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Thread: Anyone work in Occupational Health & Safety?

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    Default Anyone work in Occupational Health & Safety?

    Curious to know if any Beyonders work in this field, as I am thinking of going back to school for a diploma in OH&S. I've been working in the O&G industry for a few years mostly in finance/accounting and would like some change.

    If you work in the field, or know someone that does would you mind sharing some insight? Quality/Type of work, your educational background, what one can expect to make on average and your opinion on the current job market.

    TIA!

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    Last edited by 01RedDX; 10-13-2020 at 06:04 AM.

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    You'll be the most hated guy lol.

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    the safety guy on our site told me a little bit about the certifications you need. It's something called a NCSO. you take a bunch of courses that's offered near balzac, and you get some work experience in the field working as a safety rep. They make pretty good money from what I've heard.
    The guy at my last company was making around $45/hr being a salaried employee (benefits,etc), but I've heard of contractors making $60+/hr straight time, 1.5x after 8 hours, and 2x on weekends.

    If you start up your own safety company, you can charge out your truck, computer, cell phone, etc too.

    Seems like a pretty easy job. All you do is hold daily tailgate meetings, weekly safety meetings, investigate environmental spills and injuries/near misses/incident reports. You also walk around site, looking for unsafe conditions and potential hazards.

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    I am a Registered Nurse and am two courses away from acquiring my COHN(C) certification in Occupational Health. I work on the "Occupational Health" side of OH&S for a large oil company in town.

    My work may not be of relevance to you as I do not function in the role of a safety advisor but rather a Occupational Health nurse. Therefore I am removed from the role of having to perform site safety inspections and hazard identification, as well as incident investigations etc. We do perform A&D testing and assist safety advisors with the health component of worker incidents though.

    I thoroughly enjoy what I do, the job is hardly stressful, there are no expectations to work overtime or weekend hours. Work hours are standard - Monday to Friday with EDO's. For a Registered Nurse looking to branch out from the hospital/clinical setting, I highly, highly recommend OH nursing.

    From speaking with safety advisors in our company, their role can be rather stressful and often times demanding. This holds true especially if you are the only safety advisor for a site. However, majority seem to enjoy what they do.

    I do believe that your workload as a safety advisor is extremely dependant on the company and how much focus, emphasis and importance your employer places on safety. From meeting other OH folks in the same and other industries, it struck me by surprise how much variation there was from one company/industry to another.

    Salary wise, 3 years out of university with non-relevant (hospital and private clinic) experience under my belt, my starting salary was around $80K. Three years later and nearing completion of my certification, I am >$100K (excluding company matching, stocks etc.) and still no where near top out salary. The supposed "jump" in salary will occur once my courses are completed.
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    Originally posted by 01RedDX
    I've worked closely with OH+S managers in the past. Most make six figures, and not low six figures either, work is extremely stressful, they basically don't have set hours and could be up at all hours of the night investigating accidents, following up on incidents, arranging drug tests, etc. If you love money and hate sleep then it may be a good career for you.
    Aside from high six figures that's what my life is like anyways.


    Originally posted by lilmira
    You'll be the most hated guy lol.
    Already am, I've learned to live with it. I'm the type of person that would take sadistic pleasure in writing up that tough guy know it all 30+ yrs exp. tradesman for not using fall protection, for example.


    Originally posted by me_dennis
    the safety guy on our site told me a little bit about the certifications you need. It's something called a NCSO. you take a bunch of courses that's offered near balzac, and you get some work experience in the field working as a safety rep. They make pretty good money from what I've heard.
    The guy at my last company was making around $45/hr being a salaried employee (benefits,etc), but I've heard of contractors making $60+/hr straight time, 1.5x after 8 hours, and 2x on weekends.

    If you start up your own safety company, you can charge out your truck, computer, cell phone, etc too.

    Seems like a pretty easy job. All you do is hold daily tailgate meetings, weekly safety meetings, investigate environmental spills and injuries/near misses/incident reports. You also walk around site, looking for unsafe conditions and potential hazards.
    Very very interesting indeed. Are there any other pre-requisites needed?

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    Originally posted by heavyfuel

    Very very interesting indeed. Are there any other pre-requisites needed?
    I don't believe there are many pre-requisites. Most Safety Advisors I've met don't have a post secondary education relevant to the field. One guy was a film student. The other two were from Newfoundland and came out west to work and they just got into safety for the money pretty much.

    Take a look at the website below. It's got more info on what you need for NCSO cert.

    http://www.acsa-safety.org/NCSO/tabid/62/Default.aspx

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    I'd be interested in hearing opinions as well. Currently taking the OHS certificate program through U of A.

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    Originally posted by heavyfuel
    Already am, I've learned to live with it. I'm the type of person that would take sadistic pleasure in writing up that tough guy know it all 30+ yrs exp. tradesman for not using fall protection, for example.
    With that attitude, you wouldn't last a day on site.

