Society of Product Safety Professionals Formed

The Society of Product Safety Professionals (SPSP) is launching to certify professionals at manufacturers, retailers, and distributors. The nonprofit is targeting late 2017 to hold its first certification examinations.

It writes, "Successful applicants will meet the background and experience requirements of the organization and pass an examination of qualifying questions developed by an independent committee established by SPSP to support the certification program. The certification will attest to the competency of individuals in designing and managing a compliance plan within a company."

SPSP will organize around ISO/IEC 17024, Conformity Assessment – General Requirements for Bodies Operating Certification of Persons. The Saint Louis University Center for Supply Chain Management and ADK Information Services aided in the formation, but the organizing committee is made up of the types of individuals SPSP targets.

A SPSP press release explains: "The organizing group for the Society was comprised of graduates of Saint Louis University’s product safety management certificate courses." SPSP has setup a webpage – www.productsafetyprofessionals.org – and the "about" section lists the founding members as being employees of Bosch, Disney, Hallmark, Hobby Lobby, Target, Tervis Tumbler, and Walmart.

The launch coincides with the Orlando Fla., annual meeting of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO), and there will be an introductory meeting February 20 at the same venue.