How to Get into Health and Safety Jobs & Kickstart Your Career

The health and safety industry offers rewarding career opportunities that directly impact worker well-being and business operations. Whether you’re considering a career change or just starting your journey, occupational health and safety provides diverse pathways for growth and meaningful work.

In Canada’s industrial sectors, such as oil and gas, construction, mining, pulp and paper, and forestry, certified safety professionals are essential for maintaining safety standards and ensuring regulatory compliance. These industries face unique challenges that require skilled professionals who can identify potential hazards, implement safety protocols, and respond effectively to emergencies.

Getting started in health and safety doesn’t always require extensive formal education. Successful safety professionals can begin their careers through hands-on training, certifications, and on-the-job experience. This article will cover everything you need to know to break into the health and safety industry and build a career that makes a real difference.

What You Need to Work in the Health and Safety Industry

Kickstarting a career in the health and safety field requires a combination of education, practical skills, and personal qualities that demonstrate your commitment to protecting others. While specific requirements vary by role and industry, there are common elements that most employers seek.

Education and Qualifications

The education requirements for health and safety careers are more flexible than those in other professional fields. While some advanced positions may require a degree in occupational health and safety, environmental science, or a related field, many entry-level and specialist roles focus on industry-specific certifications and training.

Essential certifications often include:

• First Aid and CPR Training: Required for most safety roles. Options range from basic first aid to advanced levels, with many positions requiring Occupational First Aid Level 1 or 2 certification.
• H2S Alive Certification: Critical for oil and gas industry work, this training covers hydrogen sulphide hazards, detection methods, and emergency response procedures.
• Confined Space Entry and Rescue: Needed for roles involving work in tanks, vessels, and other enclosed spaces common in industrial settings.
• Fall Protection Training: Essential for construction and industrial work at heights, it covers proper equipment use and safety protocols.
• Ground Disturbance and WHMIS: Important for understanding buried utility safety and workplace hazardous materials information systems.

Many of these certifications can be obtained relatively quickly, making it possible to start building qualifications while exploring different career paths within the industry.

Hands-on Experience

Practical experience is essential in the health and safety field. Employers seek candidates who understand real-world applications of safety principles and can effectively handle the challenges in industrial environments.

There are several ways to gain relevant experience:

• Entry-level Safety Positions: Starting as a safety attendant, first aid responder, or safety observer provides valuable exposure to workplace safety practices and helps build industry knowledge.
• Cross-training from Related Fields: Workers with backgrounds in construction, manufacturing, emergency services, or military experience often possess transferable skills that apply well to safety roles.
• Volunteer Opportunities: Experience in first aid response with volunteer organizations, emergency services, or community groups demonstrates commitment and builds practical skills.
• Apprenticeships and Mentorship: Many companies offer on-the-job training programs that combine formal instruction with hands-on learning under experienced safety professionals.

Building practical experience early in your career can set you apart from other candidates and provide the foundation for long-term success in the safety field.

Essential Qualities and Skills

Beyond formal qualifications and training, successful safety professionals demonstrate key personal qualities and skills that set them apart in the field.

Attention to Detail

Spotting health and safety hazards and ensuring compliance with safety protocols requires excellent attention to detail. Minor oversights can lead to serious incidents in industrial environments.

Communication Skills

Safety professionals must effectively communicate with workers at all levels, from frontline employees to senior management. This includes conducting safety briefings, writing reports, and explaining complex safety procedures clearly.

Problem-solving Abilities

Safety challenges often require creative solutions that balance worker protection with operational efficiency. Strong analytical skills help identify root causes of safety issues and develop effective prevention strategies.

Physical Fitness

Many safety roles require the ability to work in demanding physical conditions, including extreme weather, confined spaces, and emergencies. Physical fitness ensures you can perform rescue operations and work effectively in challenging environments.

Calm Under Pressure

Emergencies require clear thinking and decisive action. The ability to remain calm and focused during high-stress incidents is crucial for effective emergency response.

Leadership and Responsibility

Health and safety professionals must often enforce safety protocols and make decisions affecting worker well-being. Strong leadership skills and a sense of responsibility are essential for gaining respect and ensuring compliance.

Continuous Learning Mindset

Government regulations, technologies, and best practices constantly evolve. Successful safety professionals stay current with industry developments and pursue ongoing education.

Key Health & Safety Job Responsibilities

Health and safety professionals take on diverse responsibilities that vary depending on their specific role, industry, and experience level. Understanding the core duties that remain consistent across different safety positions can help you prepare for what to expect and identify which areas align with your interests and strengths.

