The Board of Certified Safety Professionals began in 1969 as a peer certification board. Its sole purpose is to certify practitioners in the safety profession.
Safety professionals identify hazards and evaluate them for the potential to cause injury or illness to people or harm of property and the environment. The safety professional recommends administrative and engineering controls that eliminate or minimize the risk and danger posed by hazards. They work with professionals in other disciplines in many different job settings. They work for companies, government agencies and private organizations, or offer individual professional services. They may engage in design, planning, program management, training, audit and other aspects of practice.
Additionally, they apply hazard recognition, evaluation, and control knowledge and skills for equipment, systems, facilities and processes, or in operations, manufacturing, transportation, construction, insurance services and other enterprises.
The value of the safety certification continues to grow. In the United States, numerous laws, regulations and standards cite it. More importantly, many companies include it in position standards, government agencies rely on it and contracts for safety services require it.
