Environmental health inspector to health and safety officer
An environmental health inspector already meets 24% of what the health and safety officer role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.
72.8/ 100
1 How much of what a health and safety officer is expected to do is already part of an environmental health inspector’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the health and safety officer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A health and safety officer role treats 4 of its required skills as things an environmental health inspector already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- ensure compliance with environmental legislation
- environmental legislation
- monitor legislation developments
- present reports
What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 9 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A health and safety officer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an environmental health inspector background worth leading with.
- already held occupational health services
- already held provide improvement strategies management skills
- already held monitor legislation developments information skills
- already held audit techniques business, administration and law
- already held pollution prevention engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held environmental legislation business, administration and law
All 9 carried skills, including the 4 the health and safety officer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 29 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn communicate health and safety measures required
- still to learn advise on conflict management required
- still to learn educate employees on occupational hazards required
- optional, not held apply conflict management optional
- optional, not held conduct research interview optional
- optional, not held educate on emergency management optional
- optional, not held implement strategic planning optional
- optional, not held liaise with managers optional
- optional, not held use different communication channels optional
- still to learn monitor employee's health required
- still to learn advise on risk management required
- still to learn draw up risk assessment required
- optional, not held perform health assessment autonomously optional
- optional, not held advise on environmental risk management systems optional
- optional, not held conduct workplace audits optional
- optional, not held make health, safety and environment assessments optional
- optional, not held test safety strategies optional
- still to learn health, safety and hygiene legislation required
- still to learn personal protective equipment required
- still to learn follow standards for machinery safety required
- optional, not held issue licences optional
- optional, not held observe confidentiality optional
- still to learn quality standards required
- optional, not held project management optional
- optional, not held employment law optional
- still to learn technical drawings required
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a health and safety officer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 communicate health and safety measures practise this
- 02 follow standards for machinery safety practise this
- 03 monitor employee's health practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 9 skills that carry over
- already held ensure compliance with environmental legislation skill
- already held environmental legislation knowledge
- already held monitor legislation developments skill
- already held present reports skill
- already held audit techniques knowledge
- already held occupational health knowledge
- already held perform risk analysis skill
- already held pollution prevention knowledge
- already held provide improvement strategies skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn assessment of risks and threats required
- optional, not held identify policy breach optional
- optional, not held perform project management optional
17 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held identify policy breach optional
- optional, not held perform health assessment autonomously optional
- optional, not held project management optional
- optional, not held advise on environmental risk management systems optional
- optional, not held apply conflict management optional
- optional, not held conduct research interview optional
- optional, not held conduct workplace audits optional
- optional, not held educate on emergency management optional
- optional, not held employment law optional
- optional, not held implement strategic planning optional
- optional, not held issue licences optional
- optional, not held liaise with managers optional
- optional, not held make health, safety and environment assessments optional
- optional, not held observe confidentiality optional
- optional, not held perform project management optional
- optional, not held test safety strategies optional
- optional, not held use different communication channels optional
28 held skills the health and safety officer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role address public health issues skill
- not needed by the target role analyse health problems within a given community skill
- not needed by the target role biology knowledge
- not needed by the target role check methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role communicable diseases knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct educational activities skill
- not needed by the target role conduct environmental surveys skill
- not needed by the target role consumer protection knowledge
- not needed by the target role contribute to public health campaigns skill
- not needed by the target role develop environmental policy skill
- not needed by the target role enforce sanitation procedures skill
- not needed by the target role environmental engineering knowledge
- not needed by the target role environmental policy knowledge
- not needed by the target role foodborne diseases knowledge
- not needed by the target role hazardous waste storage knowledge
- not needed by the target role inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
- not needed by the target role maintain relationships with government agencies skill
- not needed by the target role percolation knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform environmental investigations skill
- not needed by the target role pests and diseases knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote health and safety skill
- not needed by the target role provide advice on breaches of regulation skill
- not needed by the target role provide testimony in court hearings skill
- not needed by the target role public health knowledge
- not needed by the target role use consulting techniques skill
- not needed by the target role wear appropriate protective gear skill
- not needed by the target role write inspection reports skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn assessment of risks and threats required
- still to learn health, safety and hygiene legislation required
- still to learn personal protective equipment required
- still to learn quality standards required
- still to learn technical drawings required
- optional, not held project management optional
- optional, not held employment law optional
Other moves recorded from environmental health inspector
Common questions about this move
Can an environmental health inspector become a health and safety officer?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An environmental health inspector already covers 24% of what a health and safety officer is expected to do: 9 skills carry over, 4 of which the health and safety officer role treats as required.
What skills does an environmental health inspector need to become a health and safety officer?
12 required skills are missing, plus 17 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is communicate health and safety measures.
How hard is the move from environmental health inspector to health and safety officer?
Its learning distance is 72.8 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.