BCRSP collaboration project puts focus on ethics

A chapter entitled “Ethics and Professional Practice” has been added to the OHS BoK. (ohsbok.org.au)

A collaborative effort between the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP) and the Australian Institute of Health and Safety (AIHS) has produced new material on ethics and professional practice.

The joint project concluded with the late-2019 release of a chapter on “Ethics and Professional Practice” for the OHS Body of Knowledge (OHS BoK).

The joint effort brought a richness to the outcome that could not have been achieved by a single country, said Pam Pryor, manager of the OHS BoK for AIHS.

“We all face similar ethical challenges in our professional practice,” she said in a press release. “For the OHS profession to mature and gain broad recognition, we need to work together to share our experience and resources to present a unified international face.”

According to the BCRSP, the chapter is a first for the profession and is much more than simply signing off on a code of ethics.

Rather, the chapter focuses on the OHS professional as an “ethical professional,” stated the release.

The chapter will be used by the BCRSP as reference material for BCRSP examinations and will be promoted to certificants as a valuable resource to inform their ethical practice.

The OHS BoK was developed in response to an identified need to define the collective knowledge that should be shared by Australian generalist OHS professionals as a basis for understanding the causation and control of work-related fatality, injury, disease and ill-health.

While initially developed for Australian OHS professionals, it is increasingly being used internationally.

Emphasis on ethics

As the certification board for the OHS profession in Canada, the BCRSP is also promoting an emphasis on ongoing ethical practice in relation to changes to the BCRSP Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program.

Effective Jan. 1, 2021 all individuals who hold a BCRSP certification will be required to complete at least two hours of ethics training during each CPD cycle.

In order to assist training providers, develop courses acceptable to the BCRSP, an Ethics Program and Provider Standard has been developed.