Employees are generally kept safe from workplace hazards by a health and safety engineer. Engineers in the health and safety field are frequently called upon to design product and workplace safety procedures for mines, industrial plants, and stores, as well as transportation and construction sites. To work as a health and safety engineer, you’ll typically need at least a bachelor’s degree in engineering, with coursework in physics, mathematics, computer science, and safety engineering. Prior to employment, you may be required to be licensed by a local or regional governing board. You’ll almost certainly need to join a professional engineering society to become certified.
Although a bachelor’s degree in engineering is usually required to work as a health and safety engineer, some employers prefer to hire people who specialize in a specific aspect of the field. Occupational health and safety, as well as safety management, are frequently covered in these specialized degrees. You will need to complete coursework in medical, social, and behavioral sciences in addition to general engineering studies. Prior to graduation, you may be required to participate in an internship program. If you live in the United States, the American Society of Safety Engineers may be able to provide you with a list of colleges that offer health and safety engineering degree programs.
You may want to apply for your professional engineer’s license after becoming a health and safety engineer. You will typically need a degree in health and safety engineering from an approved college, as well as at least four years of relevant work experience, to be tested for this license. This professional license exam is usually divided into two parts. The first part of the exam is taken right after graduation, and the second part is taken after the required work experience is completed. You will be known as an engineer in training once you have passed the first part of this exam. You will be a licensed professional engineer once you have passed the second part of the exam.
If you want to be a health and safety engineer, you should start preparing in high school by taking courses in advanced mathematics and science, as well as computer science. You must be a logical, curious, detail-oriented person with excellent problem-solving skills in addition to having the necessary educational skills for this career. Because health and safety engineers interact with managers, employees, and clients on a regular basis, you should be able to communicate effectively with others.