BCSP Collegiate
eNewsletter
|
Welcome to the BCSP Collegiate
eNewsletter!
Whether you are a SH&E professor, student, or recent graduate, the Collegiate
eNewsletter will include news and information that will help you in your professional safety career.
See the
In This Issue section to the right to navigate to the stories of most interest to you.
Thank you to all who contributed to this issue.
|
|
 |
|
Having the Answers Starts with Asking the Questions
Paul Specht, PhD, CSP, Millersville University
 As you begin the semester most safety, health and environmental (SH&E) students are enthusiastic about the courses in their major. What you learn in the classroom will be applicable from the first day you begin your professional career. Accident investigations, fall protection, lockout/tagout, air and noise sampling, employee training... the list of interesting topics goes on. It is easy to apply yourself to the study of those topics, but don't overlook the importance of chemistry, physics and math.
Safety and health courses may come more naturally to you - that was probably a factor in your choice of this major. So you may have to put in more time to excel at the sciences and math. Consider it an investment in your future. They will provide you with the depth you need to fully understand the science behind safety & health. ABET evaluates safety and health programs through its Applied Science Accreditation Commission. A true professional needs to understand the "science" behind the "applied science" of safety.
At Millersville, the university where I teach, we continue to expand the laboratory activities in many of our courses. Fire Protection, Industrial Safety, Industrial Hygiene and Ergonomic laboratory activities take the theory of the classroom and allow it to be applied. Calibrating and using air sampling pumps in the lab take you a giant step closer to the real world responsibilities you will have in a very short time. At Millersville we are fortunate to have enough examples of industrial hygiene equipment to allow every student an opportunity to gain experience that they will need after graduation. What do you do if your school doesn't have laboratories? Safety & Health Professionals would jump at the chance to meet with your class or Student Section of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and demonstrate any equipment that you will be using. They just want you to ask.
Get involved with your Student Section of ASSE. Bring in guest speakers or go out and visit different industries. Find out what safety professionals are doing and you see what they do to protect workers.
I have heard that "safety is not proprietary". What that means is that no one owns the secret to a successful safety program. Safety Professionals willingly share ideas that work. It doesn't matter if you are a student, an entry level practitioner or someone with many years' experience. If you need help with a problem, it is likely that a colleague has faced it before. All you need to do is ask.
At some point right up until graduation you will likely question your choice of professions. That is not unusual for any major. But you need to consider a few things. A degree in SH&E is your ticket to starting a career. You can change anytime. It happens. But when you look at job satisfaction ratings published by BCSP you find that our profession has an extremely high, over 90%, satisfaction rate. There is a reason for that. Where else can you find the daily variety of activities with the ultimate goal of protecting people, property and the environment?
Good luck in all your studies this year.
|
|
|
|
Life-Saving Learning a Life-Long Skill
One of the greatest skills students in SH&E courses develop is the skill of study. It is by learning that safety practitioners share their experiences and become aware of potential issues in the workplace.
 Terrance McKinch, CHST, CET, CESCP is a strong advocate of life-long learning. McKinch started in the electrical trade thirty years ago, achieved numerous certifications, and, most recently, graduated Valedictorian from the National Labor College. "I am still out there working and pursuing my dream, a Master's in safety," McKinch said. "I hope I never stop learning or teaching."
It was an experience McKinch had as an electrician that initiated his interest in safety. One of his journeyman instilled an important lesson to him with lockout/tagout. "He saved my life, and I knew that it was up to me to understand safety," McKinch reflects, adding that "....it was an arc flash that burned me while working in an energized electrical panel that really became important. When I received my burns, a friend of mine had a similar experience, but he was burned even worse. Electrical safety became my passion and I wanted all electricians, whether apprentices or journeyman, to think before they did something so risky."
McKinch started his career as a safety professional when he began teaching apprentices and journeymen electrical safety for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' (IBEW). As an instructor he also thought of himself as a student. Practice in applying what he learned led him to the position of Environmental Safety and Health Director today. "I believe that the safety professional must have extensive experience and the necessary credential's to carry out his task," he explained. "The safety professional must be willing to improve his or her own knowledge to help improve workplace safety."
Any quality certification body requires its certificants to continue learning because of its benefit to practice. "It is through our expertise that we assist the employer to understand what their responsibility is while involving the worker to help him or her to complete their task as safely as possible," McKinch says.
A Master's in the field of safety and the
Certified Safety Professional (CSP) certification are what McKinch now aims to achieve. "The goal for me is to help those employers and employees alike to go home safe."
McKinch's motto, "Working for the success of the employer and the safety of the worker," is what the safety profession is all about.
|
|
|
|
The Foundation of Your Career
Education is one of the core elements of recognized professions, along with experience requirements and certification.
