PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATION PROGRAMME

Transcription

1 PROFESSIONAL ACCREDITATION PROGRAMME A GUIDE TO ASSESSMENT AND CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

2 Table of Contents The NZISM Membership Levels... 3 Getting Started on the Professional Pathway... 7 The Application Process... 9 Initial Professional Development (IPD) The Academic Route through IPD The Vocational Route through IPD The Cognate Route through IPD Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Recording Professional Development Writing a Development Plan Identifying and Completing Development Activities Writing Reflective Statements Allocating Points to Development Activities Auditing of Online Professional Development Records Frequently Asked Questions: Pg 2 of 27

3 The NZISM Membership Levels NZISM offers a number of professional membership levels for practitioners. Being a professional member means a practitioner has had their knowledge, practical application of that knowledge, experience and professional ethics evaluated against a common set of criteria. To be a professional member, and to progress along the pathway from Technical level onwards, practitioners must demonstrate their continued learning and development and must record this formally through an online system. All professional members of the NZISM must abide by the NZISM code of professional ethics as a condition of their membership. Only professional members of NZISM are entitled to use the NZISM logo and relevant post-nominals after their name. Affiliate membership level This level is for all members who pay subscription fees to NZISM. It is for those with an interest in health and safety, as well as those who are corporate members or those who have yet to attain a qualification or experience in a health and safety role. Affiliate members and those practitioners who are not part of the professional membership pathway are not entitled to use the NZISM logo or any NZISM post nominals. Technical membership level This level is for members who have at least one year of experience in a health and safety role, and a health and safety qualification at around NZQA level 4. Members at this level may use the post-nominal TechNZISM Pg 3 of 27

4 Graduate membership level This level is for members who have at least two years of experience in a health and safety role and a tertiary level academic or vocational qualification. Members at this level will generally want to progress to Certified membership level. The highest membership level you can achieve at initial assessment is Graduate. Any progression beyond this membership level requires you to complete a period of initial professional development. This is because Certified membership level is our flagship level, and the criteria to achieve it are necessarily strict. Members at this level may use the post-nominal GradNZISM Certified membership level This is our flagship membership level. Practitioners at this level have demonstrated their knowledge, practical application of that knowledge, experience and professional ethics. This membership level is for those practitioners who are in senior roles. Members at this level may use the post-nominal CertNZISM Progression through the membership levels is a personal choice You can choose whether or not to progress through the different membership levels, or to remain at one particular level. We have an NZISM Mentoring Programme that you can access if you would like support in progressing through the membership levels. Details of the mentoring programme are on the NZISM website. The professional membership pathway is sufficiently flexible that it recognises vocational qualifications and experience as well as academic qualifications. Pg 4 of 27

5 The diagram below outlines the membership levels and the requirements for progression to the next level. A larger version of this diagram is available on the NZISM website. Pg 5 of 27

6 The diagram below outlines the progression through the assessment pathway. A larger version of this diagram is available on the NZISM website. Pg 6 of 27

7 Getting Started on the Professional Pathway To be a professional member of NZISM you will need to: 1. Be a financial member. This means that you must be paying subscriptions to the NZISM as an individual (general) member. Corporate members are not able to access professional membership levels. This is because professional membership relates to an individual practitioner, and not to an organisation. Your organisation can pay for you, but they are required to pay the full individual general member subscription fee. 2. Submit an application. Your application must include: A completed application form (available on the website), A copy of relevant qualifications (including vocational learning and transcripts if not from an NZ based provider). Relevant means appropriate to health and safety. A cognate degree (a degree from another subject area) is not relevant to the professional pathway unless it has more than a 60% health and safety component. A list of example qualifications for each grade is available on the NZISM website. A copy of your job description that has been signed by your manager A copy of your CV that outlines your health and safety experience. It is important that your health and safety experience is outlined clearly. Membership at Technical level and above requires you to meet minimum experience requirements. Demonstrating your experience in your application It is important that you have been working in health and safety prior to your application for professional membership. If you have completed a health and safety qualification in 1990 for example, but have not been working in a health and safety job since then, it is Pg 7 of 27

