At Kimmel & Associates, we’re proud to serve as career advisors to candidates throughout the construction industry. We work with thousands of professionals every year to assist them in growing their careers and reaching their long-term goals.
To assist in that effort, we created our Career Pathways Series, providing specific, actionable advice to early- and mid-career professionals looking to grow into construction leadership roles. Our series has included career guides for those aspiring to become a Senior Estimator, Senior Project Manager, Project Executive, Director of Operations, Regional Project Director, and Senior Superintendent.
Below, we share our conversation with Michael Dempsey (Associate) and Billy Doubraski (Vice President) from our Heavy Civil Division about what it takes to become a Safety Manager/Director. Here’s what they told us:
What’s a common career pathway to a Safety Manager/Director role?
Michael: Getting an internship while earning a degree is a good starting point. Then they’d move into a Site Safety Specialist role – spending time on the job site, in the field, making sure things are in compliance, warning people about infractions, etc. They’d be reporting to a Safety Coordinator, Manager, or Director. The next step up would be the Safety Coordinator – there are more trainings with that role. Then Safety Manager, which gets more into policies, like writing the manual to ensure compliance with company policies and federal standards. Then the Safety Director is the head honcho of the safety program, sometimes with a Vice President-level role after that. Also, environmental compliance has become more prominent, so sometimes there’s an HSE (Health, Safety, & Environmental) Vice President.
Billy: They’d usually start out as a Safety Rep or Safety Engineer on a site, with specific people they’re looking after or specific trades to oversee. Then they’d graduate to a Safety Manager role, which is usually overseeing all the safety for one site – the subs, the contractors, etc. From there they’d either move to overseeing one BIG site (think 1,000+ people) with one Safety Manager and a support person (a Safety Engineer or Rep), or taking on two or three smaller sites as a solo Safety Manager. That gives them the growth, the ability to show they can handle that added responsibility. They’d get some certifications and experience along the way, building safety programs, writing safety programs, etc. That might take a decade, and then you’re into a Regional Safety Manager role with two or three Safety Managers below you, then ascend to a Director or Vice President of Safety – those are usually the top levels. Sometimes in a huge company with multiple subsidiaries, there will also be a Corporate Safety Director overseeing everything under that company’s umbrella.
What usually leads someone to pursue a career in the safety sector?
Billy: It depends. Safety is interesting because you can definitely come to it from a field position, where you had a knack for the safety side or you’re driven by something that’s happened on a site. One candidate I worked with saw a fatality occur in the field and then had to respond during another close call where she prevented someone from being injured (or worse). So she was driven to a safety role by that desire to never see somebody else die on a site, and by her own skill in responding during an emergency situation. It stuck with her, and the company she was with saw that she cared for all the right reasons, so she shifted into that role. So sometimes it can be fate that leads somebody to it. But it’s also pretty common to have a first responder of some sort (whether that’s EMS, fire, police, etc.) who loves their job but wants to make more money. So they go into the private sector, and safety is a very natural transition for them. They can make strong connections through their first responder work – my dad met so many people as a first responder in New York who liked him and wanted him to be their Safety Director (but he didn’t make that career shift). It’s a cool sector of the industry with a lot of congruence between construction safety and public safety/first responders.
What kind of timeline is there between starting out in safety and becoming a Safety Manager/Director?
Michael: Well, the supply and demand is off a little bit since safety professionals are in such high demand. So where you used to need 5-10 years of experience before moving into a leadership role, I worked with one candidate who’d only been in the industry for 4 years and he was the top safety guy at his company. So it depends a little on the size of the company and how high the demand is.
Is there a standard salary range for Safety Managers/Directors?
Michael: Safety can be very expensive because when people get injured on the job, it can shut a company down. So safety professionals make a lot of money – in the range of $150K to $200K for a Safety Director at a large company.
Billy: Safety Managers usually fall between $110K and $130K. Directors will usually be between $150K and $200K, but with a huge company with a lot of subsidiaries, it might be closer to $250K.
Do Safety Manager/Director roles usually require a degree or any specific education?
Michael: Many – but not all – companies are looking for some kind of formal education in safety, a bachelor’s or associate degree.
