High-risk industries like construction aren’t the only workplaces that need safety pros. Accidents can happen anywhere, even if they aren’t life-threatening catastrophes. Nearly every industry out there can benefit from a good Safety Manager.
In the United States, every organization – from grocery stores to tech companies – is subject to health and safety standards set up by OSHA. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, private industry employers reported 2.6 million workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023. Of those, about 6.7% were reported by construction companies.
Don’t get us wrong – construction, mining, or oil and gas need good safety pros who can help drive down serious, fatal incident rates. But if these industries aren’t quite your thing, there are countless other opportunities for safety pros.
In this article, we’ll dive into just a few industries that benefit from experienced safety managers and why they need them.
Hospitals and Clinics
Like any other industry, environment, health, and safety are vital in healthcare. While there may not be obvious struck-by or fall hazards present in a hospital, plenty of airborne pathogens, chemical hazards, and other risk factors threaten both staff and patients. While there might not be as much physical danger, plenty of potential hazards show up in a hospital every day.
Just like any other industry, building a safety plan, training staff, and staying current on safety regulations are essential in a healthcare setting. If you have experience managing safety in a construction site, you’ll likely fit in just fine in a hospital. Major areas of focus include (but aren’t limited to) proper PPE usage, effective waste disposal, controlling the spread of serious diseases, and emergency planning in case of fires.
Law Enforcement
Police officers and other law enforcement professionals put their lives on the line every day. Just like in construction, safety pros can help them make sure they get home every night. Law enforcement (another high-risk industry if there ever was one) can benefit from a traditional approach to safety, with an emphasis on preventing violence and helping with mental health and wellness.
Being a police officer is hard, and can be physically and mentally taxing. As a law enforcement safety specialist, you’ll handle emergency planning and establish safety protocols. This can include making sure officers have the correct protective gear – body armor, respirators, and HAZMAT suits – and providing mental health resources when the pressure is too high.
If you decide to make a full career switch, the structure and discipline learned from safety can also benefit you as a probation officer. Plenty of safety pros come from a military or law enforcement background, and skills learned in one profession could seriously benefit you in another.
Public Safety
Public Safety acts as a catch-all for a few different disciplines, including law enforcement, firefighting, medical services, and emergency management. If you like the idea of variety and serving your community, public safety might be a good fit for you.
Working in public safety is a bit like managing resources. You’ll establish an enforce a safety plan for the community you work in, and define how those resources are dispatched. This can include protocols for responding to an emergency, like fires or traffic accidents. Depending on your focus, you could also be involved in keeping forest fire fighters and airports safe.
If you’re interested in dipping your toes into public safety, consider looking up your community’s local safety committee to get started.
Aerospace Safety
Airplanes are statistically safer than most other vehicles, but that doesn’t mean they’re risk or hazard-free. Aerospace safety managers are responsible for developing and managing safety programs and response plans for planes, crews, and airlines.
There’s a lot of crossover here with construction safety management, but the industry generally faces different hazards like collisions and decompression. You’ll also need to be on top of Federal Aviation Administration standards and regulations, on top of OSHA bylaws.
Need a good starting point? Check out certification programs or college courses that will teach you everything you need to know.
Industrial Hygiene
Industrial Hygienists fall under a specific branch of safety management — Occupational Health. Rather than looking at all hazards in general, these safety pros focus on chemical, physical, ergonomic, or biological dangers. If something causes a lasting condition to the human body, an industrial hygienist should care about it.
Ultimately, working as an industrial hygienist means you have more flexibility with the industries you work in. Waste disposal, manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and government all benefit from employing industrial hygienists. You could even strike out on your own as a consultant and make every day different.
Training and Consultancy
Looking for more variety and control over your day to day? Try becoming a safety consultant! Plenty of big businesses are willing to pay a specialist to come in, audit their safety program, and help train employees to reduce risk.
Starting your own business might come with its own sink-or-swim risks, but the rewards can be greater. Consulting pays on average $69,000 to $119,500 a year, depending on how many jobs you take on. You can also be your own boss and set your schedule.
If you’re struggling to improve your company safety culture or tired of a normal 9-5, look into starting your own consulting business! It may benefit you in the long run.
Secondary Education
A wise man once said, “Those who can’t do, teach.”
Just kidding! Some of the best safety instructors at world-class universities got their start actually doing the job for years. Who would’ve thought? Teaching college courses or certification classes can be a great natural step in a safety manager’s career, whether they’re getting older or just want a change of pace.
That real-world experience can be invaluable for the next generation of safety pros – who better to teach about the ins and outs of safety and OSHA practices than the people who have been in the trenches? Like consultancies, secondary education provides a valuable opportunity to pass on knowledge without tying themselves to one company or industry.
Entertainment & Recreation
This is the fun one — did you know casinos, zoos, theme parks and film studios all employ safety managers? While people may not be doing hard labor, these businesses all have various hazards to worry about, including large rides, wild animals, patrons, film crews and stunt workers (go check out a Mission Impossible movie if you don’t believe us.).
These positions include standard safety training and hazard prevention, but can also be more specialized based on the environment. Any establishments with frequent human contact require procedures to prevent illnesses from spreading. If a fight breaks out, employees need to know how to stop it safely. If a film set is using vehicles, cranes and pyrotechnics, it’ll be your job to help keep stunts from going awry.
There’s a ton of variety here, and the sky is the limit when it comes to the entertainment industry. If you have a passion for something fun, dive in and start investigating opportunities! In the meantime, get a free demo today to see how Safety Mojo can level up any safety pro with simple AI-powered tools.
