ARSC was chartered as a not-for-profit corporation on October 7, 1997(Charter #1462953) and is funded by the participating Safety Organizations each calendar year.

The success of ARSC is determined by safety training organization's committed to the sharing of resources, expertise and best practices. The results are shared cost with Association members who maintain and utilize current, state of the art training programs for a fraction of the development cost, while ensuring program integrity by reciprocal members via audits and program reviews.

ARSC Historical Prospective

In June 1995 The National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA) ad-hoc committee on Contractor Safety Training and the Texas Chemical Council (TCC) Occupational Safety and Health committee delegated the task of developing reciprocity agreements with all Contractor Safety Councils to the Executive Directors of each of the Council’s involved.

The council representatives first met on June 28, 1995 in Houston, TX. There have been many meetings since that time with council representatives working diligently to maintain reciprocity. The immediate focus was on the Gulf Coast area, as that is the largest Petrochemical Industry concentration in the country. Many felt that if an agreement could be reached in the Gulf Coast area that other parts of the country would agree in time. Since the 1995 meeting our membership has expanded too many other areas outside the Gulf Coast.

The dedicated efforts of these Council representatives were realized by the development of a training program that is known today as the Basic Orientation Plus® and the Basic Orientation Plus-Refresher®. We have since adopted other programs and plan to continue implementation of additional programs within ARSC as we work together in the future.

The following is a brief history of how ARSC has grown into the organization it is today.

1997:

Funding is arranged and the ARSC was formalized. Goals, Objectives, a Mission Statement, By-laws, Articles of Incorporation, Reciprocity Agreements, Board of Directors and Committees were established.

1998:

An Administrator is hired to run the day to day business and the Board is meeting monthly to continue the building process. Procedures to run the organization are put into place. The bank account is opened and the Basic Orientation Plus-Refresher® program is presented to the Board.

1999:

The ARSC logo is approved by the Board and the first edition of the ARSC Newsletter and an ARSC Annual Report is produced and distributed to the ARSC Board of Directors and the membership. An Anti-trust and a Conflict of Interest Policy is adopted and implemented. An Audit Procedures Manual and Common Guidelines are approved. The first formal audit cycle begins and the ARSC Owner Advisory Committee is voted into existence and included in the By-laws as a standing committee. ARSC debuts the web site www.arsc.net .

2000:

The Owner Advisory Committee meets for the fist time. The first formal audit cycle has been completed. A Technical Committee is established and an ARSC Business Plan makes its debut. The revision of the video used in the Basic Orientation Plus® training program is complete and copies are distributed to the membership. ARSC implements Computer Based training (CBT) for refresher training and new test questions are validated for use with the training. A Reciprocity Evaluation Procedure is put into place to evaluate future reciprocal programs adopted by ARSC. Revised Membership Guidelines are voted into place by the Board. Three new members are accepted into membership in ARSC bringing the total number of members to twenty-one. The common badge used among many members was created.

2001:

ARSC obtains Certificates of Registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for our Basic Orientation Plus® and our Basic Orientation Plus - Refresher®. A sixteenth position is voted into place for the ARSC Board of Directors. Board Member Manuals are distributed and a revised Audit Procedures Manual is voted into place for use in the 2003-2004 audit cycle. The Basic Orientation Plus® programs are revised for implementation in 2002.

2002:

ARSC holds one Facilitated and one Special Called Meeting in addition to the quarterly Board of Director Meetings. The Basic Orientation Plus® and the Basic Orientation Plus-Refresher® is revised, approved and implemented by all members in 2002. The ARSC Audit Procedures Manual and Common Guidelines is revised and approved and an Auditor Training program is created for implementation in 2003. Satellite Locations and Suitcase Locations are defined by the Board of Directors. Another Board member position is added to the ARSC Board of Directors bringing the total number of voting Board Member positions to seventeen.

2003:

The ARSC Board of Directors meets quarterly during 2003 and changes the annual dues structure to allow for a more equitable distribution of the dues among the membership. One new member is voted into ARSC located in Evansville, IN. A Web portal for internal use by the membership is put into service and the ARSC Common Guidelines are revised to clarify valid identification requirements for reciprocal training. The ARSC Basic Orientation Plus® and Basic Orientation Plus-Refresher® programs are revised for implementation in 2004. The ARSC formal Audit training program made its debut, an audit feedback form was put into place and the 2003/2004 audit cycle began.

2004:

The ARSC Board of Directors meets quarterly in 2004, adopting attendance requirements for Directors attendance at the board meetings and revising the membership requirements to add that members must be sponsored by a minimum of two current voting Board members. The ARSC Basic Orientation Plus® and Basic Orientation Plus-Refresher® programs is approved and implemented by all members in 2004 with a complete new set of validated test questions and an ARSC Study Guide designed to supplement the program as needed. This Study Guide is provided as a PDF document on the ARSC Website and various member websites. ARSC adopts nine additional reciprocal training programs for use by its membership and makes the Common Badge, currently used by many ARSC members an ARSC product. ARSC forms a Security Committee to explore enhancement opportunities of security procedures associated with reciprocity. Two new members are accepted into membership located in Denver, CO and Cheyenne, WY bringing the total number of ARSC members to twenty-three.

We continue to stay active and have posted a meeting schedule and future activities outlook on this website under “ARSC News”. Our annual open meeting for the 2005 calendar year, as set forth in our bylaws will be held once again in Corpus Christi, TX on May fourth. We look forward to seeing all interested parties there and answering any questions you may have about the Association of Reciprocal Safety Councils, Inc.

Thank you to the many participants who have built the Association to where it is today and continue to pledge their efforts towards building a safer tomorrow. We look forward to working with new safety training organizations in the future as the Basic Orientation Plus® and other reciprocal programs continue to spread across the country.