Certified Safety Engineer (CSE) as a new official profession in China: A brief review

Developing a group of good safety professionals is a key foundation for improving a country's work safety and health. In China, the widespread concern and discussion on the development of safety professionals, or more specifically Certified Safety Engineers (CSEs) started in the early 1990s. In recent years, especially after 2002, China's CSEs entered into a holistic, systematic and rapid development period because of the formal establishment and implementation of the professional qualification system for CSEs in 2002. Moreover, CSE is now becoming the most important profession in the field of work health and safety in China, and it has been officially approved by the central government. China has rich experiences on the development and cultivation of CSEs. However, these experiences were little known to the outside world due to the lack of efficient communication. Firstly, this paper briefly reviews the history and development of CSEs in China. Then, the administrative regulation and important requirements (such as capacity requirements and the knowledge framework) regarding CSEs in China are briefly introduced. This research aims at promoting the cooperation and exchange of information on the development and cultivation of safety professionals between China and other countries, to offer useful evidence and suggestions for the development of safety professionals.