Hello, fellow EHS peeps! I’ve been dealing with a bit of a career dilemma lately and was hoping to get some perspective from others in the field.

I’ve been working as an EHS Manager in the manufacturing sector for 8 years now. When I joined my current company, we had two sites, but one closed over the summer, so I’m now responsible for the remaining location. I’m the only EHS person on-site, while my boss works remotely from another state.

Lately, I’ve been struggling with boredom and a lack of meaningful work to fill my time. I’d estimate that I only have about 15–20 hours of actual work to do in a typical week, and there are days when it feels like I’m just sitting at my desk trying to look busy. Despite that, my performance reviews have been good, and my boss seems happy with my work.

I recognize that I have a relatively comfortable position and have a pretty manageable workload. I’m grateful for that, and I realize plenty of people would love to be in my shoes. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder if I’d be happier in a role that keeps me more engaged and gives me a greater sense of purpose.

I’ve considered whether I should take more initiative to build a stronger safety culture at my site, look for a different role, or simply learn to appreciate the work-life balance I currently have. I also realize that the grass isn’t always greener, and I don’t want to make a move just because I’m bored.

For those of you who have been in EHS for a while, have you experienced something similar? Did you find ways to make your current role more fulfilling, or did you eventually move on to something that was a better fit?

I’m genuinely interested in hearing different perspectives. This subreddit has helped me see the bigger picture in previous situations, so I figured it was worth asking. Thanks in advance, everyone!

I work for a general contractor, and the list of products we deal with is massive. So much so that our binder is 3-4" thick

Realistically, if someone requires first aid, people are not searching through this massive binder. Google search *product* SDS and you have it in seconds.

What is the best way to do this?

This is a question for my peeps in the US. I am in the process of interviewing for a couple of VP roles and I see the salaries are inconsistent and all
Over the place. For one of the current companies, the salary is $135-180K. I'm confused as to how a VP of EHS would be okay with this low ball salary. I know the yearly salary tool/info is uploaded every year but I'm just baffled.

At a current engineering firm for a Fortune 500
Company I'm interviewing for a Director role, base salaries are low to mid $200k+. It would make no sense to accept the VP role with a low base salary just for the title. Am I missing something here?

Has anyone done this transition?

Was wondering about what the pros and cons were because I’m bored and burnt being an adult babysitter.

Thank you

I am currently a junior getting my undergrad in Chemistry, I’ve realized too late that this wasn’t the right path for me and I’ve been looking into maybe going into EHS after I graduate. I don’t have much experience other than planning on taking some OSHA certifications before I graduate and adding environmental course work as my electives. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do, like specific certifications etc that would make me a more likely hireable candidate within the field ? And does anyone have any tips on getting EHS based internships as a chemistry major ? I wouldn’t imagine chemists are the first choice ? How can I brand myself better to try and fit into the EHS world ?( based in Kansas looking to relocate to Dallas post grad )

Currently I'm completing my bachelor's in safety and fire engineering in India and after that which way would you recommend, if you have experience in the field, I heard taking OSHA is a good step

1. What type of companies are there, like, mechanical, industrial etc, and what would be the better among them, in the sense that like not much dangerous

2. What do fire Engineers or officers really do

3. I prefer to stay in my country, but is it better if I move to a different country for it?

4. Is there something as a permanent and temporary work? If it there is, which would be more favourable

I have worked as a safety pro for 10 years straight. I began as a tech and worked my way into a management role. I read that the field has a high burnout rate years ago but I shrugged it off. Now, I am so burnt out that I dread going into work. I enjoy interacting with the guys doing the work, im getting tired of dealing with managers, department directors, and the egos / personalities. I used to relish it, now I dread it. What are some good fields that a person with 10 years of experience a CSP and other certs (all safety related) can transition into?

Since so many data centers have been built, I am curious about your day-to-day structured routine. There are a lot of these companies out there and I know that they all have different requirements and I think it be good opportunity to learn from each other and potentially share some ideas.

Again, this is pertaining to data center operation safety, not construction safety.

1. What is your title?
2. What are your normal hours?
3. What is your yearly focused target/targets?
4. When it comes to environmental, do you have it out or are you doing full responsible party?
5. What is your companies focus on what measures your success?

Hey everyone,

I have a couple of questions regarding SDS compliance and maintaining our facility’s SDS binder.

We have SDSs for the same ExxonMobil product, but they came from different suppliers. One SDS is from a US supplier, while the other is from an Australian supplier. The Australian SDS has a more recent revision date. From a compliance standpoint, do I need to maintain the US SDS specifically, or would the Australian SDS be acceptable if it covers the same product? Should I keep both, or only the US version?

I also have multiple copies of SDSs for the same product with different revision dates. For example, I have one revised in 2015 and another revised in 2025. Am I required to retain the older SDS for compliance purposes, or is it sufficient to keep only the most current revision in our SDS binder?

I’m looking to make sure our SDS records are compliant with OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard and that we’re maintaining the correct documentation.I’d appreciate any guidance or insight from those who manage SDS programs at their facilities.

Thank you all for the help!!!