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    Originally posted by Ryan Shawcross


    With that attitude, you wouldn't last a day on site.
    Hahaha I've lasted 7 years successfully self employed with a way worse attitude, and despite being overly stressed at times, my bills are paid, my trucks just about, but you're probably right, and very astute to point out my sub-par attitude which means I likely don't stand a chance. Thanks for the insight, my proclivities at this point include that I likely wouldn't want attitudes like yours in my midst while trying to earn a living anyways.

    Those tough guy tradespeople that pick on the green guys and call them fags for putting sunscreen on and that sorta thing, they need a prick like me to enforce safety, because the like-able kiss ass dork that's gonna look the other way because he wants to be everyone's friend, well one day looking the other way might cost someone their life. I would be led to believe you would need a hate-able prick to proficiently do this job, cus there's not shortage of unsafe fucks with the "I've done it this way a million times" attitude.
    Last edited by heavyfuel; 01-24-2012 at 07:26 PM.

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    This guy is right. Most of the time you have to be a prick being in his position enforcing safe work otherwise safety won't happen then his ass is on the line. This doesn't mean he is a prick off work though. This type of position is not for anyone one bit less of a hard ass.

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    I've worked in safety for several years, received NCSO certification four years ago this summer. I agree that you must be unwavering when it comes to safety, for you're right, someone might get hurt. However, going in with the attitude of "I'm gonna write up everyone who doesn't suck my cock!" is going to lead you to the unemployment line. Real fast. You catch far more flies with honey.

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    Originally posted by Ryan Shawcross
    I've worked in safety for several years, received NCSO certification four years ago this summer. I agree that you must be unwavering when it comes to safety, for you're right, someone might get hurt. However, going in with the attitude of "I'm gonna write up everyone who doesn't suck my cock!" is going to lead you to the unemployment line. Real fast. You catch far more flies with honey.
    Very true. I'm only researching at this time, might not even happen. To clarify, I wouldn't be going to work LOOKING to write everyone up, what I meant is, I can deal with being disliked, and I really don't have a problem doing my job 100% no matter what I'm doing. I would never expect anyone to suck my cock, just play by the rules and do what's expected of you. I sure as shit don't blow anyone or kiss ass either. I don't have it in me. I am terrible at schmoozing, but if you want shit done you'll never have to repeat yourself. That's just the way I am on and off work.

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    The company that I work for was a small. We purchased a couple of other companies that do oil and gas completions and manufacturing. I had been doing the same job for ten years with growing responsibilities as the company grew. When the Alberta government introduced the Certificate of Recognition (COR) we found the need to conform to this new safety standard. We needed a Safety Guy, I felt that because I had done most of the jobs in the company that I could do this.

    Well, I did this job for 3 years. I took all the training that I could get my hands on. The company completed the COR in 1 year and with passing that I thought the hard part was over.

    There is so much more to the job then telling people to put on their safety glasses, you are not the safety police. The manager in charge is the only one you tell the problems that you find. He is the one that has to take care of those things, you are to give him the information he needs to make sure he runs everything safely.

    I did this job for three years, I went through a fatality that will be with me for the rest of my life. We were going to be the first company charged under Bill C45. Because I was the most senior employee on location where the fatality happened, WHS was looking at me as the manager as well as the corporate representative of the company. I had a corporate lawyer and a personal lawyer. Long story short there were no charges, but in the two years that go by before WHS can lay charges I was in fear of going to jail or a fine up to I think $500,000.

    I would just say, it is not for all people. I wanted to make a difference and I hope I did. I am still with the same company.

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    Sounds like you have the perfect attitude for it!

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    safety is everyones responsibility. as soon as people realize this we can get rid of the stupid safety guy.

    I was sitting in the job shack today and the safety guy walks in to proclaim "there is a gas can over there by the tool shack with no lid on it"
    Because of the heavy snow, water was obviously getting in the gas can and he realized that this may be an issue. But instead of just laying the can inside the seacan he decided the better thing to do was to come tell us to do something about it.

    oh well douches need jobs too. Also not all surprised that shawcross is a douche. not one bit.
    Last edited by dirtsniffer; 01-26-2012 at 11:24 PM.

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    I'm not a safety guy, and I never said I was. Not surprised with your level of comprehension, it is quite common among people educated in Canada.

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    sorry, fixed.

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    I work in this field as well, and as others have stated (89 Gee Tee), it is more broad than most people would imagine. I currently work as a full time ergonomics coordinator (not exactly a "safety guy", but OH&S related) with a fairly large company. I've been in this field for about a year and a half and there seems to be a lot of demand for the work. Hours suck, several positions (within my company) are salaried and overtime exempt, which kind of sucks at times, especially with the long hours associated with incident investigations, follow up work, audits, ect. However, the work is very rewarding if you have a heart for seeing people go home the same way they came in each day, then it's an awesome job.

    Really like the feedback in this thread, as I'd like to achieve my CRSP and NCSO certifications within the next few years.

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    Douche? Now that's not very mature, is it?

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