National Construction Safety Officer (NCSO)™ & Health & Safety Administrator (HSA)
Here at the Alberta Construction Safety Association, we offer a path to earning one of two construction safety designations: National Construction Safety Officer (NCSO)™ and Health & Safety Administrator (HSA). These designations indicate that the individual has knowledge in various construction-related health & safety management skills and principles. When a person completes these programs, they are ready to begin the career-long process of becoming a leader in construction safety.
The distinguishing difference between the designations is the requirement for three (3) years of ‘field experience’ to be eligible for the NCSO™ as opposed to the HSA.
The construction field is defined and established as working directly and actively in the construction field (i.e: residential, commercial, industrial, road building, pipeline construction, mobile equipment operations, etc.); or, an individual who is directly and actively engaged in safety (i.e: Site Safety Coordinator) or responsible for the supervision (i.e: Site Superintendent) of the construction worker, who also works directly and actively in the construction field on a full time basis.
Important Changes to Your NCSO™ & HSA Designations
NCSO
As of July 1, 2017, you will see changes introduced to the NCSO designation, creating a new standard, introducing an exam component, and impacting certain course and maintenance requirements. This new standard aims to strengthen the NCSO designation, making it more credible while allowing ease of transferability among other provinces. Download this helpful Information Sheet as well as this Frequently Asked Questions document for more information.
HSA
To maintain the alignment between the course requirements for the NCSO and HSA designations, changes will also be made to the compulsory and elective course options for the Health and Safety Administrator (HSA) as of July 1, 2017. The changes will reflect those brought about with the new Active NCSO standard, which also came into effect on July 1st, 2017.
Please note that the HSA standard will not change and that none of the other updates to the NCSO will apply to the HSA. For now, it is just the following course requirements:
• Worksite Investigation Basics now mandatory
• Communication & Ethics for the Safety Leader now mandatory
• Confined Space Entry/Monitor now an elective
• Prime Contractor is now an elective course
Read through the helpful information at the NCSO information page and the HSA information page where you will find an outline of the requirements for each designation, or alternatively, you can contact us at info@youracsa.ca or on 1.800.661.ACSA (2272).
Requirements for NCSO™ & HSA
Below is a comparison chart outlining the differences in obtaining the NCSO designation from the HSA designation (bullets indicate requirements).
NCSO |
HSA |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Successful certification in the eleven compulsory courses (see Program Outline section below) | • | • | ||
| Successful completion in certification of two elective courses (see Program Outline section below) | • | • | ||
| Letter of experience verifying a minimum of 3 years of field experience in the construction industry (see the Downloads section on this webpage) | • | |||
| LSE Proficiency Package (see the Downloads section on this webpage) | • | |||
| Certified Auditor | • | |||
| NCSO Exam | • |
To register for the NCSO program, please go to the NCSO information page.
To register for the HSA program, please go to the HSA information page.
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Revised: November 24, 2017