Partnership Between BCSP and VPPPA to Improve Worker Safety

The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) and the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA) will collaborate to improve occupational safety and health at workplaces throughout the United States. Mike Guillory, VPPPA Chairperson, and Chris Patton, CSP, SMS, ASP, BCSP Board President, formalized the partnership in a new BCSP-VPPPA Partnership Agreement, signing the document together at the 2017 VPPPA Safety+ Symposium in New Orleans, LA.

“BCSP is proud to partner with VPPPA and together strengthen the safety profession,” says Patton. “VPPPA serves organizations that commit to better safety performance, and safety practitioners who hold themselves to higher standards value BCSP certification. This provides a strong basis for advancement of the profession.”

As part of the partnership agreement, the organizations have committed to supporting safety and health competency at all levels of workplace organization. BCSP and VPPPA will utilize technology to disseminate information on management systems, best practices, and career opportunities in safety and health. They will provide support for students to enter safety and health academic programs, encourage organizations’ use of certification, participate in events where safety and health are addressed, and facilitate the transfer of relevant occupational safety and health research findings to the body of knowledge of safety and health professionals.

“This agreement is advantageous for both VPPPA and BCSP. But most importantly, it will benefit the health and safety community,” said Mike Guillory, VPPPA Chairperson, at the opening of the Safety+ Symposium. “Protecting, educating and advocating for our community is, after all, what we’re all here to do.”

Left to right: BCSP Business Development Director Clint Wolfley, CSP, CHST, STSC; President of the BSCP Board of Directors C. Christopher Patton, CSP, SMS, ASP; VPPPA Director-at-Large J. A. Rodriguez, Jr., CSP, SGE; VPPPA Chairperson Mike Guillory; VPPPA Executive Director Mike Maddox