Reasons to Certify with the NASP

Levels of Certification



NASP offers seven levels of certification:
  1. "Validation" of Safety Training
  2. "Technician" Level Certification
  3. "Specialist" Level Certification
  4. "Manager" Level Certification
  5. "Administrator" Level Certification
  6. The "Master Safety Administrator Certification" Diploma Program
  7. "Licensed" Level Certification
Attendance at an approved training course and/or completion of an NASP independent study are the methods you will use to achieve these certifications.

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NASP Certified Trainers Issue NASP Diplomas and Pocket Cards



Your credibility as a trainer is clearly established with both your students and your employer with an NASP training certification. Only those trainers holding the STS or HTS Certifications are authorized to issue NASP diplomas and pocket cards to their students for any course in which they hold NASP certification. Issuing a diploma or pocket card with the NASP logo and the heading "National Association of Safety Professionals" along with your signature and certification number provides a high level of credibility to your courses. As an NASP certified trainer you bring a new and important dimension to your company's "in-house" training. Your students place a higher value on their diplomas and your employer values your training more. This also serves as a standard by which employers may judge the training an employee has received from another employer.

The diplomas and cards are printed by NASP with the heading "National Association of Safety Professionals" with the NASP logo. Next is a place for the trainer to fill in the student's name and the course name using any printer. The certificate then has preprinted "The National Association of Safety Professionals Certified Trainer, whose signature and certification number appear below, hereby certifies that the above named did attend and satisfactorily complete the course of study herein named." Then, at the bottom of the certificate appear blanks in which the trainer enters their signature and certification number. The certificates and pocket cards are available from NASP for $100.00 each in packages of 100.

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The Court's Expert Witness Qualifications



If you find yourself in civil or criminal court after an employee injury you will find the prosecution employing expert witnesses to claim your training or planning was somehow inappropriate and therefore contributed to the death or injury. Only if you also qualify as a professional witness in that specific area will your credibility and testimony be of equal stature with that of your opponent.

Whether or not you qualify as a professional witness in a certain topic area is completely within the discretion of the judge hearing the case. So, in order to determine how we could qualify as a expert witness we must turn to the guidelines used by judges to decide whether or not to consider us an expert witness. First we should consider that we are much more likely to achieve expert witness status in a specific "task" area than in a broad and general category. For example, a judge would accept you as a Confined Space Rescue expert witness because of the proper specific Confined Space Rescue training and experience, but not because you have a degree in industrial safety.

To begin our review of the guidelines used by judges to determine qualification of expert witnesses we begin with Federal Rule of Evidence 702 which reads "if scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact...a witness qualified as an expert...may testify thereto in the form of an opinion." The US. Supreme Court ruled in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., that Rule 702 imposes a special obligation upon a trial judge to ensure that expert scientific testimony is not only relevant, but reliable.

In his treatise, Guidelines For The Expert Witness, Judge Timothy T. Daley tells us that "the expert witness has special knowledge or skill gained by education, training and experience. Specific education, training, related experience and current knowledge are essential ingredients to being certified as an expert witness. A precise curriculum vitae, available to the court before attendance, may lead to the uncontested declaration of the witness as an expert." The NASPB's legally certified third party verification of your Registration/Certification documentation and accredited training will far exceed the recommendation for a "precise curriculum vitae".

The "American Institute for Expert Witnesses" says, "The fundamental characteristics needed by the Expert Witness are the abilities to be able to demonstrate both competence and credibility. The third party validation of your knowledge, skills, and abilities by the NASPB proves your competence and establishes your credibility."

Another advantage of qualifying as a professional witness is the opportunity to earn extra income by testifying as an expert. There are registries on the Internet intended to be used by attorneys who are seeking an expert witnesses. You can register your areas of qualifications in these directories for a fee. It is IASP and NASP's policy, when asked to recommend a professional witness, to refer the IASP/NASP certified member who is geographically closest to the requester.

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OSHA and ANSI Instructor Qualifications



ANSI’s Instructor Qualifications Z490.1 says that trainer criteria shall include subject matter expertise and training delivery skills: OSHA says "Instructors should be deemed competent on the basis of previous documented experience in their area of instruction, successful completion of a "train-the-trainer" program specific to the topics they will teach, and an evaluation of instructional competence by the Training Director. Instructors should be required to maintain professional competency by participating in continuing education or professional development programs or by completing successfully an annual refresher course and having an annual review by the Training Director."

We can break this paragraph down into the following elements:
  1. Instructors should be deemed competent
  2. Previous documented experience in their area of instruction
  3. Successful completion of a "train-the-trainer" program
  4. An evaluation of instructional competence by the Training Director
  5. Maintain professional competency by participating in:
    • continuing education
    • professional development programs
    • completing successfully an annual refresher course
    • having an annual review by the Training Director
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Understanding OSHA's Instructor Qualifications:

  1. Instructors should be deemed competent on the basis of previous "documented" experience ......... completion ........ evaluation ...."
    1. Each required aspect of the instructor's qualifications must be "documented"
      1. With OSHA, the Courts, and most employers, "if it isn't documented it didn't happen".
      Note: Registration and Certification provide third party certified documentation ensuring the most credible possible verification through documentation.

