Posted By Ruth Doyle Dear Michael, Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We've received a small number of other similar comments from Chartered members this morning, and are sending out fresh certificates and our sincere apologies to anyone affected. We considered different types of packaging for the new chartered button badge before sending them out, and did test the strength of the packaging pretty rigorously. However, the protective metal backplate for the badge has not been strong enough to withstand post office handling in some instances. We've been talking to our suppliers to see if they can produce heavier backplates for the badges and we're also testing other packaging options so that this doesn't happen again. I hope this unfortunate instance will not put you off wearing your Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner badge with pride. Yours sincerely, Ruth Doyle Director of Communications

Posted By Bill Bircham Hi Ruth, I imagine you won’t be sending everyone another certificate, and I imagine not everyone’s arrived with a hole in (actually three holes in mine!) Can you let us know which email to send in a plea for a new cert? Many thanks Bill PS – Swanky looking ‘ain’t it!

Posted By Rob Strange Email membership@iosh.co.uk or norman.walton@iosh.co.uk for replacement certificates where damage has occurred (or for any other reason). Rob Strange Chief Executive

Posted By Jonathan Sandler My god, even god has been reading this thread. I got my badge and pin today, thanks, like the bit on the bottom of the cert that states, property of IOSH can we charge advertising rates to IOSH? Regards

Posted By ITK Holes in certificates caused by a pin badge, hope Jeremy Clarkson doesnt get hold of this...

Posted By Terri Cox Yes, mine had holes in it from the badge. Hope none of the safety anoraks get this - they'd have a field day on what damage the pin could do to unsuspecting posties....... Replacement certs? Do we really need that? I managed to flatten the holes and now you can barely tell, especially if you were to frame it or simply stick in your portfolio.......or file it away with all the others that we collect aling the road to elitism.

Posted By J Knight Haven't got a hole, just a dent. I especially like the word 'installed'; I now await my first post-installation check prior to full commissioning and I'm not going to operate until I've had it ;-) John

Posted By Jonathan Breeze Merv wrote: "When would I wear it ? Maybe just at IOSH 06 to show that I am one of the of the 6000 "privileged" adherents of IOSH." For some reason the following quote floated into my head from the ether: "Into the Valley of Death Rode the six thousand." [With apologies to Tennyson]

Posted By J Knight Ciaran and Jonagthon; Blackburn Lancashire? OK, 50% out but nearly, John

Posted By Peter Longworth Maybe the hole is deliberate, symbolic of the inner circle. Who knows, it may lead to a whole new form of recognition like the funny handshake club. I can see it now as they parade around with one trouser leg rolled up, waving their perforated certificates proudly and their badges flashing in the sunlight.

Posted By J Knight Do we get new membership cards? The certificate says it remains the property of IOSH, presumably if we're naughty and bad and don't do CPD we have to send it back, but what about the badge? Does this self-destruct without CPD? John

Posted By Jim Walker Peter, I may have already started the secret sign. I greeted a fellow CMIOSH this morning with " did yours have a hole in it?" AND he knew what I meant straight away!!

Posted By Mark Talbot Don't like the badge, even a little bit. When will I wear it? Well, I doubt I will. Unlikely that you could have made one that I would wear (unless it involved Garfield or Homer J winking knowingly). I do, however like the sentiment, so thanks for your efforts. Nice to see Terri being practical as usual (we used to share digs whilst studying).

Posted By Bill Bircham Jonathan, The reason our beloved Homer is not a Chartered Member is that the ol’ git who runs the plant won’t stump up the cash to get him developed and Homer hasn’t got what it takes to convince him. Of course, the day he does, Homer will then no longer be Homer! Of course, he may be at an equivalent grade within the US equivalent body! This does raise another question (deliberately hijacking the thread!) – does the new chartered status enable those fortunate enough to have earned it to claim some parity or exemption with other countries examination / competence requirements, or even vice versa? Interesting thought, maybe I’ll emigrate! R Bill

Posted By Graham Bullough I don't often look at this forum these days but am glad I happened to look and see this thread today: Haven't had such a good chortle in ages. When my wife saw the new certificate just after it arrived, I told her (tongue in cheek) that she was very honoured, priviliged, etc. to have a partner who had become a chartered person. She responded by briefly reminding me that she was a doubly chartered person and, furthermore, had been so for some years! My new certificate only had one small hole caused by the pin so it's hardly worth asking for a replacement. As for the badge, I am not keen on it: How many chartered engineers or other chartered bods have you met with badges with text which proclaim that they are chartered whatevers? However, I would be pleased to wear the same badge without the wording. I often use a shoulder-type bag at work with IOSH in large bold letters on it and am sometimes asked what the letters mean. Thus, they provide an opportunity to briefly describe IOSH - and also discuss what health and safety is (and is not) about. As well as just belonging to IOSH, we should take suitable opportunities to be ambassadors for IOSH and for "good" health and safety - in order to counterbalance the skewed perceptions which too many people have. In this respect Lawrence Waterman's articles in the Practitioner magazine over the past year or so have been most useful. If more members took such opportunities, it would help to make IOSH better known. In turn, IOSH ought to become well known to most people in the same way that today they at least have some idea what "RoSPA" is about. I'll now go into flippant mode with some concluding thoughts: The small print at the bottom of each certificate says that it remains IOSH property and should be returned if requested. So, if anyone fails to maintain CPD or is otherwise a 'naughty boy or girl' and won't return the certificate, how does IOSH get it back? Will it establish a mafia-type hit squad visiting errant members and retrieving certificates by fair means or foul? Also, will IOSH have an expelled members section on its website so that members, and anyone else who cares to look, will know who they are? Also, should the section include photographs of the expelled to help identification, rather like press or TV "Crimewatch" photographs of wanted, accused or convicted persons? Also, and sorry to deviate from the thread, why do the people in such photographs tend to look at least shifty if not a bit villainous or downright guilty? Do the press have special cameras with a sophisticated "make subject look shifty" function? Cheers Graham Bullough

Posted By mole I have it on good authority that the badge has a secret chip inside that tracks an monitors CMIOSH members. It will self detonate if they are not actually doing any real safety work. You have been warned, come down from your ivory towers and join the workers.