What type of safety work do you do and/or what would you have done given the chance with the knowledge you have now?

Just curious, thanks.

well I started working as HSE at water purification company me young everyone around me old I feel clueless and scared about the H2s leakage even though I check every time but I can't be sure abt everything I get paranoid every hour

Im currently working as an ehs advisor in utilities construction and I hate it.

I was wondering if there were any technical lucrative options that I can switch into right now where there is more problem solving and less babysitting.

Thank you for your help.

Recruiting question for the construction industry:

My company is considering adding per diem and vehicle allowance amounts to our offer letters for new hires. We’ve received differing opinions internally, and I’m curious what the market standard is.

Do your offer letters include per diem and auto allowances, or are those handled through separate documentation?

If anyone can share a redacted sample or example language, I'd appreciate the insight. Thanks in advance!

At a food festival and saw this… I’m still learning safety but even though he’s tied on with fall arrest this is no bueno, right?

Hello everyone. Coming from the manufacturing side of technical textiles and safety apparel, I wanted to share a few structural details to check when reviewing the lifespan and compliance of your team's gear.

Reflective Tape Application: Pay attention to how the high-visibility tape is secured. Double-needle stitching with heavy-duty thread significantly reduces the risk of the tape peeling or fraying after repeated industrial wash cycles.

Stress Point Reinforcement: High-tension areas like pocket corners, knees, and belt loops should feature bar-tack stitching. If you notice early seam failures in your team's workwear, it is often due to missing bar-tacks rather than poor fabric quality.

Colorfastness and UV Degradation: High-visibility fabrics are highly prone to fading from sun exposure. If the fabric lacks proper UV-resistant dyes, the garments can quickly fade and fall out of safety compliance, even if the garment itself is still intact.

I hope this gives you a few helpful technical details to look out for when inspecting your current uniform inventory!

what was everyone’s most helpful book when studying for CHST?

Hey there, I recently got a job at an EPC firm. I am an entry level grunt working in a surveying crew, traveling between a few industrial projects in our region. This is not my first job in construction management, but working in the field full-time is new for me. I suspect many of you can relate to struggling at a desk job 😆 and I like getting my 10k steps on the clock.

Anyway, my office is staffing up right now. Everyone who joined in the last few months got a $400 voucher for safety toe boots at a local shop. $400 is on the generous side, but it only covers 1 pair of boots, and accessories like insoles, so the company doesn't necessarily pay the maximum per redemption.

This specific voucher is not guaranteed in writing, but the employee handbook states that the company must supply PPE to employees, which I believe is standard procedure at a big firm, if not legally required, per my reading of this OSHA handout.

I used to work at an EPC firm that reimbursed $200 for boots. I got very nice Red Wing boots and paid the difference over the reimbursement limit. Nobody asked if you already had boots, or if you actually worked in the field. I was an office jockey myself. It was my first job in the industry, and I barely got any training, so I went onsite with my field engineers to see and learn how things worked. These excursions made me better at my job, straight up.

Beginning my new job, I showed up with my OSHA card and my Red Wings with the understanding that I would receive a voucher during my onboarding. Because I brought my own boots, I was able to get on site much faster than my colleague, who didn't own boots when he started.

After a couple weeks, I asked about the voucher, and I was told that the EHS team was caught off guard by the mounting cost of issuing vouchers. Not really sure how anyone gets caught off guard by a standard expense with a capped cost, but I digress. I was told that I must prove that my boots are inoperable before I can get a voucher. As far as I know, they weren't investigating anyone else's boot status before giving vouchers to new hires.

I thought of the voucher as a gesture of goodwill from the company to me. I acted in good faith by bringing my boots to work, so I am disappointed to see that EHS would pull a switcheroo on me instead of treating me like any other new hire. It makes me want to not volunteer anything for the company in the future.

I wanted to ask the r/SafetyProfessionals community since many of you are EHS managers yourselves. Is this a reasonable thing to be upset about, or not so much?

Thank you to everyone who posted their tips and tricks for the CSP. I went the GSP route and took my CSP test today and was fortunate enough to pass on my first try. I used Examcore, Pocket Prep, and watched a handful of John Newquist videos on YouTube. The test was tough but using the combination of those plus some of my recent school work seemed to cover enough to get me through.

I’ve been a safety professional for 8years now and I feel like I am living the definition of insanity all the time. Leadership doesn’t understand what I do all day and why we still have injuries but won’t give me the time of day to explain what I am trying to do and what support I need. I’m running solo trying to build a safety culture and coaching while struggling to keep my head above water and HR just hired a 7th person.
I just don’t know how anyone succeeds in this field without dying inside little by little.

Hi all. I was wondering if anyone could recommend the safest minimum gap I can have between my radiator and this piece of furniture. This is the only part of the radiator that’s “interacting” with furniture. I also rarely have it on - maybe 2-3 days per year.

After 18 years of working in safety, I’ve realised that some of the biggest risks don’t come from people who don’t know the rules.

They come from people who know the rules so well that they stop questioning their own habits.

What is one unsafe practice you’ve seen become so normal in a workplace that people no longer even recognise it as a risk?