Imagine standing on an airport tarmac next to an enormous Boeing 747 airplane. The pilot has just started the plane's engines and even with protective earmuffs, it is still noisy. But that is why you are here - you are an occupational hygienist and you have just begun an evaluation of your city's brand-new airport. You will spend the next few weeks using a variety of instruments to measure the levels of potential hazards in and around the airport. You want to ensure that the multimillion-dollar complex employees have a safe, healthy work environment.
As an occupational hygienist, you are working at the airport to ensure sufficient measures are in place to protect employees from potential hazards. You start by assessing noise pollution. Employees must be sufficiently shielded from the noise of airplanes taxiing, taking off, and landing so as not to damage their hearing. You check that noise levels inside hangars and the terminal building do not exceed acceptable workplace limits.
When employees must be on the tarmac when jet engines are running, you check that adequate hearing protection has been provided and is being used properly. You will also measure air quality on the tarmac to ensure that exhaust from airplanes and the airport's vehicles are not threatening employees' health and air quality inside the terminal to see if the building's ventilation system is providing enough fresh air. The thousands of employees at the airport are counting on your evaluation to make their workplace safe.
Job duties vary significantly from one position to the next, but in general, occupational hygienists are involved in the following job duties:
If you are a high school student considering a career as an environmental geophysicist, you should have a keen interest in:
If you are a post-secondary student considering a career as an environmental geophysicist, the following programs are most applicable.
In most cases, the minimum education requirement to work as an environmental geophysicist is a graduate degree. Pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in fields related to environmental geophysics can enhance your expertise, career prospects, and ability to contribute to the field. These advanced degrees offer specialized knowledge and skills highly valued in both the professional and academic worlds.
In many provinces, geophysicists must obtain registration and licensure with their provincial association as a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.). The certification process for geophysicists is similar to that of engineering professions and is typically overseen by the same regulatory body.
Our Environmental Professional (EP) designation can also help you progress in your chosen environmental career.
Technical Skills
Personal and Professional Skills
Environmental employers look for professionals who can combine technical knowledge with soft skills. Watch our free webinar “Essential Not Optional: Skills Needed to Succeed in Canada’s Environmental Industry” or take our Essential Skills courses.
As key executive leaders who shape their company’s sustainability policy, CSOs work in many different types of organizations. Common employers of CSOs include:
Search for jobs on the ECO Canada Job Board.
If you are a post-secondary student seeking a CSO role in the future, consider pursuing a university degree related to:
In addition to the educational fields mentioned above, you will also need extensive management experience to become a CSO, with well-developed human resources management and leadership skills. Consider educational seminars or post-graduate studies that will hone your analytical thinking, such as:
Our Environmental Professional (EP) designation can also help you progress in your chosen environmental career.
Technical Skills
Personal and Professional Skills
Environmental employers seek professionals who combine technical knowledge with personal and professional skills. Watch our free webinar “Essential Not Optional: Skills Needed to Succeed in Canada’s Environmental Industry” or take our Essential Skills courses.
Responsible companies that use industrial chemicals rely heavily on professionals such as Jean Westergard to make sure that their raw materials and products do not become a health or safety hazard for employees or the public. "My company produces bleach and fabric softener - products made from potentially hazardous chemicals such as chlorine," Miss Westergard explains. "As an environmental health and safety technician, my job is to make sure that those materials don't become a problem." "My work is divided into two areas, environmental and safety.
On the environmental side, I conduct air monitoring and sampling, monitor waste disposal, and keep close tabs on the treatment of waste effluents. My findings are reported both to company management and to the government. "On the safety side, I do regular safety checks, investigate accidents, help workers with compensation claims, and make sure safety equipment is working properly. I also do a lot of exposure monitoring - such as dust, fume and noise testing. "
Jean's job also requires excellent communication skills because an important dimension of her job is teaching others how to work safely with hazardous substances. "I do lots of training on topics such as the transportation of dangerous goods, and workplace hazardous materials information systems," Jean says. "It all contributes to making this plant safe for people and the environment."
Occupational and industrial hygienists are considered an environmental role because they play an important part in protecting workers and the environment from hazardous substances. Industrial hygiene is a profession focused on anticipating, identifying, evaluating, controlling, and preventing environmental factors and workplace stresses that could lead to illness, deteriorated health and well-being, or significant discomfort and inefficiency at the workplace.
Occupational and industrial hygienists significantly impact the environment because they work to identify, evaluate, and control workplace hazards that can have adverse effects on the environment. The work of occupational and industrial hygienists involves evaluating the potential for exposure to hazardous materials and chemicals in the workplace. By identifying these hazards and risks, they can develop and implement control measures to reduce or eliminate the risks to workers and the environment. Occupational and industrial hygiene professionals are trained to assess the potential environmental effects of workplace activities and to create and implement mitigation plans.
Marine geologists are classified into the following occupational grouping:
NOC Code: 21102 – Geoscientists and oceanographers
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) provides a standardized language for describing the work performed by Canadians in the labour market. It gives statisticians, labour market analysts, career counsellors, employers, and individual job seekers a consistent way to collect data and describe and understand the nature of work within different occupations.
See ECO’s Blue National Occupational Standard for a career competency profile for a marine geologist that outlines the specific skills, knowledge, and behaviours required for individuals to perform effectively in this particular role. This profile is a benchmark for training and development, ensuring consistency and quality across professions within the blue economy.
Dans un esprit de respect, de réciprocité et de vérité, nous honorons et reconnaissons Moh’kinsstis, le territoire traditionnel du Traité 7 et les pratiques orales de la confédération des Pieds-Noirs : Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, ainsi que les nations Îyâxe Nakoda et Tsuut’ina. Nous reconnaissons que ce territoire abrite la Nation métisse de l’Alberta, la région 3 au sein de la patrie historique des Métis du Nord-Ouest. Enfin, nous reconnaissons toutes les nations qui vivent, travaillent et se divertissent sur ce territoire, et qui l’honorent et le célèbrent.
In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth, we acknowledge that we live, work, and gather on the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, including the Blackfoot Confederacy—comprising the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations—as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina Nations.
This land, known as Moh’kinsstis in the Blackfoot language and encompassing what is now Districts 5 and 6, is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3, within the historical Northwest Métis homeland.
We recognize and honour the deep connection these Nations have to the land, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share in its stewardship.
As we continue our work, we commit to learning from Indigenous knowledge systems, uplifting Indigenous voices, and fostering relationships rooted in equity, understanding, and reconciliation.
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