What’s the Difference between a Safety Professional & a Safety Manager?

The Institute for Safety and Health Management (ISHM) has dedicated the last decade to promoting the advancement of safety and health management in the workplace.  A key component of this effort is the ISHM’s coveted Certified Safety and Health Manager (CSHM) certification program.
 
Is there a difference between a safety professional and a safety manager?  This question is one that the ISHM is often asked.  Although there is a fair amount of overlap and a good safety professional is usually a good safety manager and vice versa, there is a distinction.  One way is to look at a few differences between the certification program design for the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and the ISHM’s Certified Safety and Health Manager. 

•    The CSP demands a high level of environmental, health and safety (EHS) technical knowledge; the CSHM is focused on ability to apply EHS improvement skills to operations. 
  
•    The CSP requires in depth command of EHS engineering principles; The CSHM requires command of a broad range of management related skills such as communication, human resources and business principles in addition to technical EHS knowledge. 
  
•    The blueprint for the CSP exam focuses on identifying, assessing and managing risk; the CSHM’s exam blueprint is focused on EHS management improvement systems – planning, implementing, managing and correcting issues. 
  
•    The CSP is highly skilled at EHS fundamentals (safety, industrial hygiene, environmental and security); The CSHM is highly skilled at employing management related knowledge and skills for EHS improvement in a business environment

Contact Information

Larry Curtis

Executive Director

ISHM

manager@ishm.org