Occupational safety certifications: the BCSP ladder

Here is who each BCSP credential is meant for and how you get in, paraphrased from the board's Credentials At-A-Glance sheet (re-issued October 2026, read on November 6, 2026). Prices and exam lengths for credentials without a page here are left out on purpose; we print figures only after we have checked a credential in full.

• STS (Safety Trained Supervisor): for supervisors in any industry whose safety duties sit on top of their main job. Entry: supervisory experience or a longer stretch of general work experience, plus classroom safety, health and environmental training. A related associate degree or a completed apprenticeship can replace the experience.
• STSC (Safety Trained Supervisor Construction): the same rung, written for construction foremen and superintendents. Entry mirrors the STS, with the experience counted in construction.
• CHST (Construction Health and Safety Technician): for people whose construction job carries a defined share of hands-on safety work. Entry: time in construction safety, with safety duties forming a fixed share of the job; no degree. The exact rule is on its own page.
• OHST (Occupational Hygiene and Safety Technician): the technician rung outside construction, with a tilt toward exposure monitoring and industrial hygiene. Entry: work experience in which a set share of duties needs occupational hygiene or safety skills; no degree.
• ASP (Associate Safety Professional): the first professional-level credential. Entry: a bachelor's degree, whatever the major, or an associate degree in safety, health and environment with safety coursework, plus experience that is mostly preventive, professional-level safety work.
• CSP (Certified Safety Professional): the senior professional credential. Entry: a bachelor's degree, several years of professional-level safety experience, and a credential from the board's approved list.
• SMP (Safety Management Professional, formerly SMS): for long-serving managers of safety programs, processes or staff. Entry: many years of management experience; no degree minimum.

Every credential on this list is earned separately, by passing its own exam, and kept by paying its own annual fee. Titles such as safety coordinator or safety manager are job titles set by employers, not credentials.

For construction work, the BCSP ladder reads STSC, then CHST, then the professional rungs.

1. A foreman or superintendent who handles safety alongside production fits the supervisor rung.
2. When safety becomes a large, technical part of the job, as it does for a site safety coordinator or officer, the technician credential is the match. The bar is 3 years of construction safety experience in which at least 35% of the job duties require technical safety, health and environmental skills and knowledge.
3. Running safety across several projects or a whole company is professional-level work. The ASP and then the CSP need a degree. Without one, the route continues only through the SMP, which asks for many years spent managing safety programs.

The board writes SH&E (safety, health and environment) where many employers write EHS or HSE; the letters describe the same field. All of its certifications are ANAB (ISO/IEC 17024) accredited, so the credential you choose depends on your role and schooling, not on which one is accredited.