ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ASP/CSP CERTIFICATION

I would like to share my journey that may help many people out there determined to be ASP/CSP certified.

Initial Steps:

• ?Determine your eligibility (Bachelor’s Degree, 1Y experience for ASP, and 4Y experience for CSP)
• Get your non-US degrees verified (Check BCSP website for your particular country) https://www.bcsp.org/
• Buy Calculator : Casio models FX-115, -250, -260 or -300; Hewlett Packard models HP 9, 10, 12 or 30 ;Texas Instruments models TI-30, -34, -35 or -36.
• Register for Test at Pearson VUE https://home.pearsonvue.com/test-taker.aspx

(Dates and venue are flexible and can be changed free of cost one full business day prior to exam date). Certification requires a lot of dedication and consistency, once you book your exam you find the motivation to achieve it.

• Review the blueprint and begin with the domain of your interest.

ASP: https://www.bcsp.org/Portals/0/Assets/DocumentLibrary/ASP-Blueprint.pdf

CSP: https://www.bcsp.org/Portals/0/Assets/DocumentLibrary/CSP-Blueprint.pdf

What to Study and how:

I will again encourage you to go through as much material as possible. Reference material is as follow:

ASP: https://www.bcsp.org/Portals/0/Assets/DocumentLibrary/ASP-References.pdf

CSP: https://www.bcsp.org/Portals/0/Assets/DocumentLibrary/CSP9-References.pdf

But if you are short off-budget and paying yourself for the certification, I will share some tips and tricks for preparation.

1)????David Yates “Safety Professional's Reference and Study Guide”: This will be the most useful tool in your arsenal. The book covers almost every topic mentioned in BCSP blueprint.

2)????“Safety and health for engineers” by Roger Brauer: ?Is the most elaborate book on safety I have ever read. If you really want in-depth knowledge in safety then this is a must to read. Yes, you can pass the exam without reviewing this book, but this is something I will not recommend.

3)????Pocket Prep can come in handy. It’s available as a mobile app and can also be accessed via a web link, and thereby accessible on the go on any device. The App tests your knowledge on Yates book only (Explanation to each question is mentioned with Yates book page no), you can See answers and explanations as you go or simulate an official exam by waiting until the end. Thoroughly explains why the distractors are incorrect choices so you can fully master the concepts. You can track your progress with detailed exam results and overall history charts. Analyze your past scores, time taken to complete a test, and knowledge area strengths and weaknesses.

4)????I did not attend/consult any workshop or online lectures. It’s good to have access to video lectures and courses such as (SPAN in-person workshop, Bowen EHS, ASSE) but in case you are short on budget, you can still manage to pass the exam. The only difference is that self-study might take more effort. E.g if some of the material mentioned in Blueprint is not available in books (Yates or Brauer) you will have to search on google. This may be time-consuming but not impossible.

5)????Youtube: There are many videos on Youtube regarding ASP/CSP topics. This is a free resource and may help to get clarity on topics you never came across. I accessed YouTube to learn using my calculator for solving Statistics, Finance calculations.

6)????Flash Cards: ?I did not find them useful. None of the questions mentioned in the flashcards available online appeared in the exam. The reason is, BCSP tests your concepts, not memory. A better approach would be to create your own flashcards in order to revise what you have already studied.

7)????SPAN Workbooks: These are great for questions and reviewing the material. They provide very detailed explanations for each question. A better strategy would be to choose a domain, consult textbooks to grasp concept,s and later solve SPAN workbooks for that particular domain. Workbooks have 2 volumes. The first one has each domain separate while the second volume consists of test series.

8)????BCSP Self Assessments: There comes a time when you have studied every possible material yet you lack the confidence to take the exam. The key to overcoming this fear is to solve as many exams as possible, highlight your strengths and weaknesses and then work on them.

9)????Sleep/ Rest well the night before the exam. It’s a 5.5 hours exhausting exercise and be well prepared for it. Do take something to eat during the exam (chocolate or bananas). You will be allowed to take as many breaks as you want but the timer won’t stop. I solved 50 questions and took 10 mins break to freshen up and revive my sugar levels.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or thoughts. Email me if you would like and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have or just need some motivation. Also, I love to make new connections on LinkedIn, please follow or even send a connection request.

Email: a[email protected]

Skype: aliayub_1

Please don't send inquiries for study material, I can't help you in this regard but I can refer you to an organization based in Pakistan "Safe-enviro, email ID: [email protected]". They will charge you a very nominal fee for all the study material including quiz data bank gathered from all resources online. Feel free to contact them. They also have the cheapest rates for preparation courses, and above all hourly rates if you only need help with selected topics.

Thanks for reading! Good luck to anyone thinking of taking the exam.