Health and Safety Engineers Interview Questions & Answers

Health and safety engineers combine knowledge of engineering and of health and safety to develop procedures and design systems to protect people from illness and injury and property from damage.

Interviewers look for candidates who demonstrate excellent skills such as:

• Creativity
• Communication skills
• Critical-thinking skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Observational skills

In this blog, we discuss commonly asked interview questions during job interviews for health and safety engineers’ positions. We also discuss the qualities that interviewers look for in successful candidates. In other words, we’re here to help you out!

Also, read more about frequently asked job interview questions here and check our job interview preparation checklist.

Skills Interviewers Look For In Successful Candidates

Below we discuss the skills that you can highlight in your answers to demonstrate that you’re qualified for the job.

Communication skills

Why the interviewer is interested in your communication skills:

Health and safety engineers must be able to interpret federal and state regulations and their intent so that they can propose proper designs for specific work environments.

Health and safety engineers also prepare and present training materials to workers and must be able to describe new regulations and procedures to a variety of audiences.

Learn more about communication skills interview questions and how to answer them!

Creativity

Why the interviewer is interested in your creative skills:

Health and safety engineers produce designs showing potential problems and remedies for them. They must be creative in order to deal with situations that are unique to a project.

Related: Safety Manager Cover Letter Examples & Writing Guide

Critical-thinking skills

Why the interviewer is interested in your critical-thinking skills:

Health and safety engineers must be able to identify hazards to humans and property in the workplace or in the home before those hazards cause material damage or become a health threat.

Related: What Does a Health Inspector Do?

Observational skills

Why the interviewer is interested in your observational skills:

Health and safety engineers must observe and learn how operations function so that they can identify risks to people and property. This requires the ability to think in terms of overall processes within an organization. Health and safety engineers can then recommend systemic changes to minimize risks.

Related: Safety Coordinator vs. Safety Manager – What’s The Difference?

Problem-solving skills

Why the interviewer is interested in your problem-solving skills:

In designing solutions for entire organizational operations, health and safety engineers must take into account processes from more than one system at the same time. In addition, they must try to anticipate a range of human reactions to the changes they recommend.

Learn more about problem-solving skills interview questions and how to answer them!

(source: bls.gov)

Health and Safety Engineers Job Interview Questions & Answers

During a job interview, the hiring manager wants to discuss several things. Think of your:

• Employment history
• Skills and abilities
• Accomplishments
• Job qualifications
• Educational background
• Career goals
• Personality

Below you find a list of commonly asked interview questions.

Examples Of General Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. How would you describe yourself?
3. Why do you want to work here?
4. What interests you about this position?
5. Walk me through your resume.
6. What motivates you?
7. Why are you leaving your current job?
8. Describe your work ethic.
9. What is your greatest strength?
10. How does your experience qualify you for this job?
11. What is your greatest weakness?
12. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
13. Tell me about a challenging work situation and how you overcame it.
14. What are your expectations for this position?
15. What are your career goals?
16. Why should we hire you?
17. What did you like most about your last position?
18. What did you like least about your last position?
19. How do you handle stress?
20. What is your greatest accomplishment?

Learn how to answer these common job interview questions!

Examples Of Specific Behavioral Interview Questions

Learn more about answering behavioral interview questions by using the STAR interview technique.

1. What’s your experience with writing an emergency planning?
2. Tell me about a rewarding teamwork experience.
3. What do you think are essential skills for a health and safety engineer to be successful?
4. How do you make sure your health and safety knowledge stays up to date?
5. What did you do in the last year to improve your knowledge in the fields of health and safety?
6. Tell me about a time when you recommended a product safety feature.
7. What precautions are needed for (or to avoid) ‘X’?
8. Tell me about some of the most recent projects you have worked on.
9. Which of your prior work experience will help you most in this position?
10. What do you think are the hazards of ‘X’?
11. How do you prevent ‘X’ from happening?
12. What qualities do you have that would help you on the job?
13. Tell me about a time you thought out of the box to solve a problem.
14. What is the main cause of ‘X’?
15. How would you rate your ‘(insert specific skill required for the job)’ skills?
16. What’s your specialty as a health and safety engineer?

Learn more about questions to ask the interviewer during your job interview.