The other 'C' word........

When it comes to health and safety there’s nothing more important than the C word.

It’s so important that’s it’s even been written into law and every company has to be able to demonstrate that they have access to it. But the problem is, the C word is often misunderstood, or those who know better, claim to fulfil the requirements when they really don’t!

We’re obviously talking about ‘Competence’.

You’ve all heard about IOSH and NEBOSH and many people even put these acronyms after their names, but they shouldn’t, they’re not post-nominal's and they’re certainly not a sign of competence. In fact anyone using these letters after their name clearly doesn’t understand or perhaps appreciate the significance of Competence in Health and Safety.

So why do they do it?

Well that’s fairly simple, they either mistakenly believe that they’ve completed Health and Safety Training which makes them competent or worse still, they are trying to fool us and make themselves appear to be competent. Either way for unsuspecting clients this can create a problematic minefield. Plus to make things worse, these people often get away with it as many trusting business owners do not understand the difference between IOSH and CMIOSH for example.

People who ‘wrongly’ place IOSH after their name have usually completed a short course in health and safety, such as the IOSH Managing Safely Course. This is designed for managers to simply gain an understanding of their Health and Safety responsibilities, that’s it, nothing more. It’s certainly not designed to enable you to provide Health and Safety Advice and support to others, despite what some may have you believe. So if you notice anyone with the letters IOSH after their name, firstly, it shouldn’t be there and secondly, you’d have to question what they’re hoping to achieve?

As for NEBOSH, well that’s just the name of the National Examination Board for Occupational Safety and Health – it’s an exam board. Again it’s an important organisation, but the letters NEBOSH are not something that should ever appear after someone’s name. 

So what is IOSH?

IOSH standards for the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), it’s the leading professional body in the UK for all things Health and Safety. It’s actually a really important organisation and it effectively regulates Health and Safety professionals and sets the standards which members of IOSH must be able to demonstrate in order to gain membership. IOSH holds a Royal Charter from the Queen, this means that it is responsible for issuing Chartered Status to its qualifying members.

The current professional membership structure of IOSH is:

• Associate Member (AIOSH)
• Technical Member (TechIOSH)
• Graduate Member (GradIOSH)
• Chartered Member (CMIOSH)
• Chartered Fellow (CFIOSH)

When it comes to fulfilling the role of a Health and Safety Consultant and providing advice and support to other organisations, IOSH makes the following statement to its members:

“…..If you want to give advice as a health and safety consultant, we recommend that you are a Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner (CMIOSH or CFIOSH). You’ll need to have experience of the sector you’ll be working in. You may also need to get specific skill or sector qualifications……”

Source: https://iosh.com/media/3684/ps0353-consultancy-good-practice-guide-new.pdf 

That's a pretty clear cut statement!

It's ultimately all about competence and having Chartered status demonstrates that the holder has the necessary skills; knowledge; experience and training. They have also been peer reviewed by their contemporaries and are required to complete regular CPD.

This is what makes us Competent, enabling us to use the coveted CMIOSH after our names.

So whilst a TechIOSH or GradIOSH may well have the theoretical knowledge, they haven’t necessarily got the experience or have fully developed their skills to the extent needed to be able to advise business owners and managers.  

This is why IOSH so strongly recommend that companies engaging the services of a Safety Advisor, use a Chartered (CMIOSH or CFIOSH) Safety and Health Practitioner.

But how do I know if they’re Chartered?

That’s easy, you can check the online members register using the following link:

https://www.iosh.co.uk/MyIOSH/Member-directory.aspx 

Remember you have a “legal duty” to ensure that those you appoint are Competent, it’s your duty to carry out such checks, appointing a safety advisor who is not competent or even one who is chartered, but has no direct Construction experience for example could cause serious issues.

So make sure that in addition to being Chartered, your Safety Advisor is also suitably experienced and competent in what you do!

One last and very important point…….

Don’t take their word for it.

We are aware of at least one health and safety consultant who is (very) active on LinkedIn and who has (until recently!) been using CMIOSH after his name despite never being qualified or even a member of IOSH! 

Action has since been taken against the individual, although he still remains active on LinkedIn as a safety consultant.

We also know of former hotel receptionists who after completing a couple of safety courses, claim to be Construction Safety Experts….the mind boggles!

So don’t be afraid to check the qualifications, experience and competence of your safety advisor, those of us who meet the competence criteria will only be too pleased to assist. Plus it’s actually your duty to do so. By its very nature, construction is a high risk industry, don't just trust anybody with your health and safety. Lives depend on it!

Don’t be fooled by those who make claims about being NEBOSH or IOSH Qualified, use the above link to the IOSH Members Directory and see exactly what level of professional membership they have. If they’re not on it, look elsewhere, there are plenty of high quality competent professionals who can help you.

Good safety doesn't happen by accident!