The field of safety is difficult to define. The safety profession has grown to include health, fire protection, insurance, management, systems, law enforcement, environmental, legal, industrial hygiene, engineering, disease control, and well as other functions. Safety professionals come from many different backgrounds. The term safety engineer is even more difficult to define since it is frequently used to describe many safety functions that may or may not involve engineering. Many safety professionals use the title of safety engineer even though they may not have any engineering training. The majority of the membership of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) are not engineers. There is also discussion within the engineering community. Are all engineers "safety engineers"? Is safety engineering a separate engineering discipline? What are the educational and licensure requirements for safety engineers? While the definition of safety, safety professional and safety engineer may be unclear, it is clear that the safety engineering profession has the knowledge, skill, experience, and insight to reduce hazards in almost every facet of the society. Safety engineers can be effective in reducing or eliminating workplace injuries, fatalities, and disease. The same safety engineering principles can be applied to consumer safety as well.
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