What Does an Environmental Health and Safety Manager Do?
Most people reach safety management after years as a specialist or engineer. Environmental health and safety managers run the programs, staff and budget that keep people unhurt at plants, labs and other workplaces, and they make sure a site's chemical, waste and environmental permits stay in order. Regulators, neighbors and insurers all watch the results.
Also known as: Regulatory Environmental Compliance Manager, Environmental Safety Manager
Other Job Titles for This Work
Workers in this occupation report titles such as CMC Director (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls Director), Compliance Director, Global RA Director (Global Regulatory Affairs Director), Global RA Manager (Global Regulatory Affairs Manager), RA Director (Regulatory Affairs Director), RA Manager (Regulatory Affairs Manager), RA QA Director (Regulatory Affairs Quality Assurance Director), RA VP (Regulatory Affairs Vice President).
Environmental Health and Safety Manager Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of an environmental health and safety manager include:
- Direct the EHS department's staff, budget and programs across labs, shops and offices.
- Set yearly safety and environmental goals and report progress to senior leaders.
- Sign the permit applications and compliance certifications that regulators require from the organization.
- Lead investigations of serious injuries, spills and near misses and see corrective actions through.
- Host OSHA, EPA and fire marshal inspections and negotiate settlements when citations follow.
- Audit departments against written safety programs and track findings until they close.
- Choose EHS software for incident reporting, training records and chemical inventory.
- Brief executives on new regulations and what they will cost to meet.
- Chair safety committees and give frontline staff a voice in fixing hazards.
- Hire, coach and evaluate EHS specialists, technicians and compliance staff.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as an environmental health and safety manager, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or a similar credential
- OSHA, EPA and state regulatory knowledge
- Managing people and a department budget
- Incident investigation and root cause analysis
- EHS management systems and ISO standards
- Persuading leaders to fund safety work
- Clear writing for policies and regulators
- Data skills for injury and compliance metrics
Education and Training
Entry to EHS management without a degree might be possible in some plants, but candidates with a bachelor's in occupational safety, environmental science or engineering will have an edge over other applicants. BLS lists a bachelor's as typical for this broad management group. Many managers also hold the CSP. Most reach the post after several years as an EHS specialist or engineer.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Managers, All Other), the middle half of earners made $102,880 to $186,300 a year, and the median was $141,900.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Managers, All Other.
BLS projects employment of managers not listed elsewhere, the catch-all group this job falls in, to grow about 5 percent from 2025 to 2035. That group is huge, with about 100,900 openings a year, so the figures say more about managers in general than about EHS work. Demand for EHS leaders tends to follow new regulations, insurance pressure and growth in labs and manufacturing.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Managers, all other.
Environmental Health and Safety Manager Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $74,300 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $102,880 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $141,900 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $186,300 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $238,270 |
Highest-Paying States for Environmental Health and Safety Managers
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are Massachusetts ($182,950), District of Columbia ($175,720), California ($174,560), Colorado ($171,140), Delaware ($168,060). Pay is lowest in Tennessee ($99,430), Arkansas ($87,520), Indiana ($79,900).
Median pay in all 51 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $135,890 |
| Alaska | $127,950 |
| Arizona | $129,870 |
| Arkansas | $87,520 |
| California | $174,560 |
| Colorado | $171,140 |
| Connecticut | $162,690 |
| Delaware | $168,060 |
| District of Columbia | $175,720 |
| Florida | $108,890 |
| Georgia | $125,000 |
| Hawaii | $130,000 |
| Idaho | $131,550 |
| Illinois | $140,240 |
| Indiana | $79,900 |
| Iowa | $128,080 |
| Kansas | $131,710 |
| Kentucky | $122,930 |
| Louisiana | $103,140 |
| Maine | $115,920 |
| Maryland | $159,040 |
| Massachusetts | $182,950 |
| Michigan | $134,260 |
| Minnesota | $152,600 |
| Mississippi | $101,570 |
| Missouri | $125,760 |
| Montana | $110,470 |
| Nebraska | $116,430 |
| Nevada | $112,040 |
| New Hampshire | $145,630 |
| New Jersey | $161,510 |
| New Mexico | $123,550 |
| New York | $167,200 |
| North Carolina | $141,160 |
| North Dakota | $126,440 |
| Ohio | $129,940 |
| Oklahoma | $131,870 |
| Oregon | $125,580 |
| Pennsylvania | $131,600 |
| Rhode Island | $165,900 |
| South Carolina | $129,960 |
| South Dakota | $119,470 |
| Tennessee | $99,430 |
| Texas | $134,390 |
| Utah | $134,890 |
| Vermont | $125,440 |
| Virginia | $166,230 |
| Washington | $164,160 |
| West Virginia | $124,940 |
| Wisconsin | $107,050 |
| Wyoming | $113,420 |
What the Work Is Like
O*NET surveys people who work as managers, all other about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:
- 100% use email every day
- 100% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
- 95% spend more than half the workday sitting
- 87% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
- 74% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
- 64% are on the phone every day
- 61% usually work more than 40 hours a week
Education Workers Say the Job Needs
| Education level | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree | 74% |
| Master's degree | 13% |
Tools and Software Environmental Health and Safety Managers Use
Tools and equipment
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy leading, persuading and making business decisions as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.
Skills O*NET rates most important: Writing, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving.
Knowledge areas used most: English Language, Law and Government, Administration and Management, Biology, Education and Training.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 11-9199.00 (Managers, All Other). View on O*NET OnLine.
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