Mine safety officer to mine health and safety engineer
A mine safety officer already meets 58% of what the mine health and safety engineer role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
40.4/ 100
1 How much of what a mine health and safety engineer is expected to do is already part of a mine safety officer’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 mine health and safety engineer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A mine health and safety engineer role treats 8 of its required skills as things a mine safety officer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- address problems critically
- electricity
- ensure compliance with safety legislation
- investigate mine accidents
- maintain records of mining operations
- manage emergency procedures
What stands in the way is 6 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 13 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A mine health and safety engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a mine safety officer background worth leading with.
- already held train employees in mine safety communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held inspect mine safety conditions information skills
- already held investigate mine accidents information skills
- already held monitor employee's health information skills
- already held mine safety legislation engineering, manufacturing and construction
- already held maintain records of mining operations information skills
All 13 carried skills, including the 8 the mine health and safety engineer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 9 missing skills fall into 5 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 develop health and safety strategies in mining required
- still to learn supervise staff required
- still to learn safety engineering required
- optional, not held mining engineering optional
- optional, not held electrical engineering optional
- still to learn prepare scientific reports required
- optional, not held present reports optional
- still to learn prevent health and safety problems required
- still to learn geology required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a mine health and safety engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 prevent health and safety problems practise this
- 02 develop health and safety strategies in mining practise this
- 03 geology study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 13 skills that carry over
- already held address problems critically skill
- already held electricity knowledge
- already held ensure compliance with safety legislation skill
- already held investigate mine accidents skill
- already held maintain records of mining operations skill
- already held manage emergency procedures skill
- already held mine safety legislation knowledge
- already held train employees in mine safety skill
- already held health and safety hazards underground knowledge
- already held impact of geological factors on mining operations knowledge
- already held inspect mine safety conditions skill
- already held monitor employee's health skill
- already held troubleshoot skill
3 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held mining engineering optional
- optional, not held electrical engineering optional
- optional, not held present reports optional
7 held skills the mine health and safety engineer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role assist blood sample collection skill
- not needed by the target role assist employee health programmes skill
- not needed by the target role chemistry knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct drug abuse tests skill
- not needed by the target role conduct inter-shift communication skill
- not needed by the target role deal with pressure from unexpected circumstances skill
- not needed by the target role mechanics knowledge
4 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 geology required
- still to learn safety engineering required
- optional, not held mining engineering optional
- optional, not held electrical engineering optional
Common questions about this move
Can a mine safety officer become a mine health and safety engineer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A mine safety officer already covers 58% of what a mine health and safety engineer is expected to do: 13 skills carry over, 8 of which the mine health and safety engineer role treats as required.
What skills does a mine safety officer need to become a mine health and safety engineer?
6 required skills are missing, plus 3 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is prevent health and safety problems.
How hard is the move from mine safety officer to mine health and safety engineer?
Its learning distance is 40.4 out of 100, which is the moderate 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.