A Certified Safety Professional Goes One Step Further

Written by: Chris Mitchell | CSP, CHST
Director, Healthcare & Pharma Services

The Short Answer: A Certified Safety Professional (CSP) is the safety profession’s most recognized certification, awarded by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) once a candidate meets the education and experience requirements and passes the CSP exam. A CSP does more than tell a worker to put their gear on. The training teaches a safety professional to dig into why the gear was off in the first place. That habit of finding root causes is what makes the credential a gold standard for occupational safety across the United States.

A Milestone Worth Celebrating

Safety Management Group (SMG) has a bright jewel in its crown of safety achievements. In 2023, The Board of Certified Safety Professionals named SMG a Ruby tier Certification Champion, a recognition tied to the dozens of certified safety professional credentials linked to its company record. The BCSP has been setting and certifying the technical competency criteria for safety, health, and environmental (SH&E) practitioners since 1969, so that recognition carries real weight.

SMG puts money behind it too. With budgets for training and continuing education, the company encourages team members to pursue these certifications so they can grow in their careers and give clients the best hands possible.

“In terms of our core values, this represents commitment to our clients and associates,” said Director of Safety Operations Jordan Hollingsworth. “We’re a service provider, and people are our service. We want to provide our clients with highly competent, professional individuals who have the most reputable certifications in the industry. And we’re committed to helping our associates with their professional development. For my team members, I require a BCSP certification within one year of employment.”

What the CSP Credential Actually Requires

The CSP is a professional designation from the BCSP, the same board behind several respected SH&E credentials. Earning it takes more than signing up for an exam. A candidate has to clear a few gates first.

• Education requirement: a bachelor’s degree is the standard path, though an associate degree can qualify alongside added experience.
• A qualifying credential: the BCSP requires a BCSP-qualified credential first, most often the Associate Safety Professional (ASP) or the Graduate Safety Practitioner (GSP).
• Work experience: candidates need documented safety experience in a professional practice role.
• The CSP examination: the exam covers areas like risk assessment, industrial hygiene, and hazardous materials handling.

The BCSP also reviews conduct standards, including any criminal conviction, as part of approving a candidate. Many safety practitioners treat the ASP as the natural stepping stone, earning it first and then working toward the full CSP. Related credentials like the Certified Safety Manager and Certified Industrial Hygienist round out a team’s expertise. None of this is one and done. A CSP keeps the credential active through ongoing professional development, which is how the certification stays current with industry standards.

SMG’s Certified Safety Professionals in Action

Jesse Camp, one of the members of Hollingsworth’s group, earned his Certified Safety Professional credential as part of that push. He said the exam training and certification process helps safety professionals understand how to make safety a permanent fixture of a company’s culture, not just a box checked on one jobsite.

“Becoming certified ensures that safety professionals go one step further in field observations,” Camp said. “Let’s say they see employees not wearing safety glasses or using a harness lanyard. Rather than simply saying, ‘Hey, put your gear on,’ a certified safety professional goes to the next level in determining the reasoning behind that deficiency in wearing protective equipment. Is their current equipment insufficient? Does it not fit employees’ needs? Is this a cultural issue?”

These are the kinds of questions our onsite advisors ask as part of our ProSolutions services. Going through the certification process helps our safety experts step back from the frontlines, see the bigger picture, and understand the details of complex projects. A certified safety professional takes a bird’s-eye view of a company’s safety culture, keeping an eye on the business at large, not just individual employees.

Safety That Reaches Past the Worker

“From studying for the certification exams, I learned a lot about business continuity as well as legal and environmental liability,” Camp said. “Again, safety isn’t just about protecting people. It’s also about protecting property and the environment.”

Camp pointed to a food plant sanitation company as an example of that wider scope. Its chemical storage and wastewater management protocols keep hazardous materials from causing emissions or throwing off pH levels downstream. Those protocols protect employees, keep the business running, and safeguard the surrounding city and environment too. Before his certification, Camp did not fully grasp how far that kind of impact reaches.

More Coach Than Cop

Hollingsworth confirmed that deeper understanding. “Certification changes the way you analyze issues. It brings a whole different set of skills and tools to your mindset, from better understanding of business to human behavior and philosophy. During the certification process, you learn about various personality types and how to approach different workers in the field. It’s more about coaching than being a safety cop.”

That shared understanding creates what Camp calls “a unique bond” between certified safety professionals. SMG’s team of 500-plus full-time advisors holds a wide range of certifications across the safety profession.

Why Certification Pays Off for Your Team

Certification is what lets us deliver on the ProSolutions promise. That means education and training for your team, plus safety program and policy development, leadership, and management. We build your safety culture from the classroom to the construction site.

How can we guarantee your team’s growth if we don’t invest in our own? Putting our employees on the path to certification makes us better equipped for large-scale projects in industries such as:

• Steel mills
• Power plants
• Chemical facilities
• Pharmaceutical production
• Automotive manufacturing

A certified safety manager on site raises the bar for the whole crew, not just one worker at a time. That is the real competitive advantage the credential brings to clients. As Duane Freyberger, Director of SMG Insights, puts it, “Companies with strong safety cultures are often better run businesses overall.” Certification is one of the clearest ways to build that kind of culture.

Turning Certified Expertise Into Results

For more than 30 years, leaders across demanding industries have leaned on us for environmental, health, and safety solutions. Our ProSolutions team of certified professionals helps enforce sustainable operations, reduce incidents, and raise quality standards. In one case, we cut a contractor’s Total Recordable Incident Rate by 64% for one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities.

Wherever you are in building your safety program, we can meet you there. Insights runs assessments, ProSolutions places certified professionals on site, and hands-on training happens at the Safety Yard. Companies that need ongoing safety leadership without a full internal department can lean on the Safety Partner Program. Learn more about SMG, and if we can be of service to you, please contact us.

Further Reading: How Incident Rates are Calculated