Dear Editor,
My fellow Guyanese and friend David Olton who is now an accomplished Board Certified Safety Professional (CSP) makes me and all Guyanese proud. Go Saints! The CSP is the gold standard in professional safety certification and is a highly coveted certification that one only acquires after reaching a certain level of academic achievement before undergoing very rigorous advanced training and successful evaluation by a duly accredited board of peer reviewers. It is the highest standard of competence, a symbol of achievement and assurance of quality that the title bearer must live up to.
The equivalent to the CSP in engineering is the Professional Engineer (PE) and the many recognized professional titles such as Registered Geotechnical Engineer (GE), Certified Engineering Geologist and those associated with several other disciplines, such as accountancy, land surveying, law and medicine. These are highly distinguished professional accomplishments that demonstrate the grit, determination and level of professionalism that one can expect from the holder of a CSP, PE or any of these professional titles which they are entitled to use after their name.
The acquisition of professional certification tells the public that they can place trust and confidence in the holder who has mastered the critical elements of the profession. The acquisition of CSP places David at the top of his game and in high demand in the industrial and corporate world where environmental health and safety rank high on the agenda as prerequisites for sustainable development. This is the backbone of a healthy economy, where workers and their communities are not endangered by workplace practices and technology that are not in compliance with regulatory and/or best practice standards. David’s professional accomplishment sets the bar high for which young Guyanese must aspire. Knowing his background, I am not surprised. As a Guyanese professional, I am happy to see our young professionals rise and diversify from traditional fields of practice. As the world turns, more development support and international funding will be linked to the creation of green economies and internationally-recognized environmental health and safety standards. Guyanese must be on board to protect our environment, jobs and workers.
Yours faithfully,
Ronald De Freitas
Certified Public Accountant