"Your choice to attend school in safety, health and environmental practice is exciting," explains David West, CSP, P.E. "Not only is this a developing profession with great potential for growth, it is truly noble work that positively impacts the lives of others."
West is a past BCSP Board Member who is active in the International System Safety Society and who, as a Board Member, started meeting with students to draw the connections between advancing one's own career and the profession in general.
"I meet knew graduates in this field every year, and they inspire me to find new ways to improve safety practice," West adds. "In the coming year, embrace the opportunities you have to learn new things, from current professionals, your professors, and colleagues. When you make the best of the present, a better future is sure to follow."
|
|
| West speaking at Southeastern Louisiana University |
|
|
|
|
Students Recognized for Exceptional SH&E Research
Students from universities across the nation were recognized for their efforts in advancing safety professionalism and SH&E practice this summer.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania's (IUP) ASSE student section received the ASSE Outstanding Student Section Award, impressing the award selection committee with their dedication to safety in their community and the advancement of the SH&E profession through innovative research.
IUP student section officers include Tracey Cekada, Faculty Advisor; Jon Blair, President; Matt Merschbach, Vice President; Caroline Billon, Secretary; Elliott Laratonda, Treasurer; and Brad August, Social Chair. Some of the groups research included: 1) The Challenges in Academia: A Look at Some of the Most Common and Costly Safety Violations; 2) The Effect of Vibration from Tattoo Machines; and 3) Back Belts: Do they Work? A Survey Regarding Back Belts for Fitness vs. Occupational Research.
|
|
| Elliott Laratonda, treasurer of the IUP ASSE Student Section, accepting the Outstanding Student Section Award |
The ASSE PDC, Safety 2014, hosted the annual research poster contest in June as well.
The Safety 2014 poster contest winners, and their universities, are as follows:
Student Category
Managing Heat Stress in Industrial Environments and
Construction Sites
Jamie Randall; Reece Roedel; Tammy J. Allen, Assistant Professor; University of Central Missouri
Graduate Student Category
Developing 24 Hour Noise Exposure Profiles on Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carriers
Gary Morris, CSP; Amanda Dean; Murray State University
Michael Stevens, Uniform Services University
Other Category, Including Government
Characterizing the Particle Size of Consumer Grade
Fogging Machines
Burton R. Ogle, Ph.D., CIP, CIH; Tracy L. Zontek, Ph.D., CSP, CIH; Western Carolina University
Best Video
Get a Grip: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Stylus Use on Touchscreen of Transfer Muscle Activity and Improve Perceived Comfort Using Grips
Evanda Henry, Stephanie Richmond, Nashrah Shah; New Jersey Institute of Technology
|
|
|
|
How Will BCSP's Changes Affect GSPs?
 There are a few changes to the process of becoming certified by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals that will go into effect later this year. These changes will affect GSPs.
The details on changes to the GSP Program can be found here.
The end result will be a designation which GSPs will find easier to maintain, with a clearer path to the CSP.
|
|
|
|
Send Us Your News
Consider the BCSP Collegiate
eNewsletter
your eNewsletter.
|
|
Newsletters and Annual Reports Archive
BCSP keeps an archive of all of its eNewsletters and Annual Reports. You can view these and other publications in the eNewsletter section of the About BCSP webpage's right-side resources column.
|
|
BCSP Schools and Academic Programs Directory
BCSP maintains the Schools and Academic Programs Directory for those seeking the knowledge required to become an SH&E professional, looking to earn Recertification Points, or to stay knowledgeable of the latest developments in safety practice.
|
|
|
Promote the Value of Your School
If your academic program is a Qualifying Academic Program, BCSP would like to work with you in making sure individuals seeking quality SH&E education know your school produces future leaders.
Contact Lisa Spencer, BCSP Marketing Director, for more information.
|
|
|
BCSP's Toolkit for Advancing the Safety Profession
Banner displays are a great way to promote BCSP certifications and earn Recertification credit. A display is available to any certificate holder for use at chapter meetings, regional or local conferences, career fairs, and other safety-related seminars, meetings, and presentations. BCSP ships to and from any U.S. venue and provides literature at no cost.
If you would like to reserve a display, fill out a Banner Display Request form and email it to Yi Liu, BCSP Marketing Specialist. Displays are first come, first serve and must be returned.
Presentations on safety certification can also be done for Recertification points, and BCSP has many resources that can be used for presentations, including pre-made PowerPoints, on our Articles and Presentations webpage.
Item writing illustrates your safety knowledge, earning you Recertification points as well. Find out more on our Item Writing webpage.
|
|
|
|
|
