Certified Mine Safety Professional

CMSP Renewal

Certification Renewal

Thank you for your commitment to safety and health in the mining industry.
The following information outlines the requirements to maintain your CMSP certification.
In order to renew your CMSP certification you must meet the following criteria:

• Renew your CMSP credential every five years.
• Earn 25 Professional Development Points (PDPs) per renewal cycle.
• Document and retain information on professional development activities during this period.

Submit a renewal application with payment by December 15 of your renewal year.

Download Requirements for CMSP Renewal  Download CMSP Renewal Application

Submit Renewal Payment

Requirements for CMSP Renewal

As a mine safety and health professional, you must maintain a wealth of knowledge in order to effectively perform your duties. The Certified Mine Safety Processional (CMSP) credential gives mine safety and health practitioners a designation that symbolizes a depth of commitment to their profession. The designation indicates to your peers and prospective employers that you have a command of a body of knowledge that has been demonstrated through documented experience, rigorous testing, and a dedication to elevating safety and health practices. To renew your CMSP, you must complete the following steps:

1. Renew your CMSP credential every five years.
2. Earn 25 Professional Development Points per renewal cycle.
3. Document and retain information on professional development activities during this time period.
4. Submit a renewal application with payment by December 15 of your renewal year.

Hardship Renewal Extension and Guidelines

If a CMSP is short of the 25 PDPs for presentation, a hardship renewal extension may be granted for an additional 6 months. A request for hardship renewal extension must be submitted in writing by December 15 of the renewal year. A CMSP should submit how many PDPs are still needed, and a brief statement to accomplish the PDP in the coming months. The IAMSH Board will approve extensions on a case-by-case basis within four weeks of receipt at SME. If approved, the CMSP will remain certified for the 6th year, and the new 5-year cycle for renewal begins in the extension year.

Please note: The renewal fee is due at the time of renewal, not at the end of the extension date.  

Renewal Application and Deadline

The deadline to submit your renewal application with supporting documentation is December 15 of your renewal year. If your application is not received by this date, you will lose your credential and will be required to meet the new eligibility requirements and take the CMSP examination to regain your certification.

Professional Development Points and PDP Acceptable Activities

Holders of the CMSP must participate in professional development activities. 25 Professional
Development Points (PDPs) must be earned per renewal cycle.

All points must be earned within the cycle to which they apply. No points may be carried over from prior cycles.

The following seven categories of activities are acceptable for earning PDPs for the purposes of recertification. Documentation requirements will only be required if you are notified that your PDP report is being audited.

Documenting Your PDPs

CMSPs must maintain their own records for PDP activities together with supporting documentation and point totals for submission at the end of their reporting cycle. Please use the PDP Accumulation Form included with this guide and the application to document and report your professional development activities.

Keeping track of your PDPs. It is very important that you set up a personal procedure for tracking PDPs. There are forms in this guide to assist you in tracking points. You should review and update your records at least once a year. A full review of your records should take place when you receive the renewal notice for your certification. Keeping accurate records will make it easy to prepare the PDP report at the end of your cycle. Should you be selected for audit, having these records readily available makes it easy to verify your points.

Keep original documents that verify points. Information about what documentation is accepted for point verification appears in Section 3 with a discussion of each point category. Once again, be sure to keep documentation supporting your points. You will have to submit supporting documentation only if you are audited.

How to report your PDPs. All PDPs must be reported on the PDP reporting form. One year prior to the end of your PDP cycle, SME will notify you of the approaching end of your PDP accumulation cycle and send you the reporting form. You must use the reporting form. Other formats will not be accepted.

The PDP recertification report must reach the SME office by the end of your cycle. SME will notify you about your results following an evaluation of your report. If you are selected for auditing, you will be notified and given instructions about what you need to do.

Do not send supporting documents with your initial report. Proof of points earned is not required with the application.

Documentation requirements will only be required if you are notified that your PDP report is being audited.

Auditing. Certificants may be audited. The auditing process ensures that a certificant can verify the points claimed on a PDP report. SME will randomly select PDP reports for audit. Individuals selected will receive a notice explaining step-by-step how and when to submit audit documentation.

Counting PDPs. When maintaining your records, you may have activities that earn fractions of a point. This often occurs when Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are awarded. For example, a continuing education course may have 1.3 points. Keep track of these points accurately when you obtain them, because partial points may be critical at the end of your cycle. When you total your points for a PDP cycle, only the whole units of the total will be considered by SME. For example, the sum of all your PDPs may be 24.6 at the end of your cycle. The total is not rounded up to the nearest whole number. In this case the required 25 points for the five-year recertification cycle would not be met.

Claiming points. An activity that produces PDPs may be counted in only one category. For example, as part of a professional position, a certificant may develop and conduct a company sponsored training course or seminar. If credit is claimed for active professional practice, the activity cannot be claimed again under course development or presentation. PDPs for developing and teaching a repetitive course that is essentially the same course taught several times in a cycle can only be claimed once by the presenter during that cycle.

Points earned during a cycle may be claimed for that cycle only. PDPs reported in a cycle must have been earned during that cycle. PDPs can neither be carried over from a previous cycle or forwarded to an ensuing cycle, nor claimed for activities not occurring during the cycle. For example, PDPs that exceed that cycle's required minimum may not be carried forward.

