501.937 Industrial hygienists and safety professionals; use of professional titles; failure to comply. - Florida Statutes

501.937 Industrial hygienists and safety professionals; use of professional titles; failure to comply.

   (1) Any person representing himself or herself as a “safety professional” or “industrial hygienist” must accurately disclose his or her credentials.

   (2) A person may not represent himself or herself as a “certified safety professional,” “associate safety professional,” “certified occupational health and safety technologist,” “industrial hygienist in training,” or “certified industrial hygienist” unless he or she holds a current valid certificate in the field of safety or industrial hygiene from either the American Board of Industrial Hygiene or the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, or unless the Department of Business and Professional Regulation has, upon request, examined another certification program and has formally concluded that the certification standards of that certification program are substantially equivalent to the standards for certificates issued by those organizations; nor may the person mislead or deceive anyone by the unauthorized use of any certification mark that has been awarded by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

   (3)(a) A “safety professional” is a person having a baccalaureate degree in safety, engineering, chemistry, physics, or a closely related physical or biological science who has acquired competency in the field of safety. The studies and training necessary to acquire such competency should have been sufficient in all of the above cognate sciences to provide the abilities to anticipate, identify, and evaluate hazardous conditions and practices; to develop hazard control designs, methods, procedures, and programs; to implement, administer, and advise others on hazard controls and hazard control programs; and to measure, audit, and evaluate the effectiveness of hazard controls and hazard control programs.

   (b) An “industrial hygienist” is a person having a baccalaureate degree in engineering, chemistry, physics, or a closely related physical or biological science who has acquired competency in the field of industrial hygiene. The studies and training necessary to acquire such competency should have been sufficient in all of the above cognate sciences to provide the abilities to anticipate and recognize the environmental factors and stresses associated with work and work operations and to understand their effects on people and their well-being; to evaluate, on the basis of training and experience and with the aid of quantitative measurement techniques, the magnitude of these factors and stresses in terms of ability to impair human health and well-being; and to prescribe methods to eliminate, control, or reduce such factors and stresses when necessary to alleviate their effects.

   (4) Failure to comply with this section constitutes a deceptive and unfair trade practice.

History. s. 51, ch. 98-419.