BCSP Names 2026 Lifetime Achievement and Excellence Recipients
The Board of Certified Safety Professionals has selected Leo J. DeBobes and Dr. Georgi Popov for its highest annual honors.
- By Jesse Jacobs
- Apr 29, 2026
Two veteran safety leaders have been selected as the 2026 recipients of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals' annual awards. The honors recognize individuals who have demonstrated a career-long commitment to workplace safety standards and the advancement of the profession.
Leo J. DeBobes was named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by the BCSP. DeBobes has served as a safety professional for nearly 50 years and held a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) designation for four decades. His career includes leadership roles as the division head for environment, safety and health services at Brookhaven National Laboratory and assistant administrator at Stony Brook Medicine. He currently serves as the president of the board of directors for the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene.
The 2026 CSP Award of Excellence was awarded to Dr. Georgi Popov. A professor at the University of Central Missouri within the Occupational Risk and Safety Sciences Department, Popov has authored three books on risk management. He serves as the editor-in-chief of SHIFT: Global EHS Research to Practice and chairs several ANSI/ASSP standards committees. Popov is also a Fellow of the American Society of Safety Professionals, an honor reserved for those who have made significant, lasting impacts on the industry.
The awards are scheduled to be presented at a virtual ceremony on May 5 as part of the Global Learning Summit. The BCSP, a nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, has issued more than 100,000 credentials since its founding in 1969 to help set competency standards for safety and health practitioners.
About the Author
Jesse Jacobs is assistant editor of OHSOnline.com.