Health and Safety Officer

Promote health and safety practices in a workplace, and monitor compliance.

Job opportunities

Jobs in Jobstreet right now

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In the last year

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Typical monthly salary

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Job opportunities

Jobs in Jobstreet right now

Salary

Typical monthly salary

Job growth

In the last year

Job satisfaction

What's it like to be a Health and Safety Officer?

Working in-house for an organisation or as an outside talent, Safety and Health Officers help craft and review policies to protect employees from injuries and illnesses on a job site. To do this, they assess risks through site visits, and work with authorities to make sure company regulations are in line with government requirements. To build a safe and secure work environment, they need to fully comprehend industrial procedures and organisational data. They use critical thinking, attention to detail, knowledge of the law and emergency procedures to create company-specific health and safety strategies.

Tasks and duties

Assessing the effectiveness of current policies and working for their constant improvement.
Ensuring that safety and health practices are in accordance with company and government mandates.
Conducting site inspections to check machinery, equipment, and processes to identify risks, and the proper implementation of procedures and policies.
Investigating accidents, perilous incidents, and workplace-related diseases.
Writing, submitting and filing incident reports with recommendations.
Giving seminars and implementing programs that promote health and safety in an organisation.

In Malaysia, businesses in the following industries, depending on their scope and number of employees, are required to employ Safety and Health Officers — building operations, ship building, gas processing, and cement manufacturing.

How to become a Health and Safety Officer

Safety and health are important aspects in the workplace, since they focus on hazard prevention. To practise as a Safety and Health Officer, you need a solid educational foundation as well as government certification.

Complete a diploma course or bachelor degree in health and safety or a similar field. While a diploma course runs for approximately two-and-a-half to three years, a degree is typically three to four years long. Make sure to take these courses in an institution recognised by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH).
To become registered in your profession, you need to first pass the National Institute of Safety and Health SHO (Safety and Health Officer) examination, then gain at least three years of relevant professional experience in occupational safety and health. After this, pass a verification procedure, usually in the form of an interview, held by the DOSH.
To advance your career, a bachelor degree may be beneficial. From Safety and Health Officer, you can progress to being a site-safety supervisor or a consultant in OSH (occupational safety and health) aspects such as hygiene, risk assessment, and hazard control among others.