Industrial hygienists specialize in keeping workers, their families, and the community safe and healthy. They assess and monitor workplace safety, investigate potential hazards, conduct research on chemicals, and make recommendations to increase safety. They also advise on creating safer work environments and planning for emergency situations.
Industrial hygienist jobs are usually filled by applied scientists or engineers who specialize in keeping workers, their families, and the community safe and healthy. Industrial hygienist jobs can be found in government services and private industry. These workers play a vital role in assessing and monitoring workplace safety, although industrial hygienist jobs can vary depending on the type of workplace and the industry the hygienist is focused on. Typical jobs an industrial hygienist might do: investigate the workplace for potential hazards and threats, conduct research on chemicals in the workplace, and make recommendations to increase worker and community safety.
Industrial hygienist jobs are primarily scientific in the way they address worker safety and seek to mitigate or lessen hazards in the workplace. The scientists and engineers who fill these jobs typically receive additional training in industrial hygiene. At the same time, they often use applied scientific research methods to determine what hazards or potential hazards may be present in the work environment.
One primary job that an industrial hygienist can perform is called workplace analysis. This is an overall assessment of a workplace to determine which specific tasks, processes, and work areas may lead to potential problems. During this type of analysis, an industrial hygienist will look for environmental stressors and may measure chemicals and particles present, trying to identify possible risks to workers in the area. In addition, the hygienist can examine work procedures and processes to identify potential hazards. A complete workplace analysis conducted by an industrial hygienist would seek to include all potential jobs, tasks, and work activities in the specific workplace.
Industrial hygienist jobs can also include investigating potentially harmful situations at work and devising strategies to lessen or eliminate them. In addition, industrial hygienists can conduct training for workers, their families and the community on how to recognize a harmful situation at work or at home and what to do to deal with a hazardous or dangerous situation if it arises. Through a methodical process of inspection, research and analysis, an industrial hygienist works to make the workplace safer. A situation considered dangerous or potentially threatening to health or safety may prompt the industrial hygienist to recommend appropriate corrective actions.
Along with these hands-on jobs, an industrial hygienist can also advise managers and the government on how to create safer work environments. An industrial hygienist may also be tasked with planning a company’s response to various emergency situations, ensuring safe indoor air quality, mitigating environmental lead exposure, and determining how to deal with other potential hazards in the workplace. The bottom line is that an industrial hygienist, like any hygienist, is tasked with keeping something clean, safe and healthy – in this case, it’s a specific company or possibly an entire industry.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
