Exam Bulletin

Department of Industrial Relations

Exam Code: EX-5421

Examination Plans Included:

  • PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS) - Open

Final Filing Date: Applications are accepted on a continuous basis.

Classification Details

PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS): $13,892.00 - $15,782.00 per Month

View the PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS) classification specification.

Application Instructions

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis.

Who Should Apply:

The information below will help you determine which classification(s) is(are) appropriate for you. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as stated on this bulletin to compete in this examination.

Open and Open, Non-Promotional Examination(s):

  • PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS) - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 9 months:

Exam Code(s):

    5421

For PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS), once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 9 months:

Exam Code(s):

  • EX-05421

How To Apply:

Submit an Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) to apply for this examination.

Electronic applications can be submitted through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov.

Special Testing Arrangements:

If you require assistance or alternative testing arrangements due to a disability, indicate on your application that you need reasonable accommodation. You will be contacted by a representative of the testing department to make the necessary arrangements. If you have not been contacted by the time you receive notification of testing, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

If you are unable to submit your application or complete the test due to a disability, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

Minimum Qualifications

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

00103881 - PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS)

Either I

 In the California state service:

 1. One year of experience performing the duties of a District Manager, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and two years of experience performing the duties of an Associate Safety Engineer (Elevators); or

 2. One year of experience performing the duties of a Senior Safety Engineer (Elevators); or

 3. Three years of experience performing the duties of an Associate Safety Engineer (Elevators).

Or II

Experience: Five years of experience as a safety engineer with overall responsibility for organizing and administering a comprehensive safety program, at least two years of which must have been in an administrative or supervisory capacity with responsibility for the work of other safety engineers engaged in elevator safety engineering; and

 Education: Equivalent to graduation from college with specialization in engineering. (Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education on a year-for-year basis.)

Position Description

00103881 - PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS)

This level plans, organizes, directs the work of staff through subordinate supervisors, and is responsible for maintaining effective comprehensive safety orders applicable to elevator safety engineering; monitors the field program for uniformity in application and enforcement of relevant safety orders; assures that new or revised safety orders proposed for adoption are in conformance with the Labor Code, and issues interpretations of safety orders; advises the Division Chief and field staff on technical matters involving elevator safety engineering.

For information regarding position location(s), please refer to the Eligible List Information section.

Examination Information

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Component OrderComponent TypeComponent DuePercentage of Final Score
1Online ExamContinuous100%

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of:

  1. General engineering principles and methods as well as those specifically applicable to elevator safety engineering.
  2. Principles and practices of safety engineering.
  3. Operations, methods, equipment, and safety devices primarily applicable to the elevator industry.
  4. Safety orders of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health applicable to the elevator discipline.
  5. Applicable provisions of the Labor Code.
  6. Accident prevention techniques.
  7. Sources of information on accident prevention work.
  8. Consultation techniques.
  9. How to develop and present evidence in legal hearings.
  10. Purposes, organization, and activities of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
  11. Labor laws and compensation laws as applied to the work of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
  12. Industrial health hazards.
  13. Principles of effective supervision and training.
  14. Understanding of and effectiveness is carrying out State and departmental equal employment opportunity and affirmative actionpolicies.
  15. Department’s Affirmative Action Program objectives.
  16. A manager’s role in the Affirmative Action Program and the processes available to meet affirmative action objectives.
  17. Research methodology and evaluation techniques as applied to safety engineering.


Ability to:

  1. Do difficult safety investigation work.Detect unsafe conditions and practices.
  2. Promote and conduct safety campaigns.
  3. Assist in the preparation and revision of safety orders.
  4. Interpret and apply the safety orders of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and applicable provisions of the Labor Code.
  5. Learn the basic principles and techniques of safety engineering in related Occupational Safety and Health disciplines.
  6. Analyze situations accurately and adopt an effective course of action.
  7. Address groups.
  8. Speak and write effectively.
  9. Prepare reports and dictate correspondence.
  10. Present evidence and act as the Division representative in legal hearings.
  11. Consult on complex and sensitive safety engineering problems with labor, management, and public groups.
  12. Conduct meetings and coordinate with other Sate and Federal agencies.
  13. Direct the work of staff.
  14. Apply the policies of the Department of Industrial Relations and the Division to which assigned.
  15. Effectively contribute to the Department’s affirmative action objective.
  16. Evaluate and act upon requests for variances and extensions.
  17. Develop safety regulations to eliminate causes of accidents.
  18. Organize and develop support techniques related to the needs of field safety engineers in the prevention of industrial accidents.
  19. Serve as a technical consultant to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the public in safety matters.

Eligible List Information

A Departmental Open eligible list for the PRINCIPAL SAFETY ENGINEER (ELEVATORS) Classification will be established for:

  • Department of Industrial Relations

The names of successful competitors will be merged onto the eligible list(s) in order of final score regardless of test date. Eligibility expires 12 months after it is established. Applicants must then retake the examination to reestablish eligibility.

Resulting Eligibility List(s) will be used to fill vacancies throughout the State of California.

Veterans' Preference will be granted for this examination. Veterans' Preference is an assistance program for veterans, veteran widows and widowers, and spouses of 100% disabled veterans who seek employment with the state. Veterans' Preference is also extended to currently serving military members nearing their retirement or separation date.

You are not eligible for Veteran's Preference if you are:

  • A veteran who has been dishonorably discharged or released.
  • A veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran who currently has permanent civil service status. (Permanent civil service status is the status of an employee who is lawfully retained in his/her position after completion of the applicable probationary period. This does not include limited term).

Veterans' Preference is codified in Government Code Sections 18973 – 18979.

Veteran status is verified by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR). Directions to apply for Veterans' Preference are on the Veterans' Preference Application (Std. Form 1093), which is available at www.CalCareers.ca.gov, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

Testing Departments

  • Department of Industrial Relations

Contact Information

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

Department of Industrial Relations
Human Resources/Exams Unit
Dept of Industrial Relations
1416 9th Street, 13th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (800) 564-0771

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The State of California is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

Drug Free Statement

It is an objective of the State of California to achieve a drug-free State work place. Any applicant for State employment will be expected to behave in accordance with this objective, because the use of illegal drugs is inconsistent with the law of the State, the rules governing civil service, and the special trust placed in public servants.

General Information

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of Industrial Relations reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.

Application Methods:
Electronic (Your CalCareer Account)