Mike, I think with CPD what is expected is that if you have learned something then award yourself points, whether it is from preparing/completing an occupational health project, preparing/delivering a toolbox talk, reading/studying an ACoP, or just reading an issue of SHP :o) The expectation I think is that most users are professionals and will use CPD honestly and responsibly. There is some auditing occurring, apparently, and I'm sure some folk get challenged on what they've entered. I once awarded myself a point after contributing to an interesting thread on this forum :o))

I think the CPD guidance is quite clear. You have to be able to show a learning outcome for claiming points from reading a report, simply reading it is not enough. Not sure I could justify a point from contributing to a single thread, but reading SHP, and contributing to the forum in general is part of my development plan. What ever you put you have to be able to justify, random people are picked each year to be audited. It happened to my friend the other year and he was in a bit of a panic because he could not find some attendance certificates for some training sessions he had claimed. Fortunately he was able to get replacements.

Well spotted, Heather. We will have to move it back!

In relation to Zimmy's observation, 'There has to be a better way', no doubt the IOSH, the Privy Council and the Health & Care Professions Council would love to know what it is. Presenting reasonable evidence of 'developing' is par for the course in professional societies which choose to petition for the honour of chartered status and to adopt it once granted. Several societies have stumbled more than once because of lack of evidence that a sufficient proportion of corporate members were presenting evidence of 'developing', to a standard acceptable to the civil servants advising the Privy Council (and to the deep and prolonged dismay of members of Council of the societies involved.) No doubt if a sufficient proportion of IOSH Members and Fellows were to petition to let go of chartered status, the duty to present evidence of 'developing' would no longer be a source of bother or of stimulation. The 'open framework' design for CPD originates from the research on the 'reflective practitioner', in which what is valued and acknowledged is quality of reflective output rather than routine inputs into 'developing'. My own CPD records have been audited not only by the IOSH but also by two other professional societies and none have made unreasonable demands.

As I understand it CPD is only part of the route to becoming Chartered. Depending on the route you take ie; NVQ, NEBOSH DiP, BSC Dip, Degree you will have to undertake IPD and a peer review, you may also have to sit the open book exam. It is probably best to ring the membership department direct and ask them, they are very helpful and will advise there and then. Regarding the CPD side of the origianal post - your CPD can be audited at any time during the 3 year cycle to make sure you are doing what is expected and will be audited prior to your Peer review. At the end of the day it is in the title "Continual Development", if you feel you have gained from a particular activity then write down your reflections or reasoning and award yourself the points. If as I have found you do not feel you gained anything from an activity - still write down your reflections but don't award points. There is an element of trust. Regards Clive

Try reading the membership pages? http://www.iosh.co.uk/membership.aspx All the detail you need is there. And yes you are right, there's a tiny bit more to it than "a self-inflicted pat on the back" ;-)

Oh well, it seems that I'm to old to go any further down the line re H&S. 60 in June so will start the slow wind-down into the fog of of old age :-) Tech IOSH it is then (prob the best thing to happen to IOSH for years. Thanks all :-) Rob

Thanks for cheering me up in my hour of need Chris :-)

Thanks Chris and I'll stick with it :-)