Safety Manager: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a safety manager?

The need for new staff can affect both your existing team and your bottom line. A great safety manager hire can help your business:

• Ensure safety regulations are followed
• Create new safety procedures to enhance employee safety
• Experience fewer employee injuries

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance safety manager

Companies can hire freelance safety managers to come into their businesses, assess the building for safety hazards, develop and implement a plan to make improvements and train the current staff on safety regulations. Businesses can also maintain relationships with freelance safety managers to have them come in monthly, quarterly or annually for checkups. 

Companies with numerous locations can hire full-time safety managers to visit each of their stores and conduct safety assessments. Insurance companies may also employ full-time safety managers to travel to policyholders’ locations and examine the building for potential risks. 

What are the types of safety managers?

In the safety industry, safety managers can hold a variety of titles that describe their primary roles. These titles include:

• Occupational safety and health specialist: These types of safety managers specialize in assessing businesses to determine if they’re in compliance with federal OSHA standards. They can check ventilation, electrical wiring and fire extinguisher placement. 
• Injury prevention specialist: An injury prevention specialist examines buildings, looking specifically for hazards that may cause injuries. They can check for haphazardly stacked items, damaged safety equipment and unsafe procedures. 
• Risk control specialist: A risk control specialist looks for hazards that can cause accidents. This can include potential causes for fires, explosions and flooding. 
• Safety compliance officer: A safety compliance officer specifically works to help businesses comply with local and federal safety regulations. 
• Vice president of safety and health: A vice president of safety and health is responsible for creating safety guidelines for the company to follow. They also oversee the work of safety managers.

Where to find safety managers

To find the right safety manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Search online. Some safety managers may be advertising their experience and services online. Reach out to these individuals to see if they’d be interested in interviewing for the job. 
• Hire a recruitment agency. A recruitment agency may be able to point you in the direction of available safety managers. Conduct interviews with quality candidates.
• Ask other businesses in the area. Ask nearby companies if they have any information on safety managers they’ve hired in the past. Make contact with any promising candidates to set up a meeting. 
• Post help wanted signs. Hanging up signs often yields applicants for open positions. 
• Post your job online. Try posting your safety manager job on Indeed to find and attract quality safety manager candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Safety Manager

A great safety manager candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Safety procedure knowledge
• Enforcing the rules
• Creating new safety guidelines
• Collaborate with teams
• Be strict with the rules
• Upbeat attitude

Writing a safety manager job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified safety manager candidates. A safety manager job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your safety manager job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on safety manager jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Safety
• Safety manager
• EHS
• Manager
• Environment health safety
• EHS manager
• Safety supervisor
• HSE
• Security manager
• Construction safety

Interviewing safety manager candidates

Strong candidates for safety manager positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Safety procedures 
• Safety incident record
• Management of dangerous incidents

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of safety manager interview questions for examples (with sample answers).