The CHST Credential and This Course

What the CHST is

The Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST) is a certification issued by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP), a United States certification body for safety practitioners. It is aimed at people who do safety work on construction projects as a large part of their job: site safety coordinators, safety technicians, superintendents and foremen who have taken on safety duties, and people moving from a trade into a safety role.

The credential tests whether you can recognise construction hazards, choose and check controls, support emergency preparedness, keep a site safety program running, and lead and train crews. It is a technician-level credential. It sits beside BCSP's other credentials, such as the Associate Safety Professional (ASP) and the Certified Safety Professional (CSP), which are aimed at safety professionals with a degree-level role.

What this course is, and what it is not

• It is a structured review of the topics on BCSP's current published CHST examination blueprint, at the depth the exam expects, with practice questions written for this course.
• It is not an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Outreach course. It is not the OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour Construction course and it does not issue a Department of Labor (DOL) card.
• It is not site-specific or hands-on training. Your employer remains responsible for the training that each OSHA standard requires for your actual tasks, equipment and site.
• It does not contain real exam questions. Every practice question is original. BCSP keeps its exam content confidential, and nobody can honestly offer "recalled" questions.

Eligibility, fees and rules: check with BCSP

BCSP sets the eligibility rules (for example, how much construction safety experience you need), the fees, the application steps, the exam scheduling rules and the recertification requirements. These change from time to time. This course does not repeat them, because an out-of-date rule could cost you an application. Read the current CHST pages and candidate handbook on BCSP's own website before you apply, and again before you book your exam date.

Once certified, a credential holder must keep it current under BCSP's recertification rules. Check those rules with BCSP as well.