The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA ) recently released a survey, Future of OEHS 2025, to identify the current state of and future demand for the occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) profession in the United States.
Looking at the breakdown of survey respondents, the majority worked in manufacturing (21%) followed by construction at 15%. Larger companies, those with over 1,000 employees, make up 40% of the organizations. And the most common credential was the Certified Safety Professional.
As far as degrees are concerned, 48% had a bachelor’s degree and 25% had a master’s degree. Around 9% had either an associate degree or no college degree.
Age wise, the majority of respondents are 36-49 (37%) followed by those 35 and younger at 33%, just 10% were 65 or older.
The following are some questions from the survey:
Survey respondents were asked whether their organizations had plans to outsource OEHS responsibilities. A majority (56.5%) replied that their organization planned to utilize in-house OEHS staff only.
Does your organization provide support for its staff to attain OEHS certifications? Complementary certification training is provided by 88% of survey employers. And no certification training was provided by 12% of respondents’ employers.
Training
The survey found a number of issues with regard to training.
Time Constraints: Some survey respondents reported that time management was a significant challenge when accessing OEHS training, with words such as "time," "finding time," and "away" appearing frequently in responses.
Training Needs: The term "training" appeared often in survey answers, suggesting that respondents were concerned about the availability, effectiveness, or relevance of training.
Cost and Funding: Respondents' use of words such as "cost," "funding," and "money“ highlighted their employers’ financial limitations in providing training.
Resources and Support: Some answers included terms such as "resources" and "management," indicating a lack of tools, support, or guidance by respondents’ employers.
Employee Skills: Respondents' use of terms like "safety," "employees," and "job" suggested variability in skills or job-specific training needs.
Turnover and Workload: Some respondent's answers included terms such as "work" or "train" that highlighted challenges with workforce stability or workload pressure.
Hiring
Respondents reported that 52% of their employers intend to hire additional OEHS professionals over the next three years.Only 9% of employers did not have plans to hire more OEHS staff.
Organizations with more than 500 employees and those with between 11 and 50 employees were most likely to hire more OEHS staff, according to respondents. The smallest organizations, with less than 10 employees, were the least likely to hire.
Respondents reported that organizations with more than 500 employees plan to hire roughly eight new OEHS professionals over the next three years. Respondents believe that approximately five of these new hires will hold a bachelor's degree, three will hold a masters', and less than one will hold a doctorate.
Medium-sized organizations, employing between 50 and 500 people, plan to hire about four new OEHS professionals. Small companies, those with fewer than 50 employees, are expected to hire roughly two new OEHS professionals.
Retaining and Recruiting
According to respondents, 62% of their employers faced challenges in retaining or recruiting OEHS talent. The four sectors most challenged to retain and recruit OEHS staff were education (80.4%), government (75.5%), consulting (70%), and healthcare (68.9%).
Theme in this area include:
Compensation and Benefits: Respondents frequently used words such as "pay," "salary," "benefits," and "competitive," indicating that their employers are focused on offering better financial incentives to recruit and retain talent.
Professional Development: Some responses included words like "training," "development," and "opportunities," which indicate employers' plans to improve staff members' professional growth and enhance their skills.
Work Environment: Respondents' use of terms such as "work" and "support" point to their needs for better workplace cultures or environments.
Specific Focus on Safety and EHS: Some employers planned to strengthen occupational health and safety measures, as indicated by respondents' use of the terms "safety" and "EHS" in their answers.
The survey predicts that there will be a continued need for OESH professionals to have a bachelor's degree and the profession will see an increase in the number of master's degrees earned due to specialization.
Demand for future jobs will continue to come from companies with over 500 employees. And those companies will be consulting agencies, construction and manufacturing companies.
