Safety Designations

Your ACSA offers an accessible path to earning the NCSO™ and HSA construction safety designations. 

Our designations verify that an individual has the knowledge in key construction-related health and safety management skills and principles. Additionally, it shows commitment to the career-long process of becoming a construction safety leader. The difference between the two programs is the requirement for three years of field experience to be eligible for the NCSO™ designation. All required courses for our designations are available in vILT format.

In 2021, 145 students were NCSO™ certified and 121 students received their HSA designation.

National standards for these designations established in 2017 ensure that NCSO™ and HSA courses satisfy equivalency, certification and maintenance requirements and the transferability of the NCSO™ designation across provincial borders.

Last year, 70 individuals completed their NCSO™ maintenance requirements. This includes taking at least one new course and maintaining Mental Health First Aid or Standard First Aid certification. In addition, 11 individuals from out-of-province expanded their certification to include ACSA.

Since 2017, 868 individuals have received their NCSO™ designation through the ACSA under the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations (CFCSA) national standard. Since 2006, 3,676 individuals have been certified by the ACSA.

Presently, the NCSO™ exam is taken in-person at an ACSA training facility. Your ACSA is exploring the option of online proctoring for the exam. And we are preparing a list of certified NCSO™s and HSAs in the province, as a resource to validate certificates and ensure authenticity.