1. The Gold Standard in Safety Certification
The Building Blocks of Certifications of Value

2. History
Celebrating 40 years in service to the safety, health and environmental profession, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) raised the bar for safety practitioners from the “guys who put posters up” to today’s safety professional crafting ways to eliminate hazards, manage safety standards and compliance.
Since the late 1960s, the profession gradually accepted certification as the most important step in professional development and has resulted in a higher level of knowledge and expertise. From humble beginnings to today’s “gold standard,” BCSP, with the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) certification, remains the leader in advancing the safety, health and environmental professional.

3. Value of Certification
General
Raises bar
Levels playing field
Provides benchmark
Demonstrates competency
Employers
Prescreens candidates
Public image
Indicator of professionalism
Safety Professionals
Personal fulfillment
Peer recognition
Pay and position
Competitive advantage
Demonstrates credibility
Government Agencies
Contract qualifications
Task performance qualifications
Higher public assurance of competency

4. What is Certification Voluntary process It is NOT Set standards
Educational
Experience
Examination
Evaluates individuals against standards
Awards certification and use of mark
Requires continuing professional development
It is NOT
License to practice
Permanent
Membership
Certificate of completion

5. Certification vs. Certificate
Results from an assessment process
Results from an educational process
Typically requires some amount of professional experience
For new comers and experienced professional alike
Awarded by a third-party, standard-setting organization
Awarded by training and educational programs or institutions
Indicates master/competency as measured against a defensible set of standards, usually by application or exam
Indicates completion of a course or series of courses with a specific focus; is different than a degree granting program
Standards set through a defensible, industry-wide process (job analysis/role delineation) that results in an outline of required knowledge and skills
Course content set a variety of ways (faculty committee; dean; instructor; occasionally though defensible analysis of topic care)
Typically results in a designation to use after one’s name; may result in a document to hand on the wall or keep in a wallet
Usually listed on a resume detailing education; may result in a document to hand on the wall
Has on-going requirements to maintain; individual must demonstrate knowledge of content; holder must demonstrate he/she continues to meet requirements
Is the end result; individual may or may not demonstrate knowledge of course content at the end of a set period in time

6. Psychometric Development Basic Process

7. Step 1: Role Delineation/Job Analysis
2-3 day meeting of 8-15 subject matter experts (SMEs) with respective certification
Geographically, industry, and demographically dispersed
Review/revise blueprint
Domains; Tasks; Knowledge; Skills
Determine for each task
Importance
knowledge of task is essential to job performance of minimally competent professional
Criticality
adverse effects could result if professional is not knowledgeable in the task
Frequency
time the professional spends performing duties within the task

8. Step 2: Validation Survey This survey determines how many questions belong in each domain
Send new blueprint to 1,000+ (if available) credential holders to re-establish for each task
Importance
Criticality
Frequency
Role delineation and validation survey report is submitted by the Psychometrician and reviewed/approved by the Board of Directors Examination Committee followed by the Board

9. Step 3: Exam Assembly Exam department revises exam items based on:
New blueprint specifications
Annual statistical analysis of each item
New Exam is reviewed/revised by the Psychometrician
Typically “experimental” items
Not scored
Statistically determine future usability as scored item
For example: 200 question exam has 25 non-scored items
New items pulled from “experimental” items
Also from item bank

10. Step 3 Side Note: New Items Development
SMEs and chartered groups of SMEs write and submit items
Reviewed by Director of Examinations
Sent for second review to different SMEs
Verified for validity by SMEs

11. Step 4: Cut Score 2-3 day meeting of 8-15 SMEs w/certification
Geographically, industry, and demographically dispersed
SMEs take the exam, Psychometrician uses modified Angoff method to determine cut score range
Statistical mean of the group’s ratings regarding difficulty of individual items
Generally accepted best practice and well supported by case law
Cut score process and recommended range is reported by Psychometrician
Results reviewed/approved by Exam Committee & Board
Exact cut score based on recommendation of Psychometrician
Board approves cut score decision
Conservative score is chosen and stats are run on first exams to ensure adequacy of cut score

