provide all three of those core career components, but it’s definitely not for everyone.

In this walkthrough, we’re going to go over some of the background aspects of Health and Safety jobs to help you determine if you could thrive in such a position.

1: Educational Requirements

You can’t just “grandfather” your way into a Health and Safety job, and you can’t rely on on-the-job experience to get where you’re headed, either.

You absolutely must get an education.

The amount of education you need varies dramatically based on the exact position you’re trying to get in the field. Some might require simple certifications, but the higher-quality jobs are going to demand years of college-level education; we’re not talking about English 101, either. You’ll need to take on some pretty complex courses for many of the positions available.

This hassle is a necessary one. Nearly every position in the Health and Safety field has a direct impact on someone’s well-being and even the ones that don’t will have a direct effect on the people in those positions and their abilities to do their jobs.

If you’re okay with putting in a lot of work before you see the fruits of your labor, you’re one step further towards your goal of entering Health and Safety.

2: A Commitment to Ethics and Procedure

The Health and Safety field covers critical processes. Whether it’s ensuring a work site is safe for employees, or it’s investigating a suspected string of serious ailment outbreaks in facilities, the work is important.

That means that cutting corners or turning a blind eye to things can result in serious consequences for others. People can die if a Health and Safety professional doesn’t do their job right, and sometimes, the oversight can be extremely small.

If you’re the type to cut corners to save time, aren’t comfortable actively confronting people when you see something wrong being done, or something similar, it’s probably not for you.

However, if you’re a by-the-book type of player and care about the difference between right and wrong, you can thrive in Health and Safety.

3: Stress

There is a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Health and Safety workers. The well-being of other people is often in their hands; even when they hold low-level positions.

That can be extremely stressful, and the field requires people who can perform just as well, or even better, under pressure.

If you’re prone to panicking, not dealing with stress well, or otherwise not suited for high-stress work, it’s best to find a different career path. If you can deal with those things, you might be the perfect candidate.

Get Started Today

If you can handle all three of those things, Health and Safety might be for you. However, you don’t know until you get some hands-on experience. Check out this Health and Safety jobs board to see what your options are.