  2. OSHA defines "competent" as possessing the "skills, knowledge, experience, and judgment" to perform assigned tasks or activities satisfactorily.
    1. Documentation of the possession of the "skills, knowledge, experience, and judgment to perform assigned tasks or activities satisfactorily" means two things:
      1. "skills, knowledge, and judgment" would be documented by the result of properly designed and administered tests. The credibility of the documentation increases with its objectivity, which is why third party testing and certified documentation is the most credible. This provided as part of the awarding of your certification.
      2. "experience" can be documented is several ways. Exactly what is meant by "experience" is discussed later, but documentation of experience may be a written statement from a competent person verifying your activity which constitutes the "experience" requirement, or documented proof of employment along with an official job description that indicates the particular experience was gained. The credibility of such documentation increases with its third party verification, which is performed as part of the awarding of your certification.

  3. OSHA's statement regarding instructor qualification says, "Instructors should be deemed competent on the basis of previous documented experience in their area of instruction."
    1. "Area of Instruction" means a specific topic or task, not a general category or what we will call a "course", meaning something made up of different "topics".
      1. Some examples:
        1. A non-safety example would be an English "course" which consists of "topics" like creative writing and poetry.
        2. ...so in defining safety topics we could use "HAZWOPER" as an example of a "course" with "Spill and Leak Control", "PPE", "Incident Command", and "Decontamination" as a few of the "topics".
        3. ....another example could be "Confined Space Entry and Rescue" as an example of the "course" with "Atmospheric Monitoring", "PPE", and "Technical Rescue" as a few of the "topics".
      2. In other words, taking a HAZWOPER course doesn't meet the requirement for teaching a HAZWOPER course. Instead, the instructor must have "experience" and be "competent" in each topic he/she teaches within the HAZWOPER course.
    2. This "experience" can only result from actually performing the tasks the instructor is teaching. This "experience" must come from hands on experience in the application of the principles of the specific topic or task. For example, if you desire to teach lockout/tagout you must first actually perform lockout/tagout well enough and often enough to become proficient at its proper performance.
      1. It is not necessary that this experience be in actual circumstances. It may, instead, be under simulated circumstances (training) under the review of a qualified person.

  4. OSHA's statement regarding instructor qualification says, "Instructors should be deemed competent on the basis of.............. successful completion of a "Train-the-Trainer" program specific to the topics they will teach.
    1. The National Association of Safety Professionals Board of Registry and Certification evaluates Train-the-Trainer courses taken by candidates for Registration and Certification, to determine their acceptability. Many courses are called train-the-trainer courses but only provide information needed by the trainer to present to his or her students. These are classes like the standard OSHA 501 Course for those seeking to teach the 10 and 30 hour classes OSHA Courses. These classes present excellent information but do not provide viable "how to train" information required by the NASP Board. The NASP does accept the OSHA 501 course toward Registration and Certification but may require additional "how to teach" training. Train-the-Trainer courses acceptable to the NASP Board must include specific training on teaching techniques designed for adults and proven to accomplish behavior modification. Courses based on accomplishing individual student participation, small group learning activities, and alternatives to lecture format are considered. For more information on this subject see the section on "Approved Courses".

  5. OSHA's statement regarding instructor qualification requires an "evaluation of instructional competence by the Training Director".
    1. The "Training Director" should preferably be someone certified to that level by the NASPB. In the absence of a certified Training Director, this requirement should be met by having someone with superior qualifications to your own, evaluate your training technique annually. The evaluation should include written documentation and a discussion of strengths and weaknesses with the evaluator. A copy of this documentation should then be forwarded to the NASPB for inclusion in your file. In NASPB accredited training courses this requirement is met by the course instructors.

  6. OSHA's statement regarding instructor qualification requires that an instructor "should be required to maintain professional competency by:"
    1. Participating in continuing education"
      1. This may be training of any type that is relevant to the courses taught by the trainer. Copies of the documentation of such training may be forwarded to the NASPB and will become a part of your validated file.
    2. "Professional development programs"
      1. These may be any training that improves your instructional skills. Copies of the documentation of such training may be forwarded to the NASPB and will become a part of your validated file.
    3. "Completing successfully an annual refresher course"
      1. All NASPB accredited courses are valid for three years and then must be repeated or the appropriate refresher course attended. Since OSHA states an "annual" refresher, we recommend attending courses on the specific topics in which you are certified on the years you are not required to attend the NASPB course.
    4. "Having an annual review by the Training Director"
      1. The "Training Director" should preferably be someone certified to that level by the NASPB. In the absence of a certified Training Director, this requirement should be met by having someone with superior qualifications to your own, evaluate your training technique annually. The evaluation should include written documentation and a discussion of strengths and weaknesses with the evaluator. A copy of this documentation should then be forwarded to the NASPB for inclusion in your file.

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