The Gold Standard in Safety Certification

The Building Blocks of Certifications of Value

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.

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

What is Certification

• Voluntary process– 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

Certification vs. CertificateCertification 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

Psychometric Development Basic Process

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

Step 2: Validation SurveyThis 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

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

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

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 100-200 exams to ensure

adequacy of cut score

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

Step 6: Revalidation

• Why– 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

Accreditation

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

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

– Reviews submitted, required materials

ISO/IEC 17024: International Accreditation• Released in 2003

• Designed to harmonize the personnel certification process worldwide– Replaced European Union’s EN 45013 (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”

• 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)

ISO/IEC 17024: International Accreditation

CSP RequirementsCurrently 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

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.

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)

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.

Conclusion: BCSP Accredited Competency Assessment Model• International influence• Psychometric development• Accreditation

– ISO/IEC 17024 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

Thank You