Indoor Environmental Health Specialists are experts in understanding, assessing, and mitigating the health and safety risks presented in various commercial and industrial buildings. They consider the use of specific buildings in addition to building design, infrastructure, and maintenance. Indoor Environmental Health Specialists look to address basic building structural deficiencies, poor maintenance, pest infestations, fire hazards, lead paint, fungal, and microbial contamination, poor air or water quality, and improper sanitation.

Indoor Environmental Heath Specialists may work for government agencies to help enforce health and safety codes and standards and they may have the power to issue citations, assess fines, or even close down unsafe properties. Indoor Environmental Health Specialists also work for large facilities such as hospitals, colleges and universities, or manufacturing companies. In these instances, Specialists might assess building infrastructure and work practices for health and safety hazards, compile and evaluate trends of work related incidents, injuries, and illnesses, and assess and track use of personal protective equipment. They might also coordinate injury prevention programs, develop health and safety protocol to mitigate risks, create and implement employee educational programs and oversee response team training and readiness.

Indoor Environmental Health Specialists apply the latest research and technology on hazard and risk reduction to improve building design and reduce health and safety risks for building occupants. This field of study is not considered a single specialty because Indoor Environmental Health Specialists might have expertise in law, business management, environmental science, medicine or public health, construction trades, or public policy.