Depending on the role there are some risks associated working as a chemical engineer, as you can be exposed to health or safety hazards handling chemicals and working with plant equipment. Chemical engineers focus on processes and products – they develop and design processes to create products; either focussing on improving existing processes or creating new ones. However, many engineering disciplines require a high degree of specialization, so although chemical engineering is a good basis, you would probably have to undertake a postgraduate study in order to change disciplines.There are a wide range of industries that utilize chemical engineers, including pharmaceutical, energy and information technology.