Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors
Also called: Product Safety Engineer, Safety and Health Consultant, Safety Engineer, System Safety EngineerPromote worksite or product safety by applying knowledge of industrial processes, mechanics, chemistry, psychology, and industrial health and safety laws. Includes industrial product safety engineers.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 16 of its 27 tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 5.4% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
BLS figures cover the broader occupation “Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors”, which includes this one and others.
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 1.4% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Industrial engineers, including health and safety”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 7.9 hires for every 10 job openings in professional and business services, which employs about 37% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.7.9 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $105,490 | $85,600 to $134,100 | 570 |
| Alaska | $102,690 | $96,640 to $135,070 | 110 |
| Arizona | $106,370 | $87,250 to $135,810 | 180 |
| Arkansas | $101,590 | $74,090 to $123,410 | 130 |
| California | $131,540 | $103,460 to $161,160 | 2,470 |
| Colorado | $120,950 | $99,790 to $159,850 | 210 |
| Connecticut | $115,640 | $94,320 to $134,360 | 270 |
| Delaware | $118,440 | $94,280 to $145,230 | 50 |
| District of Columbia | not published | not published | 180 |
| Florida | $101,790 | $79,490 to $124,880 | 770 |
| Georgia | $105,880 | $83,500 to $133,720 | 350 |
| Guam | not published | not published | 80 |
| Hawaii | $82,300 | $74,680 to $128,360 | 70 |
| Idaho | $98,860 | $98,860 to $126,170 | 250 |
| Illinois | $111,370 | $93,020 to $137,360 | 230 |
| Indiana | $83,240 | $83,240 to $101,780 | 440 |
| Iowa | $106,350 | $79,060 to $136,660 | 230 |
| Kansas | $102,690 | $91,150 to $122,960 | 120 |
| Kentucky | $107,760 | $89,740 to $135,160 | 300 |
| Louisiana | $118,490 | $82,800 to $139,710 | 370 |
| Maine | $82,140 | $68,070 to $93,310 | 70 |
| Maryland | $110,950 | $91,150 to $148,640 | 520 |
| Massachusetts | $131,210 | $102,940 to $175,410 | 750 |
| Michigan | $107,780 | $89,150 to $135,600 | 720 |
| Minnesota | $120,050 | $95,200 to $143,420 | 220 |
| Mississippi | $87,180 | $68,990 to $116,040 | 120 |
| Missouri | $89,820 | $75,270 to $116,400 | 250 |
| Montana | $97,670 | $79,220 to $132,150 | 60 |
| Nebraska | $103,230 | $74,270 to $129,190 | 90 |
| Nevada | $121,660 | $93,950 to $144,070 | 80 |
| New Hampshire | $130,500 | $84,870 to $152,360 | 80 |
| New Jersey | $119,370 | $97,990 to $139,350 | 430 |
| New Mexico | $94,640 | $71,100 to $148,640 | 340 |
| New York | $101,300 | $69,070 to $134,060 | 1,570 |
| North Carolina | $106,800 | $89,930 to $119,600 | 480 |
| Ohio | $129,560 | $108,800 to $144,210 | 650 |
| Oklahoma | $102,890 | $84,680 to $133,060 | 620 |
| Oregon | $116,020 | $96,280 to $139,100 | 180 |
| Pennsylvania | $121,730 | $82,020 to $151,970 | 490 |
| Rhode Island | $94,620 | $85,250 to $115,380 | 40 |
| South Carolina | $104,120 | $64,900 to $138,860 | 280 |
| Tennessee | not published | not published | 240 |
| Texas | $123,440 | $99,020 to $154,600 | 4,320 |
| Utah | $106,980 | $81,990 to $140,730 | 260 |
| Virginia | $104,920 | $82,550 to $134,820 | 380 |
| Washington | $126,590 | $106,390 to $162,660 | 420 |
| West Virginia | $76,700 | $34,930 to $111,400 | 210 |
| Wisconsin | $92,700 | $76,180 to $120,500 | 250 |
Nationally: $115,160. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 16 of its 27 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI alone | Conduct or coordinate worker training in areas such as safety laws and regulations, hazardous condition monitoring, and use of safety equipment. | Not published |
| AI + software | Maintain and apply knowledge of current policies, regulations, and industrial processes. | Not published |
| AI alone | Recommend procedures for detection, prevention, and elimination of physical, chemical, or other product hazards. | 0.02% |
| AI + software | Report or review findings from accident investigations, facilities inspections, or environmental testing. | Not published |
| AI alone | Evaluate potential health hazards or damage that could occur from product misuse. | Not published |
| AI alone | Conduct research to evaluate safety levels for products. | Not published |
See all 27 tasks
| AI alone | Evaluate product designs for safety. | Not published |
| Not much | Investigate industrial accidents, injuries, or occupational diseases to determine causes and preventive measures. | Not published |
| AI + software | Interpret safety regulations for others interested in industrial safety, such as safety engineers, labor representatives, and safety inspectors. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Interview employers and employees to obtain information about work environments and workplace incidents. | Not published |
| AI alone | Review employee safety programs to determine their adequacy. | Not published |
| AI alone | Participate in preparation of product usage and precautionary label instructions. | Not published |
| Not much | Conduct or direct testing of air quality, noise, temperature, or radiation levels to verify compliance with health and safety regulations. | Not published |
