A lighting company safety officer builds and runs the safety program for crews working from lifts, ladders and rooftops near live circuits. The officer trains installers, audits retrofit and holiday jobs, keeps the injury log, and looks into every injury to find its cause.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, electrical contractors · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $62,330, middle half $77,710 to $122,000, 90th percentile $141,180. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Operations Manager
Department
Operations
Schedule
Weekdays 7 to 4, on call for injuries · Early yard visits before crews roll out, night audits of store retrofits, and roof checks during the holiday rush
As a Safety Officer in the lighting installation industry, you will ensure compliance with safety standards and facilitate crew training to maintain a safe working environment. Your role directly impacts the company's operational efficiency and employee well-being by minimizing workplace accidents and ensuring adherence to safety protocols.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Develop and implement safety policies and procedures to meet industry standards.
Conduct regular safety audits and inspections to identify potential hazards.
Lead safety training sessions and workshops for installation crews.
Investigate accidents and incidents to determine root causes and implement corrective actions.
Maintain records of safety-related incidents and compliance documentation.
Collaborate with management to integrate safety into project planning.
Utilize safety management software to track compliance and training.
Promote a culture of safety awareness among all employees.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct daily site inspections to ensure compliance with safety protocols.
Review and update safety documentation and records weekly.
Facilitate weekly safety briefings and training sessions.
Follow up on corrective actions from previous safety audits.
Prepare monthly safety performance reports for management review.
Coordinate with project managers to assess safety risks for upcoming projects.
Monitor use of personal protective equipment (PPE) on-site.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Incident rate ≤ 1.5 per 100 full-time workers.
Safety training completion rate ≥ 95% within 30 days of hire.
Audit compliance score ≥ 90% on monthly safety audits.
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) score ≥ 4.7/5.0.
30/60/90-day ramp expectations: Achieve 100% audit compliance within 90 days.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in Occupational Health and Safety or related field.
Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or equivalent certification.
Proficiency in safety management software and Microsoft Office Suite.
Strong communication and leadership skills.
Ability to conduct thorough investigations and report findings.
6. Preferred Experience
3+ years of experience in a safety role within the construction or installation industry.
Familiarity with OSHA regulations and industry best practices.
Experience in delivering safety training and workshops.
Previous work in lighting installation or related fields.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds.
Frequent standing, walking, and climbing ladders.
Exposure to outdoor weather conditions.
Required use of PPE, including hard hats and safety glasses.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours: Monday to Friday, 7 AM to 4 PM.
Occasional weekend work may be required during peak project times.
On-call for emergency safety incidents.
Seasonal fluctuations in workload based on project demands.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive salary based on experience, with performance bonuses tied to safety KPIs.
Payouts contingent on maintaining high CSAT scores and low incident rates.
Benefits include health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.
Professional development opportunities and safety certification reimbursements.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we prioritize safety, craftsmanship, and customer satisfaction. Our team is committed to delivering high-quality lighting installation services while fostering a culture of continuous improvement and employee growth. Join us to be part of a dynamic company where your contributions make a real difference.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What a safety officer handles at a lighting company
Lighting crews spend the day off the ground and close to power: a boom over a parking lot, a scissor lift in a store aisle, a ladder against a two-story roofline. Which OSHA rulebook applies depends on the job.
Many retrofits count as construction
OSHA has one set of rules for construction and another for general industry. The line decides which lift, power line and lockout rules apply. In a 2003 letter, OSHA said putting in a better type of equipment points to construction, and so does a big project. A swap for the same part leans toward upkeep. Most LED retrofits put a new kind of fixture in place of the old one, so plan them as construction. Holiday work is less clear, so get your safety consultant's call in writing. Source: OSHA letter, November 18, 2003: Maintenance vs. construction activities.
Lift rules look alike in both rulebooks
OSHA's aerial lift fact sheet points to both its construction and general industry lift rules. Only trained and authorized people run a bucket truck or boom. Whoever rides the bucket clips a harness or restraint belt lanyard to the boom or bucket, never to a nearby pole or roof. A worker moving to a different type of lift, or seen running one wrong, gets retrained. Source: OSHA fact sheet: Aerial lifts.
Shut it off, lock it, then test it
Retrofit crews open fixtures on building circuits, often at night. OSHA's general industry rule says to de-energize first unless that adds a hazard or can't be done, put a lock and a tag on each disconnect, and have a qualified person test with a meter before anyone touches a wire. A machine lockout program counts only if it covers electrical hazards, adds that test, and adds a backup safeguard whenever a tag goes on without a lock. Teach the same steps for construction jobs, so crews learn one routine. Source: eCFR: Selection and use of electrical work practices (29 CFR 1910.333).
Rooflines sit close to power lines
Holiday crews reach gutters and trees with ladders and poles, often near the service drop. On general industry work, OSHA keeps an unqualified worker 10 feet or more from lines up to 50 kV, counting the longest conductive object they hold. A pole with no insulating rating for that voltage counts as conductive. OSHA's lift fact sheet says to treat every overhead line as live and keep lifts 10 feet away. If a job counts as construction, other rules apply; hold the same distance anyway. Source: eCFR: Selection and use of electrical work practices (29 CFR 1910.333).
