As a leader of your organization, you have probably been involved in the process of hiring or contracting a safety professional. It probably seems like there is an alphabet soup behind each safety professional's name. These abbreviations should lead to a very important question. Do all safety certifications hold the same credibility? The short answer is "no." Therefore, how do you know if you're getting a high-quality candidate?
Credentials alone do not define a person's value; a degreed individual is not always better than a nondegreed one. The key is to consider where you want your organization to be in the future.
Let's consider some of the more common abbreviations and what they mean:
- COSS (Certified Occupational Safety Specialist). A course geared toward the beginner safety practitioner. Successful completion of COSS provides a base knowledge of the safety profession, understanding of regulations, and prepares the participant to perform basic audits, present effective safety training and maintain safety programs. COSS requires recertification every three years.
- COSM (Certified Occupational Safety Manager). Similar to COSS and designed to help safety professionals advance their careers, COSM includes specialized training for people with at least two years of HS&E experience. The key difference between COSS and COSM is the ability to develop safety programs. COSM requires recertification every three years.
- CSST (Construction Site Safety Technician). A National Center for Construction Education and Research program and certification geared toward craft professionals seeking a path into a safety career, as well as current safety technicians, coordinators or foremen seeking to improve their safety skillset.
- OHST (Occupational Hygiene and Safety Technician)/CHST (Construction Health and Safety Technician). These are two of the 10 Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) credentials. OHST and CHST are for persons who perform occupational hygiene and safety activities for at least 35 percent of their job duties. OHST and CHST do not require a degree but do require a minimum of three years of experience (construction experience for CHST) and a certification exam. OHSTs and CHSTs must recertify every five years.
- ASP (Associate Safety Professional). A BCSP credential for a person with a bachelor's degree or an associate degree in an HS&E field whose role is dedicated at least 50 percent to safety duties with a minimum of one year's professional experience in the safety role.
- CSP (Certified Safety Professional). A BCSP credential for a person with a bachelor's degree whose role is at least 50 percent preventive at a professional level with breadth and depth of safety duties. Candidates for CSP must hold a BCSPqualified credential, have a minimum of four years of experience, pass a certification exam and recertify every five years. A CSP is considered the gold standard of safety credentials and is recognized worldwide.
- CIH (Certified Industrial Hygienist). The American Board of Industrial Hygiene's credential for industrial hygiene (IH). A CIH typically holds the minimum of a bachelor's degree in biology, chemistry, engineering, physics or an Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology accredited program in industrial hygiene or safety, who has practiced IH for at least four years, has professional references, passed a certification exam and completes five-year recertification cycles. The CIH is the premier IH credential and is recognized worldwide.
This list of credentials is not all-inclusive; other certifications, courses and credentials exist. With the wide range of certifying bodies and safety certificates available, it is important to realize that all credentials are not equal. When selecting a candidate for your organization, it is critical to understand your current safety culture, know your short-term and long-term safety goals, and know what type of safety culture you hope to build. Most importantly, remember to consider all of your specific needs when determining the minimum requirements for your safety resources.
For more information, visit their website or call (225) 644-5332.