Protecting Labor Through the Public Sector: Essential Skills and Career Pathways
Luke Smith is a writer and researcher turned blogger. Since finishing college he has been trying his hand at being a freelance writer. He enjoys writing on a variety of topics but technology and digital marketing topics are his favorite. When he isn’t writing you can find him traveling, hiking, or gaming.
There’s been a greater emphasis lately on the rights and experiences of workers. This has come to light, particularly as a result of the Great Resignation, in which employees were leaving their jobs due to a range of conditions that were considered to be unfair or unreasonable. Not to mention that there have been a significant number of strikes across multiple industries.
There’s little argument that protecting workers from unsafe or unfair conditions is vital. Indeed, you may find the recent publicity on labor relations leaves you wanting to play a more active role in maintaining healthy and ethical environments for employees to thrive in. Pursuing a public sector career in labor protection could offer opportunities to make a difference as well as present an enriching professional experience.
Diverse Roles to Make a Difference
There’s a rich variety of labor protection roles you can take on in the public sector. Each with the potential to make a difference to the safety, well-being, and equal treatment of workers. It’s worth taking a moment to explore some of the positions and what they have to offer you.
Some options here include:
Safety inspector
Safety inspectors are, in effect, front-line influencers of labor protection. They visit workplaces and ensure that the companies are compliant with relevant safety guidelines and enforce these standards where necessary. There are a range of federal agencies that are responsible for regulating worker safety in this way. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) sets the standards for more generalized workplace elements. Employees’ responsibilities in this agency may not just be limited to inspecting standards, but also providing relevant training resources to businesses. Inspectors can also work in industry-specialized safety, such as the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA), or work to ensure application of the Jones Act that outlines protections for maritime workers.
Median salary: $70,210
Social media manager
It may not be immediately obvious, but social media managers have a role to play in worker safety. After all, government agencies, such as OSHA and MSHA, maintain social media accounts that keep both workers and businesses informed about changing standards, available resources, and protections for whistleblowing. The duties of a social media manager include studying trends in your target audience and engaging with users to build followers and ensure effective interactions. You’ll also be making reports to other departments about social media use and where improvements can be made. Each of these tasks can make you an integral part of worker protection communication efforts.
Median salary: $62,800
Equal employment opportunity specialist
Worker protection isn’t just about physical safety measures. It’s also vital to ensure that every worker in the public sector is treated fairly and without discrimination. As a result, most government departments have equal employment opportunity specialists. In this role, you’ll be tasked with helping the departments you work with to develop, evaluate, and apply effective diversity and inclusivity protocols. This includes ensuring fair hiring processes, establishing standards for accessible workplaces, and educating workers on inclusive behavior, among other elements.
Median salary: $89,314
There’s a rich variety of labor protection roles you can take on in the public sector.
LUKE SMITH
Relevant Qualifications and Experience
All worker protection roles in the public sector carry significant levels of responsibility. As a result, many agencies expect significant educational and experiential standards from candidates. If you’re planning on pursuing this, the elements you’ll need to consider as part of your career pathways should include:
Undergraduate degree
In the majority of cases, you’ll be expected to hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Wherever possible, you should plan for this to be in a subject area that provides you with skills and knowledge relevant to labor protection. For instance, if you’re pursuing a safety inspector role, you could consider a course related to the field you want to be an inspector in, such as engineering, construction, or biology. Social media managers can certainly benefit from a degree in marketing or business management. While equal employment opportunities specialists are likely to benefit from degrees in sociology or human resources (HR) management.
Specialist degree or certification
While a bachelor’s degree is a minimum expectation, you may find you’re able to compete more effectively with other candidates and thrive in the role if you have more specialist qualifications. There are various master’s degree programs that give you the opportunity to focus your knowledge base on areas such as labor relations, safety management, or risk assessment. If you want to work with OSHA, you might also consider gaining OSHA certifications in relevant areas. Depending on what you wish to specialize in, you could take courses in becoming a Construction Certified Safety and Health Official, a General Industry Certified Safety and Health Official, or a Certified Occupational Safety Specialist (COSS), among others.
Work experience
Academic credentials are certainly important gauges of your knowledge. However, having relevant experience can help you to demonstrate a more practical understanding of your intended role. Therefore, it’s worth seeking out some work experience either during your university break times or in a part-time job. This may involve gaining internships with government agencies or the safety departments of private companies. In your job, talk to your employer about your career interests and spend time shadowing risk assessors, compliance officers, or others related to your target area of expertise.
Nurturing Effective Soft Skills
Technical skills and experience are essential in labor protection roles. However, these aren’t the only abilities you should cultivate. Having a strong set of soft skills can help you to be productive and enable you to interact with other parties in ways that boost your career.
Some aspects to focus on here include:
Empathy and sensitivity
When you’re seeking a career in labor protection, the welfare of workers is your priority. This means that you need to be able to interact with them in a meaningful manner. This is where empathetic and sensitive skills are crucial. You must be able to put yourself into the mindset of workers to appreciate their challenges from their perspectives. You must also interact with them on difficult subjects without causing further distress. If you need to develop these abilities further, you may find it useful to perform volunteer work with community members experiencing difficult circumstances.
Conflict resolution
Working in labor protection — particularly in front-line roles — may mean that you experience conflict on a regular basis. This may be businesses disagreeing with the findings or enforcement actions of government agencies. It could involve conflicts between workers and their employers. As a result, you should seek to build conflict resolution skills that revolve around clear communication and crisis de-escalation. You may be able to build these by prioritizing experiences in which groups of people work together in stressful situations, such as outdoor survival and local government.
Conclusion
Public sector careers in labor protection can see you making a real difference to workforces across the country. There are various roles, ranging from front-line OSHA safety inspectors to social media managers for government labor protection agencies. Take the time to gain at least a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, though specialist certifications and experience are certainly beneficial. It’s also vital not to overlook transferable skills, such as empathy and conflict resolution, that can help you thrive in the field.
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