If you're like most people, you want to enjoy life out in public and you want to be as healthy and safe as you can be while doing it. You want food to be handled properly, hotels to maintain a certain level of cleanliness, and toxic chemicals to be stored as far away from your face as possible.

Maybe you take that attitude a bit further, though. It'd also be nice to assume that all workplaces are following employment laws, from breaks to overtime to conditions on the job. You want workers to be properly trained, properly treated, and, above all else, you just want everything to be planned out and run as smoothly as possible. That doesn't seem like so much to ask, right?

 

"Let's see...a bunch of weird-looking wires? Check." (Source)

Most businesses will comply with this stuff all on their own, but just to make sure―and also to catch the ones that don't―there's the occupational health and safety specialist, better known as the favorite authority figure of germaphobes everywhere.

That job title might be new to you, but you've probably heard of these people. The occupational health and safety worker is your friendly neighborhood health inspector. And with a salary of $66,000 per year plus the chance to earn much more, it's an occupation that deserves a closer examination (source).

Occupational health and safety specialists encompass a wide array of inspector positions (source). You might be most familiar with health inspectors in a restaurant or hotel situation, but you'll find inspectors all over the place, including construction sites, airports, apartment buildings, mines, shipyards, and power plants. There are tons of potential health hazards in those places, meaning there are also tons of good reasons to have a person dedicated to making sure they stay safe.

If you're the type who loves to make sure everything is up to snuff, you can tailor your career to your interests. You can work for a company and make sure they have an eye on safety, or you can work for the government—with the added excitement of being able to fine businesses that are doing things wrong. Whether you're into choo-choos, boo-boos, or poo-poos, there's a position out there for you.

In the health inspecting line of work, the way you conduct yourself is just as important as the knowledge you stuff into your brain. Communication skills are crucial, because you'll be interviewing staff, training employees, and occasionally explaining to stubborn managers exactly why they're being fined. Most of the positions will have some foundation in math and science, from measuring distances between fire extinguishers to recognizing chemical hazards.

 

This doesn't seem workplace compliant. (Source)

You also have to know the laws and regulations you're enforcing, even down to memorizing their finer points. It's not Shakespeare, but you still need to be able to understand it.

Most people don't want to think about the health and safety concerns of places they eat, shop, work, and play. They just want to eat, shop, work, and play there. Instead, they want someone else to do the thinking for them―someone like you. 

So if you think you might like to protect folks from nasty diseases, life-altering injuries, and your everyday abuse and neglect, then read on and see if this job checks off all the items on your high-standard list.

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