How To Become A Radiation Safety Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a radiation safety officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average radiation safety officer salary is $78,825. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 4-6 years of experience to become a radiation safety officer. Radiation safety officers with a OSHA Safety Certificate certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 7,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRadiation Safety OfficerUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $78,825

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.23%

Asian 5.66%

Black or African American 10.02%

Hispanic or Latino 14.24%

Unknown 6.18%

White 62.67%

Gender

female 23.03%

male 76.97%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a radiation safety officer

Explore radiation safety officer education requirements

Most common radiation safety officer degrees

Bachelor's

54.2 %

Associate

21.7 %

Master's

14.9 %

Start to develop specific radiation safety officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Safety Procedures	8.79%
Radiation Safety	7.82%
Health Physics	6.84%
RSO	6.19%
NRC	5.44%

Complete relevant radiation safety officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New radiation safety officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a radiation safety officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real radiation safety officer resumes.

Research radiation safety officer duties and responsibilities

Manage and facilitate extensive Safety/Security and HAZMAT training for all personnel.
Perform regulatory reviews in accordance with 10 CFR 50.59.
Distribute, collect, and return for analysis, employee quarterly and monthly dosimeters.
Craft and execute upgrade to hoisting & rigging practices in response to changing OSHA requirements.

Prepare your radiation safety officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your radiation safety officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a radiation safety officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable radiation safety officer resume templates

Build a professional radiation safety officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your radiation safety officer resume.

Apply for radiation safety officer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a radiation safety officer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do radiation safety officers rate their job?

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Radiation Safety Officer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020

Pros

Working as a safety officer keeps a you alert at all time,you talk safety,act safety,wear safety, see safety,do everything safety,you even smell danger and prevent it before happening and that's cool.

Cons

Nobody loves to die but I guess its inevitable,working as a safety officer you must be ready for anything.