Why Get Certified by the IASP or NASP?
Today there are a number of credible certifications available to those in the Safety Fields. Each of these are valuable in demonstrating general knowledge in one's chosen field. 93% of those responsible for workplace safety in the US do not have college degrees in safety and are therefore not eligible for many of the more generalized certifications offered by other organizations.
The National Association of Safety Professionals Board of Certification was created by the International Association of Safety Professionals to provide a different type of credential than any previously available. While employers do value the more general credentials, they often do not serve to indicate specific knowledge, skills, and abilities sought by the employer. Neither do the generalized credentials serve to prove to OSHA, the courts, or students, the specific qualifications of safety trainers, planners, and auditors.
Since neither OSHA, the courts, nor most employers require any college degree to meet their training requirements and/or recommendations, the NASPB does not require any college degree for its Certifications.
NASP (IASP) certifications are accepted worldwide, currently in 42 countries. NASP Certifications are accepted by the US Federal Government, State Governments, Local Governments, and major businesses and industries. A sampling of organizations recognizing NASP Certifications is available on this website.
NASP Certification provides third party verification of your knowledge, skills, and abilities. In this day when falsification of credentials is common, third party validation is often used to establish the validity of a potential employee's or witness' true qualifications. The NASP Board will verify by telephone, mail, or e-mail the factual certification of any certified member for any potential employer or other party at any time. Upon the request of any member, the Board will provide a legally certified copy of any member's certification documentation and accredited training (referred to as NASPB Certified Transcript of Education, Training, and Experience) to any court, government agency, regulatory agency, employer or potential employer, at no cost, up to two times per year. Additional requests will require a small handling fee.
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The Basis of NASP Certification Requirements
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. Read more about the court's expert witness qualification by clicking the link.
Instructor/Trainer Qualifications, OSHA and ANSI
OSHA materials and ANSI Z490.1 say that instructors should be deemed competent on the basis of previous training and experience in their area of instruction. "Area of Instruction" means a specific topic or task, not a broad and general category. Read more about OSHA and ANSI instructor and trainer qualifications by clicking the link.
The National Association of Safety Professionals Board of Certification provides third party validation of your specific safety training, planning, or inspection/auditing knowledge, based upon the qualifications recommended by ANSI, OSHA, and the Courts.
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 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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Specific NASP Certifications
NASP offers seven levels of certification:
- "Validation" of Safety Training
- "Technician" Level Certification
- "Specialist" Level Certification
- "Manager" Level Certification
- "Administrator" Level Certification
- The "Master Safety Administrator Certification" Diploma Program
- "Licensed" Level Certification
