Posted By Salus
Can an explanation be posted on why only

"chartered members" and "chartered fellows"

can be considered for the role of a moderator,

and not "any member"

Posted By Peter Leese
I don't think that has quite answered the question Angela, but I would like to know why the question was asked.

Salus, do you have a view on who should be considered for appointment as moderators?

It is quite a difficult job. I've just had a thread ruined (and asked for it to be removed) because of irrelevant/biased comments (as it happens by Salus) but that doesn't mean moderation should be restricted to certain levels of membership - does it?

Posted By Peter Longworth
Why is CMIOSH essential for the role of moderator? A moderator's role is to monitor the discussion forums to ensure that any posting complies with the AUGs, not to be the fount of all health and safety knowledge.
Many discussions on these forums centre around the different levels of membership and as such, surely the moderators should be drawn from a cross section of such membership.

Posted By Peter Longworth
I think you are correct it is discrimination, or rather it's elitism. Maybe IOSH should ask itself the question "Do we really want anything other than chartered members?" because it seems at the moment that those below chartered level are only good for supplying membership fees.

Posted By Salus
"who here is Spartacus"

Posted By andrew morris
Why do threads like this always turn into a them and us battle?

In every profession there are different grades - and generally these are based on academic qualifications as they are a way to measure someones competance.

I am sure that the choice to limit moderators to MIOSH was not a cynical or considered attack at those not at that grade.

Posted By Salus
Thanks for the reply Angela, can members do the review for you on this forum?

You could ask all who want to vote if applicants should be open to all members.
Replies must be just a Y or N vote, no other wording and just count them up at the end.

This seems a fair way

Posted By Edward Shyer
Not wanting to be disrespectful to the moderators, and not wishing to be devils advocate (Kanda my shoes are Prada) Is there not a case for opening the roll out for moderators to non chartered members.

Look at the forums and you will see my point there are at least 6 blatant adverts on the forums that have been there for nearly 24 hours.

Regards

Ted

Posted By Edward Shyer
Saracen11,

Wouldn't GradIOSH and especially TechIOSH (minimum 5 years experience required) meet the requirement you state?

Regards

Ted

Posted By Saracen11
Hi Salus/Ted, yes they would meet the requirements.

A person passes their driving test on a Saturday and is considered as a competent person, the same as a person that passed their test five years ago? Both are to start driving double decker buses on the Monday (driver '2' has been driven double decker's for the last three years). You would feel at equal ease with both drivers?

Discuss...

Regards

Posted By Peter Leese
Saracen - Are you comparing bus driving to moderating a forum?

Should we stop there, how about heart surgery or pilots?

Posted By Peter Leese
It isn't technical skill you need to moderate a forum, it is common sense and tact. Technical ability is not an issue - unless like you, you make it one.

And no Mate, I din no wot you ment

Posted By Peter Leese
My apologies Saracen. I'm not sure ridicule is the right word but it certainly wasn't intentional.

You can see I wouldn't be a very good moderator!!

Posted By Peter Leese
Salus

Not all members of this forum are members of IOSH. It may seem a minor point but if you are going to talk about democracy and use that principle as one of your main discussion points then you need to ensure you are being fully inclusive.

Posted By D. Hilton
Merv, "A minimum of CMIOSH, preferably with CSP, is essential".
CSP???? Why a Certified Safety Practitioner???

D

Posted By Ruth Doyle
Dear members,

Perhaps I can clarify a few misunderstandings before this thread continues any further.

IOSH as an organisation is managed with members at its very heart: every member can stand for, and vote for our Council of Management. Our Board of Trustees, and all the standing committees (such as Communications & International), are made up of volunteer members who are recruited through an open and advertised recruitment process. You will have seen regular items in the Interface pages of SHP and on this website advertising vacancies on our committees. And for information, our Board has both members (all grades) and non-members on it.

All committees ultimately report to our elected Council. That way, the process aims to balance democratic involvement with the need to match the most suitable volunteer to the most suitable role.

I would encourage all members to consider where they can volunteer: as elected Council members; recruited Trustees or standing committee members; or on the committees of our specialist groups and Branches. There are other ways you can volunteer too: by joining our tester panel, becoming a media spokesperson, or joining the moderating team. (Please see http://www.iosh.co.uk/volunteer for more info)

The recruitment process for the moderators was discussed in depth and agreed by volunteer members (recruited) on the Communications & International Committee. Some of you noted that the most important attributes for a moderator are soft skills: diplomacy; tact; discretion; wisdom; and clearly a very thick skin! The committee also felt that a reasonably high level of technical knowledge would be helpful, since a lot of the discussions on this forum are on technical matters.

The committee want to hear constructive suggestions from forum users, so please send them to me, and I will make sure they are included in their discussions. As Angela says above, they will be reviewing the process after the first recruitment phase has completed. We recently reviewed and updated the forums, the Acceptable Use Guidelines, and introduced this recruitment process, as a direct result of feedback from forum users - so your views really do count.

Thank you all for you input - clearly you're among the 10,000 members per month that visit and value our forums. And we all know that they would be a lot less successful without the tough job that the moderators and observers continue to do every day, voluntarily.

Ruth Doyle
IOSH Director of Communications