| AI alone | Provide technical advice and guidance to organizations on how to handle health-related problems and make needed changes. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Evaluate adequacy of actions taken to correct health inspection violations. | Not published |
| Not much | Maintain liaisons with outside organizations, such as fire departments, mutual aid societies, and rescue teams, so that emergency responses can be facilitated. | Not published |
| AI + software | Review plans and specifications for construction of new machinery or equipment to determine whether all safety requirements have been met. | Not published |
| AI + software | Compile, analyze, and interpret statistical data related to occupational illnesses and accidents. | Not published |
| Not much | Confer with medical professionals to assess health risks and to develop ways to manage health issues and concerns. | Not published |
| AI + software | Plan and conduct industrial hygiene research. | Not published |
| AI alone | Develop industry standards of product safety. | Not published |
| Not much | Provide expert testimony in litigation cases. | Not published |
| AI alone | Write and revise safety regulations and codes. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Design and build safety equipment. | Not published |
| Not much | Check floors of plants to ensure that they are strong enough to support heavy machinery. | Not published |
| Not much | Inspect facilities, machinery, or safety equipment to identify and correct potential hazards, and to ensure safety regulation compliance. | Not published |
| Not much | Install safety devices on machinery or direct device installation. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. O*NET hasn't rated 2 of the tasks, so they come last, in O*NET's own order. 4 of the 27 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 27 tasks fall under 22 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #4 Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- #7 Explain technical details of products or services
- #25 Communicate with others about specifications or project details
- and 1 more, in the table below
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research technology designs or applications | |||
| Investigate organizational or operational problems | |||
| Communicate with others about specifications or project details | |||
| Document technical designs, procedures, or activities | |||
| Develop safety standards, policies, or procedures | |||
| Advise others on workplace health or safety issues | |||
| Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise | |||
| Explain technical details of products or services |
Show all 22 activities
| Coordinate with others to resolve problems | |||
| Evaluate designs, specifications, or other technical data | |||
| Maintain operational records | |||
| Inspect facilities or equipment | |||
| Build structures | |||
| Monitor safety or security of work areas, facilities, or properties | |||
| Investigate the environmental impact of industrial or development activities | |||
| Teach safety procedures or standards to others | |||
| Inspect commercial, industrial, or production systems or equipment | |||
| Fabricate devices or components | |||
| Design industrial systems or equipment | |||
| Present information in legal proceedings | |||
| Direct construction or extraction activities | |||
| Test sites or materials for environmental hazards |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- An explanation or answer49%
- Advice or a recommendation24%
- A document or report14%
- An analysis or summary2%
- A chart or visualization2%
How they worked with Claude
30% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 16,055 moves out
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 11%
- 2 Occupational Health and Safety Specialists High +18.5% 10%
- 3 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 5%
- 4 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 4%
- 5 Computer Occupations, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 3%
Where people moved in from
of 23,607 moves in
- 1 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 12%
- 2 Occupational Health and Safety Specialists High +18.5% 9%
- 3 General and Operations Managers High +5.0% 3%
- 4 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 3%
- 5 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 3%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 1% less than high school
- 6% high school
- 9% some college
- 7% associate's
- 55% bachelor's
- 19% master's
- 1% professional degree
- 2% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Industrial engineers, including health and safety” · 3,243 people surveyed.
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Industrial engineers, including health and safety”
2 programs: Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering and Engineering, Other.
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
30.8% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a license | 8.3% | 19.1% |
| a certification | 5.9% | 5.8% |
| an educational certificate | not published |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
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