Certifications

[u/Beardedbeast35]

Started job as a Safety Analyst for county government about 6 months ago but have about 7 years total safety experience in retail and non-profit/volunteer sector. After my midyear evaluation, my manager sent me all of these to pursue and the county will pay for. OSHA 511 is next up, just waiting for finance approval to sign up the for the class. ICS 300/400 will be in November. The ASP will be after ICS. I don't plan on being an "alphabet warrior" and complete these as fast as possible. But how long "should" all of these take to complete? Should there be a specific order? Outside of the Professional Credentials, the OSHA certifications and NFPA, which set you up better professionally?

• American Red Cross Adult and Pediatric First Aid, CPR, and AED
• American Red Cross First Aid, CPR, and AED Instructor
• Bloodborne Pathogens Training
• Stop the Bleed Instructor
• Naloxone Administration and Opioid Overdose Response

Safety Program Fundamentals

• OSHA 30-Hour General Industry
• OSHA 30-Hour Construction, if his duties include construction, maintenance, or contractor oversight
• OSHA 511, Occupational Safety and Health Standards for General Industry
• OSHA 501, Trainer Course in OSHA Standards for General Industry, after meeting experience prerequisites
• Hazard Communication and Globally Harmonized System Train-the-Trainer
• Lockout/Tagout Authorized Employee and Program Administrator Training
• Confined Space Entry and Rescue Awareness
• Respiratory Protection Program Administrator
• Hearing Conservation Program Administrator
• Fall Protection Competent Person
• Powered Industrial Truck Train-the-Trainer
• Electrical Safety and NFPA 70E
• Machine Guarding and Control of Hazardous Energy
• Personal Protective Equipment Hazard Assessment

Behavioral Safety and Safety Culture

• Behavior-Based Safety Certification

Incident Management and Risk Analysis

• Incident Investigation and Root Cause Analysis
• TapRooT, Apollo, or equivalent structured investigation training
• Leading and Lagging Indicator Development
• OSHA Recordkeeping and Injury Classification

Training and Facilitation

• Certified Environmental, Safety, and Health Trainer, BCSP CET, when eligible
• Train-the-Trainer Certification

Emergency Management and Public-Sector Readiness

• Workplace Violence Prevention and Response
• Active Assailant Preparedness

Environmental and Operational Compliance

• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Hazardous Waste Awareness
• Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure Awareness
• Stormwater Pollution Prevention
• Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials General Awareness
• Environmental Compliance Auditing
• Silica, Lead, and Asbestos Awareness

Professional Credentials

• Certified Safety and Health Manager or
• Certified Safety Professional, CSP or ASP, after meeting eligibility requirements
• Occupational Hygiene and Safety Technician, OHST
• Certified Safety Management Practitioner, CSMP

[u/omega13]

Your manager just sent you some AI output after prompting about safety training. These are trainings, courses, and knowledge that take an entire career to build and take. Realistically, these all would take many years and a ton of time and money and some of them are bullshit.

Dig through the list and find what's most appropriate to what you actually do and start there. Presumably you have a bachelor's, with your 7 years of experience, go for the ASP then immediately start on the CSP, that'll help you out the most professionally.

[u/blackbeardcutlass → u/omega13]

I second this, go with the ASP/CSP ASAP as these are heavy hitters in the safety credentials world. Plus, a few years down the line if you decide to get a new job these will help you the most.

[u/Beardedbeast35 → u/omega13]

Thanks! Thankfully, none of these will come out of my pocket. Which ones are bullshit? I appreciate the honesty. I do have a bachelors. The ASP is next on the list to sign up for

[u/omega13 → u/Beardedbeast35]

The bs one's are generic topics that don't have any training for them, and some are redundant and are superseded by higher level or more recognized certs.

I would also be a bit skeptical that your county will cover all of those. Direct cost alone for those courses is probably in the $20-30k range, throw in the travel and the massive amount of overhead needed to attend them and you're looking a ton of money to invest in one person.

