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Science

Occupational health and safety technicians

Typically requires High school diploma or equivalent

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
MixedMedium uncertainty
top 20% of all 730 careers

Analyst take: Strong market prospects — +8.5% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (40/100).

54
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. None = broadly exposed — many of its tasks are automatable and its skills are widely shared. (Exposure ≠ job loss; see the bears below.)

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +Strong projected growth — outpaces 89% of careers (+8.5%).
  • +Low AI exposure — resilient (40% of tasks exposed).
🐻 Bears say
  • Its softest spot: pay is mid-pack ($58,440).
Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+8.5%
Median pay
$58,440
AI exposure
40/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 1,213 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$37,675
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$26,500
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
1.4×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Public Health GeneticsSurgical Technology/TechnologistQuality Control and Safety Technologies/TechniciansPharmacology and Toxicology
Selective schools offering these majors
Harvard University
MA · 4% admit rate
$85,540/yr
$101,817 grad pay
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay
Brown University
RI · 5% admit rate
$87,648/yr
$93,487 grad pay
Duke University
NC · 6% admit rate
$87,072/yr
$97,800 grad pay
Johns Hopkins University
MD · 6% admit rate
$85,947/yr
$87,555 grad pay
Swarthmore College
PA · 7% admit rate
$84,103/yr
$80,257 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

scienceresearchanalysis