8 unlikely that you will be graded at the level you might expect because of your qualification. This is because the assessment panel needs to determine that your competence reflects that which is expected of the membership level not just the qualification that you have. Your application must be sent to the NZISM National Secretary by or in hardcopy. If you are submitting your application in hard copy you must submit 6 copies. Pg 8 of 27

9 The Application Process Once you have completed and sent in your application, the NZISM Secretary will review it to make sure that you have included all the required items. NZISM takes no responsibility for a missed assessment panel meeting if you have failed to submit information in time. Incomplete applications will not be accepted. The NZISM Secretary will forward your application to the assessment panel. The Professional Assessment Panel (Assessment Panel) The professional assessment panel members assess your application against the NZISM assessment criteria. The panel is made up of 5 people who have specific experience or skills. The 5 members consist of: A Chartered member of IOSH or Certified Member of NZISM A person with Legal skills (lawyer / solicitor) An education / academic representative A member of the NZISM executive An independent chair from the membership The current Panel members information can be found on the NZISM website. The Panel members are in post for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum term of 3 years. The legal and education members of the panel are appointed. The NZISM executive elects the Chartered/Certified member, independent chair and member of the NZISM executive. The NZISM executive determines the duration of service on the panel at the time of appointment/election. The panel members are unable to be contacted directly. For information about the assessment process you are requested to contact your branch professional membership officer. Pg 9 of 27

10 The panel have set protocols in place, including a conflict of interest process and an appeals process to make sure that the assessment of applicants is transparent and consistent. If the panel is unable to reach agreement as to the level of membership, they can refer the application to IOSH for IOSH to make a recommendation as to how they consider the application should be graded. The NZISM Assessment Panel does not have to take the advice of IOSH. Membership assessment results Once the panel has assessed your application and determined your membership level, the panel chair sends this result to the NZISM Secretary. This will occur within 5 working days. The NZISM Secretary will then contact you by ed letter to let you know the outcome of your application. The Secretary will also update your details on the NZISM website to show your new membership level. For appeals or complaints about the process, you are requested to follow the relevant procedure. These are available from the NZISM website. Pg 10 of 27

11 Initial Professional Development (IPD) IPD is a way for the NZISM to evaluate whether you are a rounded and competent Practitioner. After the completion of IPD, you will have demonstrated your: Practical application of health and safety Theoretical/academic knowledge. 4 or more years experience in a health and safety role At least 2 years formal recorded professional development through the NZISM programme at Graduate level Professional approach and ethics If you successfully complete IPD you will be awarded Certified membership level of NZISM. From Graduate membership level there are three routes through IPD, and one proposed route under development. 1. Academic - a tertiary level qualification 2. Vocational - a tertiary level vocational qualification 3. Cognate - a tertiary level qualification either academic or vocational in an allied health and safety field with a 60% health and safety component 4. Experiential (proposed) This route is currently being developed. This route will be for practitioners with significant health and safety experience, no formal health and safety qualification, but a qualification in another area. It is anticipated that this route will be for those who have a good understanding of health and safety through their roles (paramedics, those with mining or engineering qualifications etc). The route you take is dependent on the route that you took to achieve Graduate membership level. If you achieved Graduate membership level through the academic route, you will be required to progress through IPD along the academic route. Conversely, if you achieve Graduate membership level through the vocational route, you will be required to progress through IPD along the vocational route. Pg 11 of 27

12 The Academic Route through IPD If you have a tertiary level academic qualification in health and safety and the required 2 years minimum experience in a health and safety role, you can be graded as a Graduate level member. You will have demonstrated through your qualification that you have good academic/theoretical knowledge of health and safety principles, therefore once graded as a Graduate member you can enter IPD and will be required to: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Complete 2 years of CPD on the MCPc system Complete a skills development portfolio Attend a professional interview You are able to complete the skills development portfolio while you are completing the 2 years of CPD on the MyIOSH system, or at any time you choose after being graded as a Graduate level member. Once the 2 years CPD and the skills development portfolio are complete, you are required to sit a formal professional interview. This interview will assess your professional approach to health and safety and your professional ethics. Successful completion of the interview will result in the achievement of Certified grade. Pg 12 of 27

13 The Vocational Route through IPD If you