Who is a safety engineer and what do they do? The safety engineer is charged with the duty of making sure that occupational health and safety is provided in the relevant organisation, at all workplaces and other organisational units. Safety engineers are typically employed in jobs where they may be without any subordinates and have relatively independent status.
What are the activities of the safety engineer job? His/her activities can be focused on various organisations; this consequently represents a wide range of professional background (e.g. mechanical or electrical engineer, civil engineer, chemist, etc.). His/her work responsibilities consist of providing for safe work conditions in all activities run within the company, preparation of intercompany safety-at-work codes related to separate workplaces and equipment, assessment of process procedures from the point of view of occupational health and safety in operations involving toxic, carcinogenic and other harmful substances, proposals for modifications, investigation of industrial accidents, incl. preparation and discussion of relevant records, preparation of accident occurrence analyses, incl. proposals for remedial measures.
Where is it done and under what conditions? The safety technician typically works in offices as well as plants and installations, where occupational health and safety matters; these may include factories, construction sites, repair and maintenance workshops, wholesale and retail premises, warehouses, laboratories but also design offices, computing centres and public areas.
What tools/equipment do they use? The work is carried out using normal office and computing equipment, instruments that measure factors relevant to safety at work (i.e. temperatures, noise, presence of undesirable gases, etc.).
What do you need to succeed? Successful candidates for such jobs are university or college graduates in a specialisation relevant to the branch of production concerned(e.g. general engineering, electrical engineering, textile industry, chemical industry, etc.) and possess an understanding of technology, accuracy, ability to analyse problems and ability to communicate with people.