The opportunities for well qualified men are many and constantly increasing. There is undoubtedly a future in safety engineering for those who are well trained for the work.
The nature of the casualty insurance business is such that men with the technical training and skill of safety engineers are in more demand, in the actual details of the business, than perhaps are the fire insurance inspectors in the fire insurance field.
There is a close connection between workmen’s compensation insurance and safety engineering due primarily to the fact that the insurance rate is made to depend on safety conditions. This necessitates the employment of a large number of inspectors and safety engineers. Up to the present time there has been a demand for safety engineers and competent inspectors far exceeding the supply, and it is believed that these conditions will continue to exist, as industrial plants are now absorbing a large number of these men.
The State compensation laws are awakening all of our industries to the necessity of prevention of accidents to wage-earners. Large industrial corporations have safety departments, with a chief safety engineer and many assistants.
Capable safety engineers receive good salaries, and those especially well qualified and experienced are often advanced to executive positions in the larger industries.
State factory inspectors and casualty insurance inspectors receive from $1,200 to $2,000 per year. Capable safety engineers in industry receive from $1,500 to $5,000 per year.
The following excerpts from letters received from prominent men in the casualty insurance and engineering field show the opportunities in this profession:
“In the field of safety engineering there is an exceptionally good opportunity for men who are adapted to this work. Even in normal times employers in this field of endeavor have found difficulty in securing men with proper educational foundations and ability. There is always a demand for men in this field and the opportunities for advancement are exceptionally good.”
“The field of safety engineering is a rapidly extending one. As the people awake to the tremendous economic drain of the waste of life through accidents, more and more attention will be given to these matters, and the demand for men who understand them will strengthen.”
“The opportunities for safety engineering are as large, or larger than the opportunities presented in other branches of engineering work. The field has hardly been scratched on the surface.”