The 511 is also known as OSHA 30. I do believe that they offer it on line. But you can probably get it for free at the union hall. You do not need an OSHA 501. All that does is give you the right to teach the OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 courses. It makes you a safety TRAINER. There is a HUUUUUGE difference between a safety trainer and a safety specialist. Quite a few of my guys have the 500 or 501, but it doesn't, in my opinion, make them better safety specialists.
You can take a lot of courses, and spend a lot of money doing it, and still not be employable as a safety specialist.
You need practical experience in dealing with actual safety issues. RP techs are generally the first place I go to when I need to hire someone. The majority of them have been doing the industrial safety along with the radiological safety on most of their jobs. Even those who haven't can translate one into the other without a lot of effort.
I've had a few people come in from the manual trades. some of them claimed to have done a lot of work as General Foremen or Supervisors - but obviously didn't pick up any leadership skills from that.
If you have 14 years in the UBC&J, a change in direction might be a little difficult. The Safety Professional, is a member of management. There is no union contract, no steward to protect you, usually no double-time, frequently no pension fund or vacation pay. I don't mean to make it sound bad. My guys and I do pretty well. But someone who is used to working under union contracts, with union benefits and rules, may not like the change.
Also, as a skilled tradesman you will have to go through a dramatic transition of your mind. You will have to forget everything you know about working like a carpenter without forgetting anything about how to do carpenter work. You'll have to learn everyone else's job too.
Your best path to jobs in safety is to take a few of these courses. Start with the OSHA 10 or OSHA 30. Don't try allof them or spend a lot of money yet. Then try to get on with a company as a supervisor for a while. Give the weekly safety meetings, do the inspection reports, write up the injury and near-miss reports, do the Job Hazard Analyses, and hangout with your safety man as much as possible. Try to learn what he knows. find out what he looks for and how he finds it. Start thinking like he does ( basically, you have to constantly ask yourself: "what is the stupidest thing that could be done right now?" or "What unlikely - nearly impossible - situation can come up and bite somebody in the ass right now?).
Then, grow a thick skin. You have to be wearing a hide like an elephant to do this job and not let it get to you. If you have sensitive feelings - or care even a little bit about what the workers think of you - you're cooked. You are going to have to stand in front of a group of people who have done a job for decades, and tell them how to do it. You are going to tell them things that they will think are stupid and un-necessary. You are going to subject yourself to ridicule just about daily because you are suggesting things that - although REQUIRED BY LAW AND THE CONTRACT - they will consider to be impossible or just stupid. They won't waste a heartbeat in telling you so either.
Management, on the other hand, preaches loud and often that safety is their number one priority, but they will put only one safety specialist on noon to midnight to cut costs. (Like to see them work their engineers and managers that way, huh?) They will complain that the schedule and the budget won't permit them to do the work the way you know it needs to be done. So, they'll undercut you, distract you, send you on a goose chase, or tell you to take a day off while they "git-r-done". They'll think of you as nothing but an overhead expense that produces no revenue (ignoring the millions in workers' comp costs that you'll save them every year).
Still want to do it? Good luck. It is the best, most rewarding job I have ever had.