Billy: There’s not a super high educational barrier to entry into safety, at least to get started – there’s a lot of curriculum out there to get several certifications (OSHA, CPR, etc.), and then with higher-level certifications like CSP and CHS they’ll get recognized by recruiters or bots looking for those acronyms on resume submissions. Then, it’s common for entry-level safety pros to ask for additional certifications they want, and companies will often cover those – whether they’re higher-level certifications or CPR instructor trainings so they can bring those in house. Throughout a safety career, there’s also always continuing education that needs to happen.
What 3 traits are hiring managers looking for in Safety Managers/Directors?
Billy: First is being able to do public speaking and instruction. Usually the first meeting of every day on site is a safety meeting – so you have to know what trades are going on right then and what the schedule looks like so you can speak directly about those issues and prep the workers on site for what safe processes look like that day. Second is a collaborative, proactive, team approach to safety. Companies don’t want a safety leader who seems like they’re snooping around and trying to dock people – of course, they WILL point out and penalize unsafe practices, but it’s about educating people and building their safety practices and being consistent. They want someone who can communicate, “Hey, my job is to make sure everybody goes home at the end of the day. I’m telling you this because I care about you and don’t want anything to happen to you.” Third – and this is newer in the more elevated safety roles – is the importance of being able to communicate and liaise with owners. Within the last couple of years, safety has become part of the preconstruction process, where Safety Directors go with the precon team to win the work, explaining the safety program and plan for getting the job done safely. We have a client who won a huge data center job even though they were third in price because they impressed the client the most in terms of safety. More and more, contractors are prioritizing safety, putting the well-being of their employees first while also preventing tragedy and protecting their brand.
Michael: I’d say soft skills are the main things they’re looking for. They’re asking for “culture builders” – someone who can come in and be part of the team, gently but firmly steering people toward a culture of safety. For upper-level folks, it’s not about checking boxes, it’s about conducting trainings and writing policies and procedures in a way that people will respond well to. They also need people who are strong trainers and educators. And people who are very thorough – there are a lot of facets to this type of role.
Are all of these roles full time, W-2 positions?
Michael: No. Safety professionals fall into two large buckets: contractual (1099) or full time (W-2). W-2 work is more permanent, full time, with benefits. But 1099 work can be beneficial in some cases. While Safety Managers are usually based in the office, in one place, and do earn benefits, they also earn a lower daily pay rate and less per diem since they’re not usually traveling out of town. Contract work usually involves a lot of travel and it doesn’t come with benefits, but it does pay very well. Some people can end up working only about 7 months out of the year because the pay is so high. So, some people want that chance to build up a wealth of experience prior to pursuing a more permanent, full time Safety Manager or Director role.
What are the major job duties being asked of Safety Managers/Directors?
Michael: Lots of effective communication – clear communications among all stakeholders, up and down the ladder, from the people doing the work to the executive boardroom. Being a strong leader and being a true culture builder. Risk assessment – conducting thorough assessments to mitigate disaster before it happens. Planning and putting contingencies in place before anything goes wrong. Educating the workers. Monitoring sites and performing regular inspections. Being able to properly report when violations occur – calling in all the witnesses, dotting all the I’s and crossing the T’s for documentation. And being a forward-thinker, staying in front of what’s coming from the big regulatory organizations. Logistically, on large projects, they’ll be required to be on site pretty much all the time. For smaller, less complex projects, they might have safety folks drop in and out.
Billy: I agree. It’s typically mandated for at least one safety person to be on site at all times – and if not on site daily, then the person has to be able to respond if something comes up, so there’s a lot that’s demanded of them.
What final advice would you give to someone who wants to be a Safety Manager/Director?
Michael: Start by getting those trainings – OSHA 30 and 10, First Aid, CPR, AED (defibrillator), etc. Get that training under your belt. Often, companies will pay for those certifications!
Billy: You just have to be able to get along with people – if you’re not good with people, or if you’re quiet and reserved, it’s just not going to work. So develop those people skills. You also have to get specific trainings for certain jobs to know what to do in case HAZMAT situations come up – you have to know the particulars of every job, what’s going to happen, how materials react to air and water, when to evacuate, how incidents could affect surrounding areas, etc. At its core, this work is about technical expertise, clear communication, and taking action to protect people and communities.
