Special Report: Oil Spill Exposes The Need For More Environmental Health Related Professionals
Our Angle on The Oil Spill
There are a limited number of people who have the experience and training to respond to environmental disasters like the BP Oil Spill. It is Hinton Human Capital Blog’s goal to encourage the job seeking public to consider new careers in Climate Change, Environmental and Infrastructure markets because we believe there will be strong opportunities in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and protecting the environment as our economy recovers.
Why There Is Need For More Environment Health Professionals
Crude oil contains toxic chemicals which can present a host of different health problems in humans (see report). The thousands of cleanup workers and residents in the spill areas could be adversely affected by these chemicals if they do not take the right precautions. (See stories about illness) Why is it important to talk about this issue now? Over the years it will take the gulf coast to recover from this disaster, there will be an increased need for trained environmental health professionals who can monitor and treat any illnesses related to oil exposure. There are many stories of workers from the Exxon Valdez spill developing and suffering serious illnesses years after oil exposure and the possibility of a health crisis in the gulf region is real. (Here is a video from MSNBC about the health effects of oil exposure by Riki Ott, Marine Toxicologist and expert on the Exxon Valdez Spill ).
The EPA, federal and local health officials are using education and ongoing testing to ensure public safety. Our hope is that the numbers of qualified candidates for these jobs will rise to deal with any future problems.
The Outlook For Environmental Health Jobs
Since it will take a considerable amount of time to clean up the oil and restore the ecosystem, it is expected that health related job opportunities which will support the clean up workers will rise to meet the demand. (see Bureau of Labor Statistics Outlook) Here are some job titles:
- Environmental Toxicologist
- Environmental Health Technician
- Environmental Health & Safety Professionals
- Human Risk Assessor
- Ecological Risk Assessor
Suggested Reading
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[…] The one difference between the Exxon Valdez Spill and Deep Horizon that may happen is that Environmental Health professionals will continue to monitor the health of the cleanup workers for a number of years after the […]
Hinton Human Capital Blog 
I feel really bad for this oil spill. not only that it pollutes the ocean, it also wastes away the million dollars and great efforts from all the workers. This is really shameful and government should have a clear actions on this matter.