Also called: U.S. Chemical Safety Board Investigator
Investigates explosions, fires, and toxic releases at chemical plants and refineries to find out why they happened and prevent the next one.
When a refinery explodes, CSB investigators deploy to the scene, interview workers, examine twisted equipment, and spend months reconstructing the accident. Their reports and animations are used to train engineers worldwide.
Federal pay. Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 10 years after high school. Bachelor's in chemical engineering or a related field, plus years of process safety experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry.
Growing about average. Very small agency.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps model explosions; working the scene, interviewing workers and finding causes stay human.
Classes: AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Calculus.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-5011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.