In the Sept/Oct edition of Safeguard magazine we pose three questions based on stories in the magazine. One of them is this:
This year's H&S income survey found the median base income of its 377 full-time respondents was $113,480.
From your knowledge of what other careers offer, how reasonable is this figure?
Feel free to respond here on the Forum, or privately here via a Survey Monkey form.
An edited selection of responses will be published in the Nov/Dec edition, but with no names attached. One randomly selected person will receive a prize, namely a copy of the book Pesticides and Health: How New Zealand Fails in Environmental Protection, by Neil Pearce.
I think this is about right for a mid level HS person
I have recently seen anything from applicants wanting anything from 100k to 250k (250 was an outier lol!) with most wanting somewhere between 100 to 130 (not including any package like a car etc) just a a raw base pay.
I've also seen applications seeking everything started from $100,000 to $250,000 . As I know m ost people desire a base wage of between $125 and $150, without any additional benefits like a vehicle or other packages.
I concur with both Steve and Corey.
My concern is the competency of the people in question.
I believe Coreys' estimate is fair for a mid to upper level H&S role, something that requires a competent operator, who has relevant qualifications, experience and membership to a governing body (NZISM, HASANZ, IOSH, etc).
I have seen junior to mid level H&S roles range from $70K to $115K, but this is over the past 8-9 years, now with inflation and cost of living going up, my thinking is that this will increase the pay of these roles.
After 30 years in Health & Safety within many different Industries, I have yet to come across a salary of that amount, but in saying that, it also depends on what qualifications you have and the type and size of the Business.Do they offer go Salaries, i have recently applied for a number of Roles and the Highest offer I received was $26.00 an hour, one business had the check to offer minimum wage rate., they wanted an experienced qualified person but were not prepared to pay any higher for the role as a Health & Safety Specialist. What a joke a real kick in the head. Fortunately I was able to receive a role with an $80k starting rate.
As a person who run a Health and Safety consultancy out of AKL i have found a couple of things.
1 - safety people (good ones) are hard to come by and thus at a premuim driving up salery expectations
2 - we have yet to empoy someone for under 105k as a package
All safety consultants in NZ should now in my opinion be required to be at least LVL 6 qualed, NZISM and HASNZ registered to help ensure that we have professional bodies behind us holding poor performers in the industry to account.
But i do take your point that there is a wide spread of salaries accross NZ
This year's H&S income survey found the median base income of its 377 full-time respondents was $113,480. From your knowledge of what other careers offer, how reasonable is this figure?
Well there are obviously some folks being very well paid out there however not-for-profit and charities cannot meet those rates. I have worked in both the disability and charity healthcare sectors for years and am embarrassed at what some of my colleagues are earning. (Yes I am qualified and experienced.)
Although I consider my work is just as valuable, within a healthcare orientated industry I am always disappointed at how the Nurses can hold employers to ransom (teachers also come to mind) - while other professions have to stand aside at pay round time...........
My experiences with pay haven't been too good either, thank goodness not minimum wage offers though but certainly always less than $100k. I do understand that it is linked to qualifications hence why I am working towards a level 7 H&S Grad Dip but do have a level 3 H&S qualification as well as a BE(mech) and ME(management). I sort of fell into H&S helping out the family business but found I liked using my technical knowledge to help others hence continued with it. Also I guess the opportunities and competition for jobs is different in different areas of the country. The family business was at the opposite end of the country from where I live and difficult to maintain the job thus I started looking closer to home limiting my search to the area I live as my family (and me :smile: ) are settled here i.e. am not willing to move for work but have still been quite gob smacked at the high salaries some earn as seen in the SafeGuard survey and conversely some of the poor rates offered that I have seen when job hunting.
I have 15 years experience in high risk industries and nearly finished L6 qualification, my base salary is around the figure they have mentioned as the average without extra's added on. Senior H&S leader roles are going for more like $140-$160 and I am currently at manager/business partner level, so I guess it feels about right in the scheme of things.
do you have a breakdown of the types industry they are in?
i would be interested to know what portion of those sit in high risk industries, large organizations that have multi site responsibilities, are consulting that type of thing.
Also what portion of the industry does this represent?
I think there is a huge amount that goes into the salary / age equation.