Your work. Your records.

Occupational Safety Specialist Workplace Guide

Occupational safety specialists may identify a concern, recommend a control and rely on others to authorize resources. An employment account should distinguish those steps and preserve the response to your recommendation without overstating what an investigation established.

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Free initial case evaluation. Representation depends on work state and case eligibility. This guide explains record preparation; it does not determine whether a legal claim exists.

A record map for your role

What to organize first

  1. Inspection scope

    List the process and date range you actually evaluated, including limits on access or information.

  2. Recommendation path

    Identify the recipient and response to your proposed control or suspension request.

  3. Role change

    Record any later change in assignment and the explanation provided by management.

Start with the work you actually do

Review, evaluate, and analyze work environments and design programs and procedures to control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury caused by chemical, physical, and biological agents or ergonomic factors. May conduct inspections and enforce adherence to laws and regulations governing the health and safety of individuals. May be employed in the public or private sector.

O*NET classifies this occupation as Occupational Health and Safety Specialists (19-5011.00). Its description covers a typical occupation, not every workplace or individual job. It does not establish employee status, overtime eligibility or employer misconduct.

  • Recommend measures to help protect workers from potentially hazardous work methods, processes, or materials.Source task 11063 · updated 08/2024
  • Develop or maintain hygiene programs, such as noise surveys, continuous atmosphere monitoring, ventilation surveys, or asbestos management plans.Source task 11066 · updated 08/2024
  • Order suspension of activities that pose threats to workers' health or safety.Source task 11062 · updated 08/2024
  • Investigate accidents to identify causes or to determine how such accidents might be prevented in the future.Source task 11064 · updated 08/2024

A reference point for your pay records

May 2025 wage estimates by state

Compare your pay records with published BLS estimates for Occupational Health and Safety Specialists (SOC 19-5011). These describe an occupation across employers. They are not a required pay rate, an overtime calculation, or evidence of discrimination or unpaid wages.

Select your work state to see its published pay range. No personal pay information is requested or sent.

The 25th and 75th percentiles mark the middle half of the estimated wage distribution; the median is its midpoint. Actual pay can differ with experience, employer, location and duties. Hourly and annual figures are shown as published, without converting one into the other.

All published state estimates for this occupation
BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 19-5011. Selected service states only.
StateHourly 25thHourly medianHourly 75thAnnual median
Alabama$30.31$39.55$49.24$82,260
Alaska$39.17$47.73$60.38$99,270
Arizona$35.43$43.02$49.82$89,480
Arkansas$27.57$35.16$46.11$73,130
Connecticut$38.15$46.21$56.70$96,110
Delaware$31.70$39.00$55.86$81,120
Florida$31.08$42.70$52.85$88,820
Georgia$30.69$41.08$52.79$85,450
Hawaii$36.38$45.60$52.12$94,840
Idaho$34.50$41.79$51.83$86,920
Indiana$31.43$40.13$50.73$83,470
Iowa$34.22$42.23$49.78$87,830
Kansas$32.88$41.49$54.43$86,300
Kentucky$32.77$40.25$51.16$83,730
Louisiana$35.44$43.06$51.58$89,560
Maine$35.65$46.94$51.73$97,640
Michigan$31.69$40.42$50.00$84,080
Minnesota$38.09$46.63$54.20$96,990
Mississippi$29.61$40.62$50.72$84,490
Missouri$30.76$39.95$50.32$83,090
Montana$30.78$39.10$48.28$81,330
Nebraska$30.45$40.38$48.51$83,990
New Hampshire$36.05$48.68$61.18$101,260
New Mexico$31.69$40.63$50.24$84,510
New York$33.58$46.02$58.84$95,720
North Carolina$35.44$41.66$50.96$86,650
North Dakota$35.19$44.83$57.55$93,250
Ohio$34.76$43.97$53.48$91,460
Oklahoma$29.32$38.41$48.20$79,890
Pennsylvania$34.85$41.85$51.63$87,050
Rhode Island$39.81$48.91$57.90$101,740
South Dakota$35.25$42.60$48.28$88,610
Tennessee$28.84$39.03$47.63$81,190
Texas$29.57$38.30$49.49$79,660
Utah$33.65$43.36$52.29$90,200
Vermont$35.81$41.93$52.74$87,210
Virginia$33.96$43.66$54.77$90,800
West Virginia$27.96$41.62$52.55$86,560
Wisconsin$33.99$40.74$50.41$84,750
Wyoming$36.24$45.21$52.87$94,030

“Not published” preserves unavailable or suppressed source cells. “Above reporting limit” preserves a top-coded source value without inventing a number. A missing state estimate does not establish service eligibility. The data describe wage and salary employment; they do not measure self-employment income.

Source: BLS May 2025 state workbook · OEWS tables · BLS technical notes. Use your own schedule, pay statement and compensation terms to identify the question you want reviewed.

Record the observation separately

Describe the work process and the condition you personally observed, using nonidentifying terms. Keep measurements, preliminary possibilities and confirmed findings distinct. Note the date and scope of the inspection rather than implying it covered areas you did not assess.

Trace authority and response

Record what action you recommended, who received it and whether another person approved, revised or declined it. If duties or reporting lines later changed, place that employment event separately on the timeline. Timing alone does not establish the reason for the change.

Respect incident confidentiality

Do not export injury files, exposure histories or identifiable witness statements. Retain permitted employment messages and describe the official report's custodian and version. Use the organization's authorized reporting process for safety matters rather than a private copy of restricted material.

Choose your next step

Review the workplace retaliation guide, unpaid wages guide, or discrimination guide if those concerns fit your experience. A job title alone does not establish a claim.

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Current service-state coverage

AK, AL, AR, AZ, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY. Eligibility is evaluated individually; this list does not promise representation.

Explore state resources

Sources and editorial notes

Guide updated 2026-10-15. Occupation description and selected tasks: O*NET occupation profile, database 31.0. Individual task update dates are shown above; they can predate the database release.

This guide uses O*NET 31.0 data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, developed by the National Center for O*NET Development. YesLawyer selected occupational tasks and added workplace-record guidance; O*NET does not endorse this guide.

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 · Source database. The checklist and preparation sections are YesLawyer editorial guidance, not O*NET legal advice.