You’re in a power engineering interview and asked about safety. How do you show you’re the best candidate?

1 Know the regulations

Power engineering is regulated by various codes, standards, and laws that ensure the safe operation and maintenance of power plants, generators, boilers, turbines, and other equipment. You should be familiar with the relevant regulations for your jurisdiction, such as the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), or the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). You should also know how to access and interpret these regulations, and how to apply them to different scenarios. For example, you could be asked to explain how to perform a lockout/tagout procedure, how to conduct a hazard assessment, or how to handle a spill or leak.

2 Show your experience

One of the best ways to prove your safety competence is to provide concrete examples from your previous or current work experience. You can use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to structure your answers and highlight your achievements and challenges. For instance, you could describe a situation where you had to deal with an emergency, a near-miss, or a safety violation, what task you had to perform, what action you took, and what result you achieved or learned from. You should also mention any safety training, certification, or recognition you have received or completed, such as first aid, fire extinguisher, confined space entry, or hazard recognition.

3 Demonstrate your attitude

Another important aspect of safety is your attitude towards it. You should show that you value safety as a priority, not as an option or a burden. You should also demonstrate that you have a proactive and collaborative approach to safety, meaning that you take initiative to identify and report hazards, follow and enforce safety rules and procedures, and communicate and cooperate with your co-workers and supervisors. You should also show that you are willing to learn from feedback, mistakes, and incidents, and that you seek to improve your safety performance and culture. For example, you could share how you participated in a safety committee, a safety audit, or a safety improvement project.

4 Ask relevant questions

Finally, you should also prepare some questions to ask your interviewer about safety. This will show that you are interested and engaged in the job and the organization, and that you care about your own and others’ safety. You could ask about the company’s safety policy, goals, and performance, the specific safety hazards and risks you might encounter in the job, the safety training and orientation you would receive, or the safety culture and expectations you would be part of. Asking relevant questions will also help you learn more about the job and the employer, and whether they are a good fit for you.