ABC and the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on improving occupational safety and health at construction workplaces throughout the United States. The partnership is centered on developing effective prevention strategies and technologies as well as encouraging students and other professionals to choose occupational safety and health as a career and advance their competency in that field.

“ABC is committed to an incident- and accident-free workplace, which we advance through research on best practices, education and benchmarking tools—our Safety Training Evaluation Process,” said Greg Sizemore, ABC vice president of HSE & workforce development. “We are proud to collaborate with the BCSP to promote occupational safety and health professionalism and career opportunities and further this important work.”

“ABC and BCSP both value responsibility, accountability and integrity in the profession and the safety professional,” said BCSP President Linda F. Martin, CSP, SMS, ASP, OHST, CHST, STSC, CET. “This agreement will provide employers and the members of the workforce with new pathways to strengthen safety, demonstrating commitment to our shared values through education, certification and professional development.”

ABC and BCSP will work cooperatively to provide communication, outreach and occupational safety and health development opportunities by:

·        Developing and disseminating information on management systems and best practices for occupational safety and health in construction workplaces and career opportunities in safety and health through print and electronic media, including the ABC and BCSP websites; 

·        Strengthening recruiting efforts for students to enter occupational safety and health technical, undergraduate and graduate programs; 

·        Supporting occupational safety and health competency in the construction workplace at all levels of the organization, including competency certifications; 

·        Participating in conferences, meetings and other key events where the safety and health and safety of workers and health practitioners’ professional development are addressed; and 

·        Promoting and facilitating the transfer of relevant occupational safety and health research findings to practices and to the body of knowledge of safety and health professionals. 

The agreement was signed during ABC’s 2018 convention, which features the Excellence in Construction^® Awards for safety, diversity and project quality; the National Craft Championships; the Construction Management Competition; keynote speakers and education sessions for ABC members and staff from 70 chapters; technology exhibits; networking opportunities; and a national board meeting.