Message from the President of the Board
Joaquin M. Diaz, CIH, CSP, OHST, CHST
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I was asked once, what is a CSP?
There is no better workplace safety champion than you, the safety, health, and environmental (SH&E) practitioner. Incidents can be eliminated through engaged efforts by leadership, in design as well as by employee involvement; either approach relies on the SH&E practitioner to take action. BCSP emphasizes the importance of accredited SH&E credentials because they effectively demonstrate your experience and knowledge, but ultimately this is not our story, it is yours. A CSP is made by your tireless efforts in making worksites safer.
The Certified Safety Professional® (CSP®) and BCSP family of certifications represent the Gold Standard of SH&E certifications, all ANSI-accredited as objective measures for SH&E knowledge and skills, but your achievement of certification is as important as the skills which it represents. It shows that you also have the drive to put your knowledge to practice.
It is the combination of high standards, your dedication to meeting those standards, and the application of what is learned that demonstrates excellence. The stories of our 2020 Awards of Excellence recipients remind me of this. They remind me that, by working together, we best achieve our shared goal of ensuring the safety and health of our workplaces, communities, and world.
SH&E is ever-evolving, as the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated. Certifications like the CSP ensure SH&E professionals are at the forefront of these unexpected events. A post-pandemic world will value safety as it has over the last year. Our profession has to grow and consider how infectious diseases and other public health issues impact the population. We have to be the “tip of the spear” in leading efforts to address the new and evolving normal.
The fact is, safety is intentional—SH&E practitioners help to create safe and healthy workplaces, and our work is completed with passion. The community benefits from the reliable everyday work we do when workers feel valued, and families gather, all together, at the day’s end.
You are the reason I am proud to be BCSP Board President. I am glad we can provide for those who strive to join us as SH&E practitioners with BCSP Foundation scholarships, recognize the value of those in the practice through certification, and honor our most accomplished with awards.
SH&E credentials distinguish those who hold them. Certification proves a person capable and attests to a person’s potential. It shows you have the drive to achieve your goals. If you share a commitment to creating a safer world, we stand ready to support you.
I hope we can make you the hero of your story.
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President
Joaquin M. Diaz, CSP, OHST, CHST
Vice President
Leslie Stockel, CSP, SMS
Treasurer
V. Raymond Ferrara, CFP
Past President
Mario A. Varela, CSP, ASP
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Directors
Teresa A. Cole, CSP
Ashok Garlapati, CSP
Jay R. Harf, CSP
Bruce D. Hollcroft, CSP
Patricia A. Kagerer, CSP
Bruce K. Lyon, CSP, SMS
Regina McMichael, CSP, CIT
Donald A. Robinson, CSP
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A CHST's Commitment to Zero-Time Loss Through Certification |
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Warren Biddle is a Safety Manager at Snyder Langston, a Certified Health and Safety Technician (CHST), and a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard where he retired as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. While not an official title, he could also be called a life-long learner, as his dedication to continuing education is immediately clear upon discussing safety with him.
When contacted for an interview, Biddle was engaged in an OSHA class and had to return the call once it was over. He was voluntarily taking a refresher course on excavating because he has an upcoming project that requires excavation, and he wasn’t totally comfortable in that area.
“I believe anyone in the safety field must continue to study, even material they know,” said Biddle. “If you think ‘I already took that class and don’t need it’ then you’ll get a wakeup call that might not come in a pleasant way.”
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BCSP offers exam training through BCSP examCORE. Trainings include CSP, ASP + CSP Connect, SMS, ASP, OHST, CHST, STS, STSC, and CIT. For more information, visit examCORE.org.
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Visit BCSP's Affinity Products Page |
As a BCSP credential holder you have access to exclusive products! Design custom BCSP Apparel in the BCSP store. Get unique pins and rings. Certificants further qualify for a 20% discount on first year financial planning services with CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional members of the Financial Planning Association®.
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BCSP Announces Award of Excellence and Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients |
The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) is proud to announce the 2020 recipients of the organization's most prestigious awards. Thomas Cecich, CSP received the BCSP Lifetime Achievement Award. Tricia Kragerer, CSP received the CSP Award of Excellence; Umair Shahab Shahid, CSP, ASP the ASP Award of Excellence; Steven Mercer, CSP, ASP, OHST the OHST Award of Excellence; Jordan Hollingsworth, CSP, CHST the CHST Award of Excellence; and Sondra Lavoie, CHST, STS the STS Award of Excellence.
BCSP is proud of the work of these certificants and enjoys joining with colleagues in sharing appreciation of excellence in safety professionalism by honoring these certificants' leadership, knowledge, expertise, and commitment to the advancement of safety, health, and environmental practice.
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BCSP Foundation, ASHCA Form Partnership to Advance Safety Practice in Agriculture |
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The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) Foundation and the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America (ASHCA) have signed a partnership agreement focused on improving the safety of farmers, ranchers, and other workers in U.S. agriculture.
Agriculture, due to its decentralized nature and diverse structure, lags other industries in reducing the toll on its workers. Its fatality rate is eight (8) times that of the all-industry average. In a typical year, 551 workers die while doing farm work and about 88,000 suffer lost-time injuries.
