Chair Larry Masotti on refining certification and raising BCRSP's profile as the field expands to psychological safety, inclusion, AI, and global collaboration
This article is produced in partnership with BCRSP
“I always had this idealistic notion: I don’t just want to go home at the end of the day the way I came in. I want to go home better, because somebody challenged me or taught me something.”
For Larry Masotti, newly appointed Chair of the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP), that sentiment frames both his career and his vision for the profession. Occupational health and safety, he argues, is not a static set of rules but a living practice. More like a river that carves its banks over time than a fixed structure. To lead effectively, he believes, requires navigating both the steady currents of established practice and the rapids of emerging risks.
Building on fifty years
Masotti notes how much the profession has expanded. “A decade ago we may have talked about slips and falls and pinch points. We still do, of course, but now the spectrum also includes inclusion, diversity, equity, mental health, psychological safety at one end, with robotics, drones, artificial intelligence, and 3D printing at the other.” The challenge, he argues, is ensuring health and safety professionals are prepared for both. Lifelong learning, he says, “has never been more pronounced.”
That awareness informs his priorities. Outreach remains central, both to support the growth of BCRSP’s designations and to ensure employers recognize their value. He also highlights the importance of collaboration across allied fields, pointing to a new alliance of organizations ranging from ergonomists to occupational hygienists. “In a unified front, we raise the profile of occupational health and safety in this country,” he explains. And long-term, he remains focused on professionalization: title protection and broader recognition of health and safety as a distinct profession at both provincial and federal levels.
The 50th anniversary celebration in Niagara Falls next May will serve as a touchstone, both for certificants and those considering the field. “Although we’re celebrating with certificants, we’re also inviting aspiring non-certificants who might want to find out what this is all about,” he says.
Priorities: outreach, alliance, professionalization
Masotti’s own career reflects the evolution of the field. After decades at Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, he now leads Minerva Canada, promoting health and safety education in universities and colleges. Retirement was never truly on the table. “Health and safety has given me so much I did not want to leave it,” he says. “I realized you cannot be in part-time, you’re either in or you’re out. I decided I wanted to be in.” That decision has shaped a leadership style grounded in collaboration and critical thinking. For him, effective professionals must be equally at ease “on the plant floor and in the boardroom,” bridging technical realities with strategic discussions.
Visibility, both at home and abroad, is part of that bridge. Masotti sees board members and volunteers as ambassadors, encouraging them to speak publicly about certification and career pathways in the field. Internationally, BCRSP maintains agreements with credentialing bodies in Australia, the UK, and the US, with more on the horizon. “All in the interest of learning and elevating the profession globally,” he says.
He also emphasizes that the most significant changes facing health and safety are cultural as much as technological. The growing attention to inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and decolonization marks, in his view, a fundamental shift. “Even accessibility isn’t only physical accessibility, it’s neurodiversity and things of that nature. It’s much more complex. And given the fact that we’re finally talking about it, we’re all learning.” Alongside this, he points to the increasing recognition of psychosocial hazards and mental health, once resisted as part of workplace safety but now firmly on the agenda.
Technology, meanwhile, continues to accelerate change, from AI and wearables to drones for inspections. For Masotti, adaptability is the critical skill. “Change is the only constant. Once a professional learns to deal with change, they become adaptable, open to it, and realize there are pros and cons to any process or procedure.” He stresses that interpersonal “human skills” are equally vital, quoting Alvin Toffler: “The illiterate person of the 21st century will not be the person who cannot read or write, but the one that cannot unlearn, relearn, and learn.”
Raising the profile, renewing the energy
Masotti stresses that the credibility of BCRSP’s certifications rests on continuous oversight rather than one-time achievement. With ISO certification in place, the organization’s processes are subject to regular audits and constant review. “We do run a risk registry process where we monitor what are the risks of the organization, how do we minimize or mitigate them,” he explains. “The ISO process and the management system drive that activity to ensure we’re as good as we can be.”
That same discipline extends to the CRSP and CRST exams. Volunteer committees oversee every stage, exam development, scoring, and validation, ensuring the designations remain consistent and reliable benchmarks.
For Masotti, this steady cycle of refinement reflects the broader responsibility of the profession: to remain trusted, relevant, and ready for change. His goal as chair is to keep that momentum moving, bringing both continuity and a renewed energy to the work of advancing occupational health and safety in Canada.
