How to become an occupational health and safety adviser

Official title: Occupational health and safety adviser

Also called: Occupational health and safety coordinator, Occupational health and safety officer, Occupational and environmental health professional, Health and safety adviser, Health and safety consultant, Health and safety representative, Health and safety rep

Occupational health and safety advisers monitor workplace risks, train employees on procedures, and record and investigate health and safety incidents.

Main tasks

• Advise communities and workplaces on safety
• Monitor workplace safety risks
• Investigate health and safety incidents
• Design and run health and safety programmes
• Train employees
• Use data to evaluate processes and problems
• Work with specialists to plan worker care
• Test workplaces for environmental hazards

How to become one

You usually need a qualification and experience to become an occupational health and safety adviser. You usually need NCEA Level 2 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: an entry certificate in workplace health and safety; to do entry training in workplace health and safety; an intermediate certificate in workplace health and safety; to do intermediate or advanced training in workplace health and safety; a New Zealand Diploma in Workplace Health and Safety Management (Level 6); experience in similar work.

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Ways in

• Certificates and diplomas: Entry certificates in workplace health and safety. TEC links this job to study in public health studies. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Workplace Health and Safety Practice. Usually 4 months. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $53,000 a year one year after study and $59,000 five years after; 72% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

• Most common pay: $70,000 to $114,000 a year (median $90,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
• Lower: $55,000 a year · Upper: $140,000 a year
• TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
• Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
• People employed in the group Occupational and Environmental Health Professionals: 3,102 at the 2018 Census and 3,717 at the 2023 Census (+19.8%). Past change, not a forecast.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• About 2,600 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
• In the group Occupational and Environmental Health Professionals, 60% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
• Where people in the group Occupational and Environmental Health Professionals work (2023 Census): Auckland 30.8%, Canterbury 13.6%, and Wellington 11.2%.

Related jobs

• Occupational hygienist
• Environmental and public health officer
• Medical and health services manager
• Clinical research coordinator
• Health information systems coordinator
• Clinical data manager

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Questions people ask

How do I become an occupational health and safety adviser?

You usually need a qualification and experience to become an occupational health and safety adviser. You usually need NCEA Level 2 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: an entry certificate in workplace health and safety; to do entry training in workplace health and safety; an intermediate certificate in workplace health and safety; to do intermediate or advanced training in workplace health and safety; a New Zealand Diploma in Workplace Health and Safety Management (Level 6); experience in similar work.

How much does an occupational health and safety adviser earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $90,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $70,000 to $114,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as an occupational health and safety adviser grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of an occupational health and safety adviser?

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

Sources

• Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), 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

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026