The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) announced a formal partnership with AECOM aimed at strengthening the global infrastructure firm's position in the design, construction and management of safer transportation infrastructure projects.
The partnership will encourage and facilitate AECOM employees earning the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-approved “Safety Certification for Transportation Project Professionals” (SCTPP) designation. The certification exam tests knowledge of industry-established core competencies necessary to recognize and mitigate potential hazards to those in and around transportation project sites.
The exam was developed to meet the rigorous ANSI protocol by a panel of subject matter experts from leading U.S. transportation construction firms, state transportation departments, federal agencies and labor unions organized by the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation in 2015. The program, which earned ANSI accreditation earlier in May, was launched in late 2016. The exam is administered nationwide at Pearson VUE Test Centers.
ANSI accreditation signifies the certificate holder has completed a prescribed course of study designed specifically to meet pre-defined industry requirements and that the program's sponsor has met, and continues to meet, international standards for quality improvement.
“AECOM is committed to helping improve safety in and around all the transportation projects we design, build and manage,” AECOM Executive Vice President Matt Cummings said. “We are proud to be the first major international firm to fully integrate the ANSI-accredited SCTPP program into its professional development portfolio. We are also delighted to partner with ARTBA, a true leader in the safety arena and the holder of the only transportation construction industry accredited program in safety.”
The AECOM-ARTBA partnership also makes SCTPP prep courses and sample exam materials available to AECOM employees through the ARTBA foundation's online learning portal www.puttingsafetyfirst.org.
The transportation project-specific safety courses, which can be taken even if one is not pursuing the SCTPP certification, have been pre-approved for Professional Development Hours (PDH) to meet licensing requirements for engineers in Florida, North Carolina and New York. The PDHs also are accepted by the 38 states that follow the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) Model Rules for continual professional competency.
