Hi All,

I have just enrolled on the IPD scheme (skills development portfolio). I was wondering whether anyone has any tips, advice, guidance e.t.c. for me? Furthermore, I would appreciate any support anyone can give to this and the peer interview process to work towards CMIOSH?

Many thanks

Scott

Check all the website links in the IPD / CPD area and take note of the guidance

Type up entries in a word processor package as it makes editing easier.

Keep a good diary, set yourself a timetable to keep it moving.

Depending on your learning and doing styles print off entries and collate with evidence for cross checking off screen

Go to one of the IPD workshop / presentations or see if your branch can arrange one in the area

Health warning:

Strangely I did none of the above, which is why I will have to re-register and start again, having run out of time ...

Scoot I too have just registered and its good to see some advice already, perhaps we could share the pain and any good tips eother one of us gets.

Kevin

Scotty
You have had good advice so far, you can ask members for help at your local branch meetings, keep a diary of everything you do, it makes it easier when you collate all the information

Hi
The best advice I would offer is to review and update on a regular basis. This will keep your objective setting and reflection fresh in your mind.
Also it will help your motivation when only having to update a few entries each fortnight or so.

Thanks all for your help, very good advice.

One key piece of advice regarding CPD is that you shouldn't wait to put info in following a dedicated course or training session. During your work you will find numerous opportunities that present themselves that are good CPD material. I think a number of them have already been listed so I wont go over those but if you do research into a particular subject or you attend a meeting that expands upon current knowledge for example, you can use this as CPD. As far as IPD is concerned, it is a case of gathering evidence for every stage of a process that you may be involved in such as Accident Investigation (depending on your element choice). Stages such as visiting the scene, taking witness statements, feedback to management, identifying improvements, monitoring implementation, reviewing that the changes have been successful etc, all present excellent evidence opportunities. All correspondence and emails can be used. The advice about planning the time you spend on IPD is important too. If you can do it without any pressure then I think that's best. I began running out of time and ended up committing 2 whole days per week towards the end to catch up. Be disciplined and it will work in your favour. Good luck - it is worth it!

Will,
Since you completed the NVQ which involves the sort of portfolio that was mentioned in the prior posts you have a different route to achieve CMIOSH from that mentioned above.
You have to complete the open assessment (online exam), this is probably why IOSH could not offer you any peer support.
This is on top of the normal CPD that you completed as a Tech IOSH (if you have been at that step).
If you have not completed any CPD before your local IOSH branch normally have free CPD sessions to get you started.
Good luck
D.

Read the IPD guidance carefully and consider which elements are suitable for your work. Ensure that your mix actually meets the requirements fo the IPD. Once you have completed a relevant activity, eg sampling noise, write a short report on it, could just be a 1/2 page brief, which you can send to your manager / share. Your emails and reports will be an important part of your IPD process as they show that you completed the task and then communicated it to others. Remember to use feedback sheets when running training courses as this is evidence both of the the course and that you will us eit to improve your performance.
Do not worry about the interview, that will be 2 years into the future.

Hi Scott,

I started my IPD several months ago and have currently completed 40%.
I found it very helpful to actually print off the guidance sheets for all of the modules and then spend time reading them and actually getting to know exactly what they were asking you to demonstrate. Sometimes at first glance it is easy to misconstrue what exactly is being asked.

Then after I had identified the elements that I thought I could cover I made some notes for each one on what activities and evidence I could provide. This then gave me a framework.

In planning elements that I did not have all the activities/evidence I ensured that I generated these as part of the activity e.g. emails, reports.

Carry out all this offline and only commit to entering it when you have assembled all the parts. Feedback will be given if any parts are deficient or missing.

Try and enjoy the process (it makes it all a bit easier)

Hope that this was of help to you