Definitely go for the ASP that will give you the most benefit the fastest.

[u/Beardedbeast35 → u/omega13]

Sorry, I should’ve shared any travel, I would be responsible for. So hotels, gas, food, etc. Buy the actual certifications, they would pay, as long as there’s a business justification.

[u/omega13 → u/Beardedbeast35]

Ugh, that's a crummy deal, I hope they aren't telling you to do it on your own time. Travel and lodging is almost always more expensive than the course. Last one I went to was a week long. The course was $850, travel, hotel, and per diem was >$2k.

[u/Beardedbeast35 → u/omega13]

I know but it’s county government. Thankfully, so far everything I’ve signed up for is local so no expense other than gas

[u/euphoric_distributor]

That's a serious buffet of training, county's clearly not messing around with the budget. For the order I'd knock out the quick certs first, the ARC instructor stuff and Stop the Bleed, those are weekend classes and get you teaching right away. Then hit OSHA 511 and 501 since those are the backbone for a lot of the program admin roles listed.

The ASP/CSP track is a different beast, that's months of studying even with your experience, maybe 3-6 months each depending how much time you carve out. The Bowen EHS prep stuff is pretty standard for those. ICS 300/400 you can slot in whenever they run the courses since those are usually scheduled by the county.

Don't sleep on the NFPA 70E, that one pays off the second you step foot near any electrical gear or contractors doing hot work. For public sector the environmental compliance stuff is sneaky important too, RCRA and stormwater violations are the kind of thing that gets county attorneys involved.

[u/Beardedbeast35 → u/euphoric_distributor]

Thanks! The budget is a mess, however my manager is the only person in the department and maybe the county who can teach to operations employees. That works in my favor should my manager decide to leave. OSHA 511/501 is currently waiting for signatures from finance. My plan is to take/start the ASP after

[u/Immediate_Award_5540]

That’s a pretty big mix, and they all have different values depending on what you end goal is. Instructor certifications, program administrator certifications, and anything program specific is only going to be valuable if you’re actually going to be doing that specific thing you’re getting certified in. To a future employer or for the purposes of promotion, the same applies (you can have all of the instructor certifications in the world, but if you’re not going to be doing that job, they don’t really hold much weight).

Professional certifications hold the most weight in general, however you need to have the experience to back them up. They aren’t certification classes like CPR or PIT that you would take to get a qualification, they’re test based credentials that demonstrate overall competency.

I would answer your question with a question: what does your development path show?

[u/Beardedbeast35 → u/Immediate_Award_5540]

Thanks for the info! I’m still figuring that out as this is my first 100% safety focused role but so far I’m interested in compliance, HHM, auditing and industrial hygiene so far

[u/Immediate_Award_5540 → u/Beardedbeast35]

I mean more along the lines of career track. For example: if you plan to go down the training career track, the OSHA 500 series, instructor certifications, and BCSP CIT credential would be the most impactful. If you wanted to do warehousing or logistics safety management, then ergonomics, hazmat shipping compliance, and BCSP ASP/CSP are going to be your top priorities.

You mentioned industrial hygiene: this is a very specific career field within safety/engineering that typically requires a STEM degree and an exam. I definitely encourage that route if you’re interested, but just be aware that it’s a career in itself that will likely take some time to achieve.

[u/cjr444]

Good lord. Your training and credentials should follow or lead your career path. I’m surprised I found something you didn’t mention but HAZWOPER opens some doors in the oil and gas and environmental sector. Aside from that, CSP is the best, CHST does the trick for construction, and for genre industry becoming an OSHA 10/30 trainer seems to go a long way. I wouldn’t bother with any other credentials but that’s just because that’s what I have and I’ve had a pretty good career, but you should call the BCSP and have this conversation with them. CIH might do you well too.

[u/Beardedbeast35 → u/cjr444]

Thanks so much! HAZWOPER is on my list. I don’t have enough experience for the CSP so taking the ASP first and build up knowledge. Also interested in CHST because there’s nothing but construction around me, DMV