The grieving father jabbed his fingerat David Walls. His anguished question
struck like a sledgehammer blow: “Why did you kill my son?”

No answer could console the father’sgrief about the young man’s death on a
construction site. For Walls, now president
and CEO of Dallas-based Austin Industries,
the episode became “a defining moment, a
great awakening” in a 36-year career dedicated
to preventing fatalities.

Ross Myers, chairman and CEO of Allan Myers in Worcester, Pa., is also sadly familiar with the tragedy of workplace fatalities.

“I’ve been to the funerals of employees and have sat in the front row with the families, listening to moms and grandmothers share stories about their loved ones,” he says. “I've tried to console them, but sometimes there's not much you can say. AsI leave these events that have forever impacted my life, I come away with a renewed commitment that this should never happen again.”

Now, Walls and Myers, together with other veteran industry leaders and through the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF), have joined forcesto introduce and implement the Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals (SCTPP) program.

120 Questions in 2.5 Hours

Designed to meet American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Organization for Standardization ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation protocols, the program seeks to reduce the number of injuries and deaths on and around project sites by involving all key decisionmakers, from project inception through completion, in troubleshooting risks. Candidates learn how to assess risks, create safety plans, implement and conduct ongoing evaluation of a site-specific operational safety plan, and conduct incident investigations. Certification is valid for three years.

Applications are being accepted for the first of three exams in 2017 -- Jan. 16-Feb. 17, March 13-April 14, and Oct. 16.-Nov. 17 -- that will be administered nationwide at Pearson VUE testing centers via the SCTPP website: www.puttingsafetyfirst.org. The first six prep courses confer 10 professional development hours (PDH):

  • Communication: Covers the different types of communication employees need to effectively lead a team and how to avoid mistakes caused by miscommunicating critical information (1-PDH).
  • Environmental Conditions: How to identify and address specific hazards when working at night, in different climates, in different weather, and near water (2-PDH).
  • Hazard Control: Details how to detect the most common hazards found on transportation construction jobsites, the threats each hazard poses to workers, and how to mitigate the risks by applying elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and Personal Protective Equipment (2-PDH).
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Discusses the different types of PPE workers need for different jobs on a transportation project jobsite, how to select and maintain PPE, and how to establish a culture where everyone always uses PPE (1-PDH).
  • Traffic Control: Demonstrates how to implement an internal traffic control plan (ITCP) to manage workers, vehicles, and equipment within the work zone, and how to implement a temporary traffic control plan (TTCP) to manage vehicles and pedestrians outside the work zone (2-PDH).
  • Work Sites: Reviews the hazards and required safety measures for working in trenches and other excavations, confined spaces, and above ground (2-PDH).

The application and exam fee is $500. Candidates must meet one of the following eligibility requirements:

Option 1

  • Three years’ full-time or equivalent experience in the transportation construction industry.
  • Completion of an OSHA 30 or 510 course.


Option 2

  • Bachelor’s degree in engineering or construction management with two years’ experience* in the transportation construction industry.
  • Completion of an OSHA 30 or 510 course.

Option 3

  • Associate or technical degree in safety with two years’ experience in the transportation construction industry.

Experience is defined as a job classification including, but not limited to, laborer, operator, foreperson, superintendent, project manager, construction manager, engineer, safety professional, risk manager, inspector, surveyor, or estimator. Internships qualify as experience. Experience must be within five years of applying for certification.

To get started, visit www.puttingsafetyfirst.org and click “Prep Courses.”