This overview includes information to help you prepare for the Certified Safety Professional exam. You will find details about eligibility, exam content, fees, registration, scoring, retakes, recertification, and study resources.
Questions200 multiple-choice questions | Time Limit5.5 hours |
Content Areas7 CSP11 domains | Testing ProviderPearson VUE |
Exam Background and Purpose
The Certified Safety Professional, or CSP, credential is offered by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. It is designed for experienced safety, health, and environmental professionals who hold leadership responsibilities.
CSPs may develop safety-management systems, identify hazards, evaluate risk, investigate incidents, plan emergency responses, interpret data, oversee training, and advise organizational leaders.
Key point: The CSP is an advanced professional certification. Applicants must meet the education and experience requirements and already hold a BCSP-qualified credential.
CSP Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must satisfy all education, professional-experience, and credential requirements before taking the CSP exam.
Minimum Requirements
- Hold at least a bachelor’s degree in any field.
- Complete four years of safety, health, and environmental experience.
- At least 50% of the qualifying experience must involve preventive, professional-level work with breadth and depth of safety duties.
- Hold a BCSP-qualified credential.
- Pass the CSP examination.
Examples of Qualified Credentials
- Associate Safety Professional
- Graduate Safety Practitioner
- Transitional Safety Practitioner
- Certified Industrial Hygienist
- Canadian Registered Safety Professional
- Chartered Member or Fellow of IOSH
- NEBOSH National or International Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety
- Other credentials accepted by BCSP
Applicants educated outside the United States may need to submit an academic evaluation showing that their degree is equivalent to a qualifying U.S. bachelor’s degree.
CSP Test Overview
The CSP exam is a computer-based examination containing 200 multiple-choice questions. Candidates receive five and a half hours to complete it.
Questions assess both technical knowledge and the ability to apply safety principles to realistic professional situations. The exam may include unscored questions being evaluated for possible use on future examinations.
Necessary formulas are provided within the examination. Candidates should still understand how and when to apply each formula.
Advanced Application of Safety Principles and Program Management make up half of the examination. Those two domains should receive substantial attention in your study plan.
Costs and Payment Options
CSP applicants pay an application fee and an examination fee. BCSP also offers an exam bundle that includes two examination attempts and a self-assessment.
CSP Fee Basics
- Application fee: $160
- Single examination fee: $350
- Exam bundle: $600
- Application and single-exam combination: $494
- Application and exam-bundle combination: $744
- Eligibility extension fee: $100
- Annual certification renewal fee: $180
Fees can change. Verify the amount shown in your BCSP profile before submitting payment.
Application and Registration
Candidates apply through the BCSP online certification system. The application requires information about education, professional experience, and the qualifying credential.
After BCSP approves the application, the candidate has one year to purchase and pass the examination. A one-time eligibility extension may be available for candidates nearing the end of that period.
Scheduling the Examination
Candidates purchase the examination through their BCSP profile and then schedule through Pearson VUE. Computer-based testing is offered at Pearson VUE testing centers around the world.
Appointment availability varies by location. Schedule early when you need a particular testing center, date, or accommodation.
What Should I Expect on Test Day?
How Is the CSP Exam Scored?
The CSP examination uses a criterion-referenced passing standard. Candidates are measured against the knowledge and skills expected of a competent safety professional rather than against the performance of other examinees.
Different versions of the examination may vary slightly in difficulty, so scoring procedures account for those differences. BCSP does not require every candidate to answer the same raw number of questions correctly.
Official results are available after the computer-based examination is submitted. Candidates who pass and satisfy all remaining requirements are awarded the CSP certification.
Retaking the CSP Exam
Candidates who do not pass must wait at least six weeks before taking the examination again.
A candidate must still have enough time remaining in the eligibility period to purchase and schedule another attempt. Candidates with insufficient time may need to purchase an eligibility extension or submit a new application.
Before retesting, use the diagnostic information from your score report to identify weak domains rather than repeating the same study plan unchanged.
Certification and Recertification
CSP holders must pay an annual renewal fee and complete BCSP recertification requirements.
The normal recertification cycle lasts five years. CSP holders must earn 25 recertification points during the cycle.
Recertification Basics
- Complete 25 recertification points during the five-year cycle.
- Include at least 0.5 points, or five hours, of qualifying ethics education for applicable cycles.
- Record activities in the BCSP online profile as they are completed.
- Retain documentation in case the recertification submission is audited.
- Submit the recertification worksheet by the required deadline.
How Can I Prepare for the CSP Exam?
Begin with the CSP11 blueprint rather than an older nine-domain outline. The current exam combines several subjects that previously appeared as separate domains.
Preparation should emphasize application and judgment. Many questions require you to select the most appropriate professional action rather than simply recognize a definition.
CSP Study Checklist
- Review prevention through design, process safety, workplace hazards, tools, machinery, and material handling.
- Study safety-management systems, audits, incident investigation, performance indicators, budgeting, and leadership.
- Practice hazard analysis, risk ranking, hierarchy-of-controls decisions, and financial risk strategies.
- Review emergency planning, fire protection, incident command, hazardous materials, and business continuity.
- Study environmental compliance, pollution prevention, waste management, and sustainability.
- Review toxicology, industrial hygiene, epidemiology, ergonomics, chemistry, physics, and applied calculations.
- Study adult learning, training-needs assessment, instructional methods, and program evaluation.
- Complete timed practice questions using the full five-and-a-half-hour limit.
- Review the reasoning behind every missed answer.
CSP Study Resources
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CSP® and Certified Safety Professional® are registered certification marks of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. BCSP is not involved with or affiliated with Mometrix Media LLC or StudyGuideZone.com, nor does BCSP endorse or sponsor any products or services offered by Mometrix Media LLC or StudyGuideZone.com.
