OccHyg Careers - Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety Education and Research Center

OccHyg Careers


The importance of the field of occupational hygiene (also referred to as industrial hygiene) has grown as society increasingly recognizes the need to maintain healthy and safe work environments. This has produced a climate where exciting and valuable career opportunities exist for well-qualified practitioners and researchers in industry, consulting, government organizations, and academic and research institutions.

CIH CERTIFICATION

The Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) credential is the global standard for certification in protecting the health and safety of workers and the public by anticipating, recognizing, evaluating, and controlling chemical, physical, ergonomic, or biological hazards. A CIH must meet requirements for education and experience, and through an examination, demonstrate knowledge and skills in areas relevant to the practice of occupational hygiene.

Learn more:
Board for Global EHS Credentialing (BGC)

SALARY

According to a 2019 salary survey by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the median salary is $73,000 for occupational hygienists 35 or younger with Masters degrees and 5 or fewer years of experience. The median starting salary reported by these young professionals is $59,000. For all occupational hygienists with Masters degrees, the median salary is $110,000. For occupational hygienists with doctoral degrees, the median salary is $120,000.

ALUMNI

View Alumni Profiles to read what our Occupational Hygiene alumni have to say about their current careers and their educational experience at the University of Minnesota.

Examples of postions held by alumni:

3M Company (PhD)
Vice President, Global Application Engineering and Regulatory

University of Texas Health Science Center (PhD)
Associate Professor

Amazon (MS)
Worldwide Industrial Hygiene Program Manager

Intel Corporation (MS)
Technology Development EHS Engineer

Apple (MS)
Global Industrial Hygiene Program Manager

Minneapolis VA Health Care System (MS)
Occupational Safety Manager

I AM IH VIDEO

The video below features Occupational Hygiene program alum Jessica Hauge, who works at 3M. The video is part of a marketing campaign by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) to tell stories about what industrial hygienists do.

“I ended up with a Master of Public Health degree in Industrial Hygiene, and it was the best decision I ever made to switch career paths.”
– Jessica Hauge