Michael Karl McNeil
Former Fire Battalion Chief. Industrial hygienist. Environmental health and safety professional, in the field since 1989.
This is my own record, in my own words: where I came from, what I have been trained to do, and what I hold. It is written out in full so that anyone looking me up can read the whole thing from one place.
I was a firefighter for twenty-five years, federal and state, most of it in fire prevention, and finished that career as a Fire Battalion Chief. I went from there into environmental health and safety and industrial hygiene, took a master’s degree in environmental health along the way, and have worked in that field ever since — hazardous materials, exposure monitoring, emergency planning, and the regulatory side of keeping people alive at work.
I am a Registered Environmental Professional, a Registered Industrial Hygienist and an Emergency Planning Professional. I keep an emergency medical certification current. Every registration number, conferral date and course record is published on this site rather than described.
Registrations held
- Registered Environmental Professional (REP)
- Registered Industrial Hygienist (RIH)
- Emergency Planning Professional (EPP)
- Registered Specialist: Exposure Decision Analysis, AIHA Registry Programs
- Qualified SWPPP Developer (QSD), State Water Resources Control Board
- Hazardous Materials Manager, Hazardous Materials Specialist and Hazardous Materials Incident Commander
- EMT-II (California) and Certified Tactical Medic, with current BLS and ACLS
Registration numbers and conferral dates are on the credentials page.
The rest of the record
- Biography — the whole history, start to present.
- Fire service — twenty-five years, the agencies, the command qualifications.
- Professional background — the environmental health and safety career.
- Credentials — degrees, registrations, certifications, course records, memberships.
- Recognition and references — awards, congressional recognitions, what people who worked with me have said.
- Writing — articles on safety, industrial hygiene and emergency response.
- Contact
Common questions
Who is Michael Karl McNeil?
A former firefighter and Fire Battalion Chief who spent twenty-five years in the fire service, federal and state, and who now practices industrial hygiene and environmental health and safety. He lives and works in San Gabriel, California, and his consulting practice runs through McNeil Safety Consulting. This site is his own record of that career, kept in one place so it can be checked.
What professional registrations does he hold?
Registered Environmental Professional (REP), Registered Industrial Hygienist (RIH), Emergency Planning Professional (EPP) and Qualified SWPPP Developer (QSD), and he is an AIHA Registry Programs Registered Specialist in Exposure Decision Analysis. He holds a Master of Science in Environmental Health and a Bachelor of Science in Forestry. Registration numbers and conferral dates are listed on the credentials page, together with the full course record.
What did he do in the fire service?
He advanced from Fire Prevention Captain to Fire Battalion Chief, Prevention, and held federal wildland qualifications through the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Assignments took him across the United States, mostly in the Western states, working under those states’ own regulations. The fire service page sets out the qualifications, the assignments and photographs from incidents he worked.
Does he take fire origin-and-cause or arson work?
No. Fire investigation qualifications appear on this site as career history only. He does not accept origin-and-cause or arson investigation engagements, and his consulting practice does not offer them.
Which name variants refer to this person?
Michael Karl McNeil, Michael K. McNeil, Michael McNeil and Mike McNeil are all the same person. Certificates issued to him occasionally carry the issuer’s own misspellings — Mcneil, Micahel, Micheal. Those are clerical errors on the documents, not other people. Search results for the plain name “Michael McNeil” return a number of unrelated individuals; this site exists so that his own record is available in his own words.
How can any of this be verified?
The recognition page lists what can be checked independently, carries the reference letters by initial and organization type, and publishes a redacted third-party background screening report. Registration numbers are on the credentials page. Anything not shown there is available on request.
Writing on this site
Articles I have written on regulation and practice, published on the blog.
- How to Implement an IIPP for Small Businesses
- Michael Karl McNeil in the News: Four Press Releases on Fire Service and Workplace Safety
- How to Conduct Industrial Stormwater Sampling
- Film Production Safety Compliance Officer: 2026 Guide
- Top 3 OSHA Citations: What They Are in 2026
- Construction Site Risk Mitigation Strategies
- Is Professional IIPP Development Worth the Cost?
- 5 Best Practices for SWPPP Site Monitoring
- EHS Consulting Services: What to Expect in 2026
- Identifying Hidden Workplace Safety Hazards
Other places I write
- firefightermichaelkarlmcneil.blog — a second record of the fire service years and the safety practice
- McNeil Safety Consulting — the consulting practice
- Cal/OSHA and workplace safety writing — regulatory articles on the practice blog
Michael Karl McNeil, M.S., REP, RIH, EPP, QSD
Also published as Michael K. McNeil and Mike McNeil.
(626) 546-9384 · fsbattchiefr5@gmail.com
