BCSP Expands Graduate Safety Practitioner Retroactivity Program
The Board of Certified Safety Professionals has expanded the Graduate Safety Practitioner (GSP) program to allow previous graduates of Qualified Academic Programs (QAPs) to qualify for the GSP designation. Those who have graduated from a QAP prior to June 2006 and during any year for which the QAP held accreditation may be eligible.
A QAP is a bachelor's or master's degree program in safety holding program accreditation by the Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC) or Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of ABET (www.abet.org). Currently, more than 600 graduates from QAPs at 10 schools have achieved the interim GSP designation, indicating progress toward the Certified Safety Professional® (CSP®) credential. According to BCSP, these programs include:
- University of Central Missouri’s BS Occupational Safety & Health Functional Major
- Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s BS Safety Science
- Marshall University’s BS Safety Technology
- Millersville University’s BS Occupational Safety & Environmental Health
- Murray State University’s BS/MS Occupational Safety & Health
- Oakland University’s BS Occupational Safety & Health
- Oklahoma State University’s BS Fire Protection & Safety Technology
- Penn State University’s BS Industrial Health & Safety
- Rochester Institute of Technology’s BS Safety Technology
- West Virginia University’s MS Safety Management
"The BCSP Board of Directors was pleased to approve an extension to the GSP Retroactivity Program that offers the Graduate Safety Practitioner designation to more QAP graduates," said BCSP Executive Director Dr. Roger Brauer, P.E., CSP. "There was a great deal of interest in this alternate pathway to the CSP certification from those who have already earned their degree from qualified academic programs."
All qualified GSP applicants waive the application fee and the first examination leading to the CSP certification (Safety Fundamentals)--a value of $455.
"BCSP believes that having completed a program of study evaluated through third-party procedures is substantially equivalent to passing an examination on the fundamental knowledge essential for professional safety practice," Brauer said.
GSP Retroactivity applicants should submit their GSP Retroactivity application forms directly to BCSP. They must pass the second examination leading to the CSP certification (Comprehensive Practice) prior to 10 years from the graduation date listed on the transcript issued from the QAP they attended.