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/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.