The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) is pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of its Awards of Excellence and Lifetime Achievement Award.

This year's Awards of Excellence recognize BCSP credential holders in the categories of Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and Safety Management Professional (SMP). The recipients represent outstanding leadership and knowledgeable expertise. The Lifetime Achievement Award acknowledges an outstanding career of service to the profession and a lifetime of dedication to the craft.

The 2025 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, BCSP's highest honor, is Darryl Hill, Ph.D., MBA, CSP, Senior Vice President for Safety and Security at First Student, Inc., the largest school transportation solutions provider in North America.

A past President of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and an ASSP Fellow, Dr. Hill also serves as EHS Program Director and Lecturer at Oakland University, where he has taught since 1996. He is a former member of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Board of Scientific Counselors and a previous recipient of the National Safety Council's Distinguished Service to Safety Award.

This year's Awards of Excellence recipients are:

CSP Award of Excellence: Matthew Herron, MS, PE, CSP, CPE

SMP Award of Excellence: Georgi Popov, Ph.D., CSP, QEP, SMP, ARM, CMC, FASSP, FAIHA

Herron, a BCSP Ambassador and ASSP Regional Vice President, is the Lead Safety Engineer for the Mechanical Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute.

Over a nearly 15-year career as an ergonomist and safety professional, he has demonstrated expertise in building, managing, and auditing occupational health and safety management systems and solving complex safety issues.

Popov is the chair of Occupational Risk and Safety Sciences at the University of Central Missouri and the co-author of three books on risk assessment and management.

He is a previous recipient of ASSP’s Heart of America Chapter and Region 5 Safety Professional of the Year awards and the organization’s Outstanding Safety Educator Award. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the SHIFT Journal, BCSP’s research publication.

"The BCSP Awards have always gone above and beyond professional skill and competence," said BCSP CEO Christy Uden, CAE, IOM. "They identify those inspirational leaders who genuinely elevate safety, health, and environmental practice and influence others to pursue safety excellence. This year’s recipients meet that mark in every sense."

BCSP is proud of the contributions these credential holders have made to the profession. We are delighted to highlight their accomplishments and join with colleagues in sharing appreciation for excellence in safety professionalism.

BCSP invites you to view and participate in the virtual awards ceremony, which will be presented May 20 at noon ET via the BCSP Webinars platform.