LAUSR

Abstract Like many disciplines, modern occupational, safety, and health (OSH) in the US is the result of years of professional maturation by three main drivers: practitioners/best practices, professional associations (i.e., certifications, education standards, etc.) and a series of external events (law, policy, accidents, etc.) i.e., that continue to influence the collective development of the profession. This paper reviews each driver and its contribution to the evolution of OSH in the US. In the US, what is recognized as the OSH profession was originally a sub-discipline in the engineering field. However, defining the scope and function of OSH, laying the foundation for OSH as a unique discipline did not begin until the early 1960’s when the ASSP launched the Professionalism Project. It took several years for higher education to eventually create academic degree programs in OSH that focused on developing a capable and adequate workforce. Till that time, the discipline had been unregulated (i.e., anyone could claim to be a safety professional, with or without an education and with or without a professional credential) and unstructured (i.e., it was impossible to identify standardized approaches to identify and mitigate workplace life and health risks). Education standards for degree programs and professional standards for practitioners were significant responses to the lack of structure. For example, ABET accreditation and the creation of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) and its CSP credential became the first bona fide metrics against which to determine professional competence. The paper culminates with a roadmap for OSH to follow to achieve occupation closure as an ultimate expression of professionalization.