How to become an environmental and occupational health and hygiene professional

Official title: Environmental and occupational health and hygiene professionals

Also called: Environmental health officer, Occupational health and safety adviser, Occupational hygienist, Radiation protection expert

Environmental and occupational health and hygiene professionals assess, plan and implement programmes to recognize, monitor and control environmental factors that can potentially affect human health, to ensure safe and healthy working conditions and to prevent disease or injury caused by chemical, physical, radiological and biological agents or ergonomic factors.

Main tasks

• Developing, implementing and reviewing programmes and policies to minimize potential environmental and occupational risks to health and safety
• Preparing and implementing plans and strategies for the safe, economic and suitable disposal of commercial, industrial, medical and household wastes
• Implementing prevention programmes and strategies for communicable diseases, food safety, wastewater treatment and disposal systems, recreation and domestic water quality, contaminated and hazardous substances
• Identifying, reporting and documenting hazards, and assessing and controlling risks in the environment and workplace and advising on compliance with relevant law and regulations
• Developing, implementing and monitoring programmes to minimize workplace and environmental pollution involving chemical, physical and biological hazards
• Advising on methods to prevent, eliminate, control, or reduce the exposure of workers, students, the public and the environment to radiological and other hazards
• Promoting ergonomic principles within the workplace such as matching furniture, equipment and work activities to the needs of employees
• Providing education, information, training, and advice to persons at all levels on aspects of occupational hygiene and environmental health
• Recording and investigating injuries and equipment damage, and reporting safety performance
• Coordinating arrangements for the compensation, rehabilitation and return to work of injured workers

Ways in

• University: Health & Public Health degrees, Offered by 11 universities in Hong Kong

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
• About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Physiotherapists
• Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians
• Dieticians and nutritionists
• Health professionals not elsewhere classified
• Audiologists and speech therapists

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Questions people ask

How do I become an environmental and occupational health and hygiene professional?

Ways in include: Health & Public Health degrees.

Do you need a degree to become an environmental and occupational health and hygiene professional?

Usually. 88% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of an environmental and occupational health and hygiene professional?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026