Core responsibilities across health and safety roles typically include:

• Risk Assessment and Hazard Identification: Regularly evaluating work environments to identify potential safety risks and implementing controls to mitigate these hazards before they cause harm.
• Safety Training and Education: Developing and delivering training programs to ensure all workers understand safety hazards, proper equipment use, and emergency procedures relevant to their roles.
• Compliance Monitoring: Ensuring workplace activities meet provincial and federal safety laws and regulations, conducting audits, and maintaining required documentation for regulatory inspections.
• Emergency Response: Leading response efforts during workplace incidents, coordinating evacuations when necessary, and providing immediate medical assistance until professional help arrives.
• Incident Investigation: Analyzing workplace accidents and near-miss events to determine root causes and develop recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.
• Safety Program Development: Creating comprehensive safety policies, procedures, and programs tailored to specific workplace hazards and operational requirements.
• Equipment Maintenance and Inspection: Ensuring safety equipment such as gas detectors, breathing apparatus, and firefighting equipment remains in proper working condition through regular testing and maintenance.
• Documentation and Reporting: Maintaining detailed records of safety activities, incident reports, training completion, and regulatory compliance for both internal use and external audits.

Success in health and safety roles requires a balance of technical knowledge, interpersonal skills, and practical problem-solving abilities. While specific duties may vary by industry and experience level, these core functions remain consistent across most safety positions.

Why Choose a Career in Health and Safety?

A career in health and safety offers unique advantages that make it an attractive choice for professionals seeking meaningful work with strong job security. The field combines the satisfaction of protecting others with diverse career opportunities and excellent long-term prospects.

Safety professionals play an essential role in preventing workplace injuries and saving lives, making their work both personally rewarding and critically important to business operations. The variety of industries that require safety expertise means you can find opportunities that match your interests while building transferable skills that open doors throughout your career.

Play a Critical Role in Protecting Workers

Every day, health and safety officers make decisions that directly impact the well-being of workers and their families. Your expertise helps prevent accidents, reduce workplace injuries, and ensure employees return home safely at the end of each shift.

Working in high-risk industries such as oil and gas, construction, and mining means your safety expertise can prevent serious injuries and workplace fatalities. Implementing effective safety protocols, conducting thorough training, or responding quickly to an emergency makes a real difference in workplace safety outcomes.

Occupational health and safety jobs offer a clear, measurable impact that creates lasting job satisfaction. You can track your success through fewer workplace injuries, improved safety compliance, and healthier work environments.

Work Across a Wide Range of Industries

Health and safety expertise is needed in nearly every industry, giving you flexibility to explore different sectors and find the environment that best suits your interests and career goals.

In Western Canada, opportunities span across traditional resource industries such as oil and gas, mining, forestry, and pulp and paper, as well as growing sectors like renewable energy and advanced manufacturing. Each industry presents unique challenges and learning opportunities while building upon core safety principles.

This diversity means you can transition between industries throughout your career, bringing valuable experience from one sector to another. A safety professional who starts in construction might later move to oil and gas operations, leveraging their foundational knowledge while developing new specialized skills.

Pursue a Career with Long-Term Demand

Workplace safety will always be a priority, making health and safety careers recession-resistant and providing excellent long-term job security. Regulatory requirements ensure qualified safety professionals remain in demand regardless of economic cycles.

The field’s continuous evolution in safety laws, regulations, technologies, and best practices means it offers ongoing learning opportunities and career advancement potential. Growing awareness of workplace safety issues creates additional opportunities for qualified professionals to advance into specialized roles and leadership positions.

Break into the Field Without a 4-Year Degree

Health and safety offers flexible entry paths that don’t require years of formal education. Many professionals begin with industry certifications that take weeks or months, not years.

Certifications like H2S Alive, Confined Space Entry, First Aid, and Fall Protection provide immediate qualifications for entry-level positions. These courses show employers you’re serious about safety and give you the knowledge to start working immediately.

Additionally, many companies offer paid training programs where you learn on the job while earning a paycheque. This makes safety careers accessible to anyone willing to learn, regardless of their educational background.

Start Your Career in Health & Safety with Support from a Canadian Safety Leader

Taking the first step toward a health and safety career is much easier when you have the proper support. Trojan Safety has been helping professionals launch successful safety careers across Western Canada for over 3 decades.

With locations in Fort St. John, Grande Prairie, and Sylvan Lake, we offer the essential certifications employers seek, including H2S Alive, Confined Space Entry and Rescue, Fall Protection, First Aid, and Ground Disturbance training. Our experienced instructors combine years of field experience with deep technical knowledge, ensuring you receive practical training that prepares you for real workplace situations.

Beyond training, Trojan Safety provides career opportunities for qualified safety professionals across Western Canada, including H2S Safety Specialists, Emergency Medical Responders, Primary Care Paramedics, Industrial Firefighters, and Oilfield Medics. These positions offer competitive benefits and the opportunity to work with industry-leading safety equipment.

Ready to start your health and safety career? Contact Trojan Safety today to learn about our upcoming training courses and career opportunities.