The college’s Master of Public Health in Environmental and Occupational Health & Industrial Hygiene track has received a new designation as a Graduate Safety Practitioner qualified program by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, a designation that provides graduates with a foundational level of industry certification, and qualification for the industry’s next level of professional certification exam.

The Zuckerman College of Public Health’s Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Environmental and Occupational Health (EOH), Industrial Hygiene (IH) track, has been approved as a Graduate Safety Practitioner (GSP) Qualified Academic Program (QAP) by the national Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP). The MPH in Environmental and Occupational Health & Industrial Hygiene program (MPH-EOH & IH) now officially confers the GSP certification to program graduates, and further meets the requirements for graduates to qualify for the industry’s next level Associate Safety Professional certification examination in occupation safety and health.

Offered by the Department of Community, Environment, and Policy in the college, the MPH-EOH & IH degree program is supported by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) through a NIOSH graduate training grant that was recently renewed.

This new BCSP designation creates an accelerated pathway for MPH-EOH & IH graduates to achieve the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) certification. Our graduates are now able to apply to the BCSP for the GSP designation upon graduation. This will waive the need to sit for one of the two certification examinations on the pathway to becoming a CSP.

The program’s success in obtaining the GSP QAP designation is largely due to the efforts Shannon Newton, MPH, CIH, Senior Lecturer and Coordinator for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Training Project Grant. Shannon’s outstanding commitment to the college and our students in environmental and occupational health was instrumental in the designation application process.

“The QAP elevates the value of our MPH-EOH & IH degree program because now our graduates are further on their path to becoming board certified safety professionals,” said Shannon, “This new designation not only helps our students, it also affirms the quality and credentials of our MPH in Industrial Hygiene track.”

Many thanks to Shannon! Congratulations to the Department of Community, Environment, and Policy!

See the BCSP news release about the QAP designation for UArizona.