Maryland's heat rule reaches indoor retrofits
OSHA's federal heat rule is still a proposal, published in August 2024, with hearings that ended in July 2025. Maryland's own rule took effect September 30, 2024. It covers work indoors or outdoors once the heat index reaches 80 degrees, and high-heat steps, including rest breaks, start at 90. A summer retrofit under a hot warehouse roof can count. In a building with no mechanical ventilation, the employer measures temperature and humidity on site instead of using a weather report. Source: Maryland COMAR 09.12.32: Heat stress standards (effective September 30, 2024).
How much lighting company safety officers make
The closest BLS group for lighting company safety officers is occupational health and safety specialists. Occupational health and safety specialists who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $45.84 an hour ($95,340 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $90,150 median for occupational health and safety specialists in all industries. About 2,890 of the 140,610 occupational health and safety specialists in that survey work for electrical contractors.
Paid a salary plus the bonus the template links to safety numbers and customer scores. If part of it rides on the incident rate, weight it toward audits passed and hazards fixed, so nobody gains when an injury goes unreported.
Electrical contractors
$95,340$95,340 median Middle half $77,710–$122,000 10th–90th $62,330–$141,180
All industries
$90,150$90,150 median Middle half $69,560–$111,690 10th–90th $55,000–$134,950
$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Electrical contractors
$62,330
$77,710
$95,340
$122,000
$141,180
All industries
$55,000
$69,560
$90,150
$111,690
$134,950
BLS doesn’t publish pay for lighting installers on their own. These figures cover electrical contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has run the safety side of lift, ladder or roof work for a contractor
Can tell when a job falls under OSHA's construction rules and when it doesn't
Can watch a crew test a circuit and spot a skipped step
Writes up an injury with its chain of causes and the fix, then shares it with every crew
Can teach a ten-minute lift or lockout lesson on a tailgate before crews roll out
Teach these on the job
Your lift fleet, from bucket trucks to rented scissor lifts
Your retrofit kits and how each fixture opens
Holiday install methods for your clips and roof types
Your safety app, audit forms and training records
Which of the states you work in have their own heat rules
The officer works from a safety app or audit forms on a tablet, the OSHA 300 log and yearly summary, and a training tracker, and carries a voltage tester and multimeter to check crews' work. Candidates will ask how many crews and lifts they'll cover and how often they'll audit retrofits at night.
Lighting company safety officer interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Standing up to production pressure
A manager tells crews to skip harnesses on low-slope roofs to finish holiday installs faster. What do you do?
A strong answer: Stops the practice, talks with the manager, escalates to the COO if needed and documents it.
Behavioral · Training that changes behavior
Tell me about a safety training you delivered that changed how crews worked on ladders, roofs or lifts.
A strong answer: Used real examples and hands-on practice, then saw the change in field audits.
Set targets from your own injury logs and audit scores, and read the holiday season apart, since that's when crews are newest.
Incident rate ≤ 1.5 per 100 full-time workers
Count recordable cases from the OSHA 300 log against total hours worked from payroll, scaled to full-time workers. Review monthly, but judge the full year, since one or two cases swing a small company's rate.
Safety training completion rate ≥ 95% within 30 days of hire
Track each new hire's lift, ladder, electrical and heat modules by start date in the training records. Holiday hires count too, since they start in the busiest weeks of the year.
Audit compliance score ≥ 90% on monthly safety audits
Score each crew on one checklist: lift controls tested, gear clipped to the basket, circuits locked and tested, ladders set right. Count repeat findings apart from new ones.
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) score ≥ 4.7/5.0
Use the company's customer surveys and read the comments about site safety, such as cones around a lift in a lot or cords across a walkway. Those comments are the part a safety officer can change.
30/60/90-day ramp expectations
By day 30, audit every crew once. By day 60, close the most serious findings. By day 90, reach the audit goal the template sets for the ramp, with written lift, electrical and heat procedures in place.
Be careful. Under OSHA's recordkeeping rule, the way workers report injuries must not scare off a reasonable worker. Nobody can be fired or treated worse for reporting. A crew bonus that vanishes the week someone reports a cut hand can do exactly that. Keep the incident rate as a goal for the safety officer and managers, and reward crews for things they control, such as logged lift checks and audit fixes.
How much does a lighting company safety officer make?
Occupational health and safety specialists who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $45.84 an hour ($95,340 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $77,710 and $122,000 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Is NFPA 70E the law?
No. OSHA lists NFPA 70E, the electrical safety standard, as a national consensus standard and notes it is not an OSHA regulation. The rules OSHA enforces are its own electrical standards. A customer or general contractor can still require 70E practices in a contract, so read the safety section of each bid package before you price the work.
Can crews keep the lights on while they work on a retrofit?
OSHA's general industry electrical rule lists losing the lighting in an area as one example of a hazard that can justify not de-energizing. That is a narrow exception, not a reason to work hot because a store wants to stay open. Plan for work lights and switch off one circuit at a time instead. Only qualified workers, trained in the gear, tools and methods live work needs, may work on live parts.
Who trains crews on a new lift model, safety or fleet?
The safety officer decides who may run each type of lift and checks it in audits. The fleet and equipment manager handles the machines, including the walk-through on each new or rented model and the records that prove it. Write that split into the lift program, so a crew lead knows whose name goes on each sign-off.
Does a lighting company safety officer need a CSP?
The template asks for a Certified Safety Professional or an equivalent. To earn the CSP, you need at least a bachelor's degree and four years of safety work. You also need a credential from BCSP's qualifying list, such as the ASP, and a passed exam. So a true CSP brings more than the three years the template prefers, and will expect a salary to match. Decide what counts as equivalent before you post, and name it in the ad.
