Health and safety engineers develop procedures and design systems to prevent people from getting sick or injured and to keep property from being damaged. They combine knowledge of systems engineering and of health and safety to make sure that chemicals, machinery, software, furniture, and other consumer products will not cause harm to people or damage to buildings.

Health and safety engineers typically work in offices. However, they also must spend time at worksites when necessary, which sometimes requires travel.

Health and safety engineers must have a bachelor's degree, typically in an engineering discipline such as electrical, chemical, mechanical, industrial, or systems engineering.

The median annual wage for health and safety engineers was $84,600 in May 2015.

Employment of health and safety engineers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Although manufacturing and construction companies will still be among the leading users of their services, health and safety engineers are being employed in new areas to prevent costly accidents involving people and equipment.

Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for health and safety engineers.

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of health and safety engineers with similar occupations.

Learn more about health and safety engineers by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.