NFPA announces FREE student and apprentice membership and debuts convenient NFPA Community – Xchange app on the App Store and Google Play

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has made its student and apprentice membership offerings FREE and released an NFPA Community – Xchange app on the App Store and in Google Play.

Encouraging lifelong learning

Students and apprentices currently studying fire protection, electrical, building and life safety, industrial hazards, emergency response, or pursuing other careers that have safety ramifications, can now enjoy new NFPA Student and Apprentice Membership benefits at no charge. This offer applies to part-time, full-time, or graduate/doctoral students taking a minimum of six credit hours (undergraduate degree) or three credit hours (graduate degree) per semester or comparable credits in a quarter system. Likewise, apprentices enrolled in state and nationally recognized degree or certificate programmes with a minimum of 1,000 combined on-the-job/classroom training hours are eligible for the complimentary NFPA Student and Apprentice Membership offer. NFPA decided to switch from a $25 Student and Apprentice Membership to a FREE model so that future life-safety professionals can connect with industry peers during their formative years and access important job-related information.

‘NFPA membership has long been a feather in the cap for those who work in fire, electrical, building and life safety. Now industry up-and-comers can benefit from that same level of clout as they set out on their career journey and see first-hand how important it is to be a lifelong learner and collaborator,’ said Mike Brunzell, vice president of NFPA Global.

Students and apprentices will receive instant notification of their application status so that they can begin to immerse themselves in industry knowledge and take advantage of special NFPA member benefits, including:

• 10% discount on most NFPA products and solutions (cannot be combined with any other offer or used with certification programmes)
• Access to NFPA Xchange
• Free NFPA ConferenceAdvantage pass to the NFPA Conference & Expo (transportation not included)
• Job board
• The opportunity to submit articles to NFPA Journal, with the chance to have your work appear in the publication

Taking the community on the go

NFPA also announced the launch of a new NFPA Community – Xchange app for Apple and Android phones. The new app is free and allows all NFPA Xchange users to have access to the same informative insights and resources that can be found on the desktop version at community.nfpa.org. iPhone users can easily download the app on the App Store and Android users can do the same on Google Play and begin to collaborate with colleagues and like-minded workers; ask relevant, real-world questions in various forums; and see what is trending in the NFPA news feed. NFPA Community – Xchange app users can also import profile information from their LinkedIn account or customize their bios within the community; conveniently search career opportunities; and find out about industry events on their mobile devices.

‘Apps have become staples in our lives and the new NFPA Community – Xchange app allows members to leverage the professional networking platform when they need it,’ Brunzell said.

The new student and apprentice membership plan and new NFPA Community – Xchange app are just two of the ways that NFPA is transforming its membership programme to meet the needs of today’s active, engaged, on-the-go workforce. To learn more about the NFPA Community – Xchange app, watch the one-minute video on the membership landing page.

For more information or to view NFPA codes and standards for free, visit www.nfpa.org