Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors
Promote worksite or product safety by applying knowledge of industrial processes, mechanics, chemistry, psychology, and industrial health and safety laws. Includes industrial product safety engineers.
21,450 people do this job in the US. $115,160 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 77%
- 3%
- 20%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 10%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 27 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct research to evaluate safety levels for products.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 16% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 0%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Develop industry standards of product safety.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.2 work months | 0%Half by Aug 2029 | |
| Maintain and apply knowledge of current policies, regulations, and industrial processes.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | 51%Half by now | |
| Review plans and specifications for construction of new machinery or equipment to determine whether all safety requirements have been met.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1 work day2.5 h to 4.2 work days | 5%Half by Dec 2027 | |
| Evaluate product designs for safety.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | 9%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Plan and conduct industrial hygiene research.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.5 work weeks | 0%Half by Apr 2029 | |
| Recommend procedures for detection, prevention, and elimination of physical, chemical, or other product hazards.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 8%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Design and build safety equipment.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 5% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Conduct or direct testing of air quality, noise, temperature, or radiation levels to verify compliance with health and safety regulations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Investigate industrial accidents, injuries, or occupational diseases to determine causes and preventive measures.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Review employee safety programs to determine their adequacy.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 8%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Evaluate potential health hazards or damage that could occur from product misuse.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | 9%Half by Jul 2027 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Occupational Health and Safety Technicians30% now, 60% by 2028
- Occupational Health and Safety Specialists16% now, 61% by 2028
- Environmental Compliance Inspectors37% now, 63% by 2028
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health4% now, 57% by 2028
- Environmental Engineers6% now, 54% by 2028
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health11% now, 61% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).