Signed at ASHCA's Agricultural Safety Summit, the partnership agreement outlines a set of goals by which the summit's host and the BCSP Foundation will collaborate to advance safety, including knowledge-sharing, awareness campaigns, and advocacy for practical methods of ensuring agricultural workers' well-being.
Photo: Tony Militello, CSP, P.E., BCSP Foundation Vice Chair (left) and Jess McCluer, ASHCA Board Chair (right) during the partnership's virtual signing.
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Looking For a New Career or Your Next Superstar Employee? |
The BCSP Career Center connects job seekers with prospective employers in the safety, health, and environmental industry at no cost!
Posting open positions for companies looking to hire individuals who hold our credentials is also free. This site is your direct route to qualified individuals!
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Subscribe to our eNewsletters!
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BCSP offers unique eNewsletters:
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BCSP Foundation Hosting Virtual Career Fair |
BCSP and the BCSP Foundation are honoring World Safety and Health Day at Work on April 28, 2021, with the second annual Virtual Career Fair! The Virtual Career Fair is a unique and valuable opportunity for top employers to interact with and recruit BCSP credentialed candidates.
If you have career opportunities or internships in the occupational health and safety field, we would like to invite your organization to host a booth at our virtual career fair.
Benefits of hosting a booth at the Virtual Career Fair include:
- The Virtual Career Fair is an excellent opportunity to build your local talent pool and recruit in an online environment.
- It is designed to meet your specific needs for finding candidates with the credentials you need to advance your safety culture and objectives.
- Recruiters will be able to access audio, video, and text-based chat for instant candidate screening as an exhibitor, in addition to other features such as a fully customized virtual booth to amplify your brand.
Click the button below to register for a booth!
If you have any questions, please contact Shannon Sherrer, BCSP's Strategic Advancement Specialist, at [email protected].
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New OSHA Workplace Guidance on Coronavirus |
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J.A. Rodriguez, Jr., CSP, ASP; Vice President, Strategic Advancement and Learning Solutions, BCSP
President Joe Biden issued an executive order on January 21, 2021, instructing, in part, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue COVID-19 worker safety guidelines. This is the first step towards implementing national worker protections from the global pandemic.
The guidelines are designed to encourage every employer to implement a COVID-19 prevention program. While these guidelines do not themselves carry the force of law, OSHA may elect to invoke the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act of 1970 to force employers to comply. In fact, any national guidance or consensus standard can be fair game for OSHA to cite under the General Duty Clause even if the guidance or standard contains language that “it does not create new legal obligations” and “the recommendations are advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.”
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BCSP's Toolkit for Advancing the Profession |
Banner displays and literature are a great way to promote BCSP certifications and earn recertification credit. A display is available to any certificant for use at chapter meetings, regional or local conferences, career fairs, and other safety-related seminars, meetings, and presentations. If you would like to reserve a display or request literature, fill out a Banner Display Request.
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Unauthorized Use of Our Credentials |
BCSP pursues cases of individuals claiming to hold our credentials without permission. We pursue those cases in which there is clear evidence of the unauthorized use and the individual has a clear responsibility, control, or knowledge of the use. Evidence may be a business card, resume, letter, website, or other publication.
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Over the course of the year, a range of policy changes, procedure updates, and other modifications occur. We want to make everyone aware of these changes on a regular basis, as well as keep an archive of the announcements.
Visit the Current Changes Index page on our website to find the most up-to-date policy and procedure information.
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Congratulations to the 2020 QAP/GSP Scholarship Recipients |
Every year, the BCSP Foundation offers scholarships to students of Qualified Academic Programs (QAPs) holding accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) or Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI).
In 2020, BCSP provided $193,352 in total funding to QAP student scholarships; QAP accreditation; and American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), American Industrial Hygiene Foundation (AIHF), and Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) scholarships.
The BCSP Foundation is proud to provide these scholarships to an amazing group of students and future safety professionals. These scholarship recipients are determined to make great changes and positive impacts in the safety industry.
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Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction |
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced its eighth annual National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction campaign will take place May 3-7, 2021. BCSP and OSHA encourage construction employers and other stakeholders to join the event to promote awareness and training to address one of the industry's most serious dangers.
“Workers suffer serious and fatal injuries from falls and have a devastating impact on families and businesses,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health James Frederick. “This important collaboration with the construction industry encourages employers to learn how to better control fall-related hazards and improve their safety and health programs.”
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Have an upcoming job fair, conference, or chapter meeting that you would like to share with readers? Would you like to invite a BCSP representative to attend an event? We would like to hear about it!
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Present on Behalf of BCSP! |
Presentations on safety certification can be done for recertification credit! BCSP has many resources available for certificants to use during presentations, including pre-made PowerPoints, role delineation studies and technical reports, and videos.
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Recertification Worksheet Submission Now Open |
If you are a BCSP certificant in the final year of your recertification cycle, you may now submit your recertification worksheet!
Recertification cycle dates run five-years between July 1 and June 30. Your recertification points can be entered into your recertification worksheet as they are earned, and you can begin submitting recertification worksheets six months prior to the cycle end date.
You can access your recertification tools by logging into your My Profile account and clicking the “Recertification” section. There you will find a worksheet that will save your points online and make it easier to log and submit to BCSP.
If you are in need of additional recertification points, BCSP offers recertPRO, an affordable way to earn BCSP recertification points from the convenience of your computer or mobile device.
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