Pro Board® Certification

Pro Board^® Fire Service Professional Qualifications (Pro Board) certification is available for the IAFF HazMat Operations and HazMat Technician programs. The Pro Board^® has accredited the IAFF’s HazMat Operations program for the Awareness and Operations level for Core, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Product Control. The Technician program has been accredited to HazMat Technical level provided the student has the proper prerequisites.

Pro Board^® recognized certification from the IAFF is an indisputable mark of performance belonging to individual fire service professionals. Each successful candidate for certification from an accredited entity knows that he or she has been measured against peers and meets rigorous national standards.  Certification affords the individual a uniformity and portability of qualifications. In addition, the credibility of the IAFF is enhanced by having our members certified to national consensus standards. The Pro Board^® encourages reciprocity among certifying entities. This will help to ensure that Pro Board^® certification will be recognized by the department as affiliates seek advancement, and by other departments should they seek to transfer within the fire service.

Once a student passes a Pro Board^®-certified HazMat training class by achieving a post-test score of 70% or greater, they will receive an IAFF certificate with a Pro Board seal and their name will be submitted to the Pro Board^® registry. Each certificate is customized with the student name, the HazMat course name, date of training, and lists the NFPA and OSHA standards met.

Several weeks after completion of the course, students will receive their Pro Board^® certificates and will also be able to locate their name and course in the Pro Board^® National Registry. It is important to note that students are asked to provide the last 4 digits of their Social Security Number (SSN) or their Social Insurance Number (SIN) (Canada) in order to view their information on the Pro Board^® National Registry. However, if students do not provide their SSN or SIN then they will default to “1750” as their identifier. Find Your Name on the Pro Board^® Registry.

Previously appointed by the General President, Vilma Perez-Atwood, the department’s curricula development coordinator continues to serve as the IAFF’s representative on the Pro Board^® COA. In this capacity, she is responsible for the assignment of Pro Board^® site visit teams, the approval new and pending accreditations, re-accreditations, extensions to accreditation and other requests from accredited agencies. This is an important role for the IAFF.