# Occupational Health and Safety Specialists

US SOC code 19-5011. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/19-5011

Also called: EHS specialist, Safety specialist, Industrial hygienist, Occupational safety specialist, OHS specialist.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **140,610** US occupational health and safety specialists, with median pay of **$90,150** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21908135/a-century-of-safety-with-asse) of **35** from 1911, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for occupational health and safety specialists: Cloud EHS platforms, 2000 to 2018.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 18.5% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-5011&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **35.7%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Occupational Health and Safety Specialists employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1867
- Latest US employment: 140,610 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [2]
- Latest US median pay: $90,150 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Outlook: +18.5% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [20]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **Canada** (NOC 22232)
  - Employment, 2020: 19,625. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [3]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021: number of persons with employment income in NOC 22232 Occupational health and safety specialists, Canada, reference year 2020. A recipients basis (anyone with employment income during the year), slightly broader than a point-in-time employed count. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
  - Median pay, 2020: C$80,000. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [5]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021 (Table 98-10-0586): median employment income for NOC 22232 Occupational health and safety specialists, Canada, reference year 2020, full-year full-time workers (the basis comparable to the US OEWS full-time median). Statistics Canada Open Licence.

### All 12 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1911 | 35 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EHS Today [1] |
| 1940 | 2,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EHS Today [1] |
| 1964 | 8,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EHS Today [1] |
| 1979 | 15,500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EHS Today [1] |
| 1990 | 24,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EHS Today [1] |
| 2019 | 92,780 | $74,100 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [2] |
| 2020 | 95,960 | $76,340 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [2] |
| 2021 | 106,340 | $77,560 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [2] |
| 2022 | 109,430 | $78,570 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [2] |
| 2023 | 122,300 | $81,140 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [2] |
| 2024 | 128,430 | $83,910 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [2] |
| 2025 | 140,610 | $90,150 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [2] |

## Sources (53)

### Employment series

1. [EHS Today — "A Century of Safety with ASSE" (ASSE founding membership 1911)](https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21908135/a-century-of-safety-with-asse), EHS Today
2. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
3. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Wage series

4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
5. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada

### Tool eras

6. [EH.net Encyclopedia — "History of Workplace Safety in the United States, 1880-1970"](https://eh.net/encyclopedia/history-of-workplace-safety-in-the-united-states-1880-1970/), EH.net
7. [NCBI Bookshelf — "Occupational Safety and Health Professionals: Safe Work in the 21st Century"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225528/), National Academies Press / NCBI
8. [American Chemical Society — "Alice Hamilton and the Development of Occupational Medicine"](https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/alicehamilton.html), American Chemical Society
9. [AIHA History — American Industrial Hygiene Association founded 1939](https://www.aiha.org/about-aiha/aiha-history), American Industrial Hygiene Association
10. [Wikipedia — Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936 (federal safety standards history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walsh%E2%80%93Healey_Public_Contracts_Act_of_1936), Wikipedia
11. [NCBI Bookshelf — "Significant Events in the History of Occupational Safety and Health"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225533/), National Academies Press / NCBI
12. [OSHA — OSH Act of 1970 (full text, signed December 29, 1970)](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/completeoshact), Occupational Safety and Health Administration
13. [EHS Today — "A Century of Safety with ASSE" (membership growth post-1970)](https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21908135/a-century-of-safety-with-asse), EHS Today
14. [National Academies Press — "Chapter 2: Bhopal and Chemical Process Safety" (PSM standard history)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/13385/chapter/5), National Academies Press
15. [SOAPBOX.CLOUD — "What Is Modern EHS Software? A New Era of Cloud-Based EHS Platforms" (EHS software history)](https://soapbox.cloud/blogs/what-is-modern-ehs-software-a-new-era-of-cloud-based-ehs-platforms), Soapbox.cloud
16. [EHS Insight — "A Brief History of Occupational Health and Safety" (regulatory timeline)](https://www.ehsinsight.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-occupational-health-and-safety), EHS Insight
17. [OHS Online — "EHS Professionals Embrace AI as a Tool for Precision, Not Replacement" (2025)](https://ohsonline.com/articles/2025/11/14/ehs-professionals-embrace-ai-as-a-tool-for-precision-not-replacement.aspx), OHS Online
18. [BusinessWire — Benchmark Gensuite Unveils First-Ever AI Agents for EHS (October 28, 2025)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251028849512/en/Benchmark-Gensuite-Unveils-First-Ever-AI-Agents-for-EHS), BusinessWire
19. [BLS National Employment Matrix — 19-5011 projections 2024-2034 (+12.5%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-5011&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Forecasts and exposure studies

20. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 19-5011 Occupational health and safety specialists (2025: 143.1 thousand; 2035: 169.6 thousand; +18.5%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-5011&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
21. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 19-5011.00, human-rated β 0.357)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

22. [NCBI Bookshelf — "Significant Events in the History of Occupational Safety and Health"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225533/), National Academies Press / NCBI
23. [ASSP — "ASSP Remembers Deadly Fire That Spurred Workplace Safety" (Triangle Shirtwaist centennial)](https://www.ishn.com/articles/114665-assp-remembers-deadly-fire-that-spurred-workplace-safety), ASSP / ISHN
24. [Wikipedia - "Division of Industrial Hygiene" (PHS Office of Field Investigations into Occupational Diseases, established 1914)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_Industrial_Hygiene), Wikipedia
25. [AIHA History — American Industrial Hygiene Association founded 1939 (organizational history)](https://www.aiha.org/about-aiha/aiha-history), American Industrial Hygiene Association
26. [US Department of Labor — "The Job Safety Law of 1970: Its Passage Was Perilous"](https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/osha), US Department of Labor
27. [National Academies Press — "Chapter 2: Bhopal and Chemical Process Safety" (PSM standard origin)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/13385/chapter/5), National Academies Press
28. [BLS IIF — OSH History (OSHA recordkeeping history)](https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshhist.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
29. [EHS Insight — "A Brief History of Occupational Health and Safety" (2016 electronic reporting rule)](https://www.ehsinsight.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-occupational-health-and-safety), EHS Insight

### Predecessors & successors

30. [NCBI Bookshelf — "Occupational Safety and Health Professionals: Safe Work in the 21st Century"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225528/), National Academies Press / NCBI
31. [EHS Today — "A Century of Safety with ASSE" (insurance inspectors founding ASSE in 1911)](https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21908135/a-century-of-safety-with-asse), EHS Today
32. [AIHA History — American Industrial Hygiene Association founded 1939](https://www.aiha.org/about-aiha/aiha-history), American Industrial Hygiene Association

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Occupational Health and Safety Specialists (19-5011.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-5011.00), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — OHS Specialists and Technicians (2024-2034)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-health-and-safety-specialists-and-technicians.htm), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-05
- [VelocityEHS — EHS Professionals Embrace AI as a Tool for Precision, Not Replacement (2025)](https://ohsonline.com/articles/2025/11/14/ehs-professionals-embrace-ai-as-a-tool-for-precision-not-replacement.aspx), accessed 2026-06-05
- [OHS Online — New AI Tools Target Efficiency and Insight in EHS Management (Oct 2025)](https://ohsonline.com/articles/2025/10/29/new-ai-tools-target-efficiency-and-insight-in-ehs-management.aspx), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Benchmark Gensuite AI Agents for EHS — Chemical Management Agent (Oct 2025)](https://benchmarkgensuite.com/ai-agents/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BusinessWire — Benchmark Gensuite Unveils First-Ever AI Agents for EHS (Oct 28, 2025)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251028849512/en/Benchmark-Gensuite-Unveils-First-Ever-AI-Agents-for-EHS), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Voxel — AI-Powered Workplace Safety Platform International Expansion (June 2025)](https://www.voxelai.com/news/voxel-scales-ai-powered-workplace-safety-platform-with-international-expansion-across-five-continents), accessed 2026-06-05
- [PR Newswire — Voxel Launches Actions Feature for Safety Detection and Resolution (2025)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/voxel-launches-actions-feature-to-bridge-gap-between-safety-detection-and-resolution-302508907.html), accessed 2026-06-05

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.