Meeting PDP requirements by examination. Another way to earn all 25 points for a PDP cycle is to retake and pass the Certified Mine Safety Professional of SME examination. If you choose to take the CMSP examination (the current examination) to satisfy your PDP requirements, you must notify SME of your intention to do so. You must, however, pay the applicable examination fee and make the required arrangements to take the examination. In order for the PDPs earned by retesting to be valid, the examination must be taken and passed prior to the end of the cycle to which it applies.

Applying CEUs and other continuing education point systems. Continuing education courses provide one of the main methods for keeping up with professional practice. Both the length and difficulty contribute to the value of a course.

Download CMSP Renewal Application and PDP Tracking Form

Educations Units Recognized

Continuing Education Units (CEUs). For many continuing education courses, the providers ensure that they comply with national standards for continuing education courses established by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). Courses complying with IACET standards can award CEUs. Since SME does not evaluate courses for CEU credit, it relies on compliance with IACET standards, where applicable, to help ensure quality in education offering, thereby recognizing the CEU as a measure of course credit. Training providers are responsible for meeting rules associated with awarding CEUs for continuing education courses.

Accredited home study courses. Home study courses may meet PDP requirements. To be considered, a home study course must be recognized and approved by SME and identify the number of credit hours of study awarded.

College and University Academic Credit. SME recognizes academic course hours from college and university courses as well as technical schools with approved curricula. To be accepted under PDP program, the college, university or technical school must be accredited by one of the regional accrediting bodies recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation

(CHEA). The course must be taken for academic credit (not just audited) and must appear on an official academic transcript from the school. The PDP credit is based on the semester or equivalent quarter hours of credit awarded by the school.

Notification of PDP Submission Results

SME will review each PDP report to determine if the required points were achieved.

PDP requirement met. If you meet the point requirement, SME will send you written notice stating that your PDP re- certification requirements have been met. You will be recertified and will begin a new PDP cycle.

PDP requirement not met. You will be immediately notified should SME find that you have not earned enough PDPs, or there is a problem with your submission. You may provide additional information to justify points claimed or work with SME to resolve the problem. If you do not respond to the notification or seek to resolve the problem, you will be notified in writing (within 30 days) that your certification is no longer valid.

Retired CMSP status. Retired CMSP status is granted to certificants who have held this certification and have requested and been granted the retired status by SME. This status indicates the certificant is no longer active as amine health and safety practitioner. Requests for retired status must be submitted in writing to SME with the fee normally required for first renewal.

While in retired status the certificant may use the designation: CMSP (retired).

A retired certificant may return to certified status without having to reapply and pass the examination if he or she has been in retired status for less than five years. To re-establish certification, the certificant must pay any applicable fees and demonstrate that the PDP requirements in effect or past due at the time of reactivation have been met. If the applicable PDP cycle has not ended when reactivation is requested, the certificant's recertification report is not due until the cycle ends.

If more than five years have passed after electing retired status, the retired certificant must meet the new eligibility requirements and sit for the examination.

Frequently Asked Questions

I developed an MSHA 8-hour Annual Refresher training course, and taught it 24 times to over
250 people during the year. It took me 8 hours to develop the course. How many PHPs can I
count?

Following guidance in Section 3 Part 6, you can claim 0.2 PDHs for each hour of preparation and 0.2 PDHs per hour of teaching the course, or 3.2 PDPs (8 * 0.2 + 8 * 0.2) for the year. You cannot claim additional classes taught in the same year. You can claim the 3.2 PDHs if you give the course in the next year.

I attended required MSHA 8-hour Annual Refresher training. Can I claim 0.8 points?

Yes, for each course the PDPs calculated is 0.8 points (0.1 * 8).

I attended an SME Annual Conference. How many PDPs can I claim?

You can claim PDPs for any Health or Safety related session you attend at any conference equal to 0.1 PDH per hour of attendance. Keep careful records of the session or professional paper attended of titles presenters, dates and locations in case your renewal is audited.

I attended a general mining conference. How many PDPs can I claim?

You can claim PDPs for any Health or Safety related session you attend at any conference equal to 0.1 PDH per hour of attendance. Keep careful records of the session or professional paper attended of titles presenters, dates and locations in case your renewal is audited.

I just competed my second year of a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in safety engineering. What courses can I claim for PDPs towards my renewal for this cycle and how do I document them?

You can claim any college or university coursework directly applicable to mine safety and health. Course examples include Injury and Damage Investigation, Emergency Response, Ergonomics, etc. General courses such as Chemistry, Technical Writing are not applicable.

Last year I attended an MSHA three-day Instructor Training Workshop for Part 48 and received my instructor’s certification. Can I claim PDPs for attending?

Yes, if CEUs were given, 1 CEU = 1 PDP; if CEU’s were not given, use 0.1 PDP per hour of attendance.

I recently completed Emergency Medical Technician training, and passed the certification exam. Can I claim PDPs for this training?

Yes, if CEUs were given, 1 CEU = 1 PDP; if CEU’s were not given, use 0.1 PDP per hour of attendance.