12. Step 5: Annual Statistics
Run on all exams annually
Stats are analyzed to determine eligibility for future or continued use of items
Stats are on reliability of entire exam and each item
Level of difficulty
Discrimination
Uniqueness
Implausibility of distracters
Miskey of distracters
Scored items vs. non-scored
NOTE: There are “experimental” items in each exam that are not scored, but stats are run on them to determine usability in future exams
200 question exams have 25 non-scored items

13. Step 6: Revalidation Why Terms of Retaining Accreditation
Keep examinations current
Protect program
Protect validity of examinations
Maintain accreditation
Terms of Retaining Accreditation
Revalidate examinations every 5-8 years
Demonstrate reliability and validity of exam product
Maintain security to ensure intellectual property and confidentiality

14. Accreditation

15. Accreditation Assures
Governance
Nominations/elections
Peer participation
Public participation
Financial disclosure
Stability and financial condition
Budget details
Fairness to candidates
Examinations
Validity
Reliability
Passing scores
Recertification
Independence from preparation
Management systems

16. CSP Accreditation
American National Standards Institute – ANSI (ISO 17024)
Assigns auditors
Credentialing based experience
Reviews submitted, required materials
Conducts site visit for conformity
National Commission for Certifying Agencies – NCCA
Peer review process
Establishes standards
Evaluates compliance with standards
Resource

17. ISO/IEC 17024: International Accreditation
Released in 2003
Designed to harmonize the personnel certification process worldwide
Replaced European Union’s EN (1989), which was published in the UK as BS 7513:1989.
The issues addressed:
Defining what it is you examine (the competencies)
Knowledge, skills and personal attributes
Examination must be independent
Examination must be a valid test of competence
Where competency is typically described as:
“The demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, skills and attributes”

18. ISO/IEC 17024: International Accreditation
Administered in multiple countries
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
38 organizations
109 certifications
Standards Council Canada (SCC)
5 organizations
9 certifications
Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAZ-ANZ)
United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS)

19. CSP Requirements Currently over 13,000 certificants
Education
Minimum of Associates degree in Safety and Health or Bachelors degree in any subject
Experience
Minimum of 3 years, but usually 4 years for most (credit given for higher degrees and other certifications)
Examination
Two exam process:
Safety Fundamentals exam = Associate Safety Professional designation
Comprehensive Practice exam = Certified Safety Professional certification
Recertification
25 points in a 5 year cycle

20. Reciprocal Agreements for Certification
CSP (these organizations receive a waiver of the Safety Fundamentals exam)
Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
Singapore Institution of Safety Officers
Safety Institute of Australia
Waivers:
CIH
P.E.

21. Other BCSP Certifications and Designations
Professional:
Associate Safety Professional (ASP) – (designation; soon to be certification)
Graduate Safety Practitioner (GSP) – (designation)
Certified Safety Professional (CSP)
Technician, Technologist, Supervisor:
Occupational Health and Safety Technologist (OHST)
AOHST (designation)
Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST)
ACHST (designation)
Safety Trainer Supervisor (STS) – General Ind., Construction, Petrochemical, Mining
Trainer:
Certified Environmental, Safety and Health Trainer (CET)
Certified Instructional Technologist (CIT)

22. Preference for OSH Professionals with Accredited Certifications
U.S. Government relying on ANSI accreditation for verification of quality of certification programs and to control fraud and misuse in certain industries. Agencies closely associated with ANSI accreditation include:
Food and Drug Administration
Department of Defense
State Regulation
Massachusetts Securities Commission
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Regulatory Recognition:
British Columbia WorkSafeBC-OHS Regulations - Part 9 Confined Spaces: … subsection (1) (a) qualifications which are acceptable as evidence of adequate training and experience include (a) certified industrial hygienist (CIH), registered occupational hygienist (ROH), certified safety professional (CSP), Canadian registered safety professional (CRSP) or professional engineer (P. Eng.), provided that the holders of these qualifications have experience in the recognition, evaluation and control of hazards.

23. Conclusion: BCSP Accredited Competency Assessment Model
International influence
Psychometric development
Accreditation
ISO/IEC expansion
Harmonization of systems for developing and maintaining certification schemes creates an environment for mutual recognition and global exchange of personnel
Transportability of certifications
Employers, government, public requiring accredited competency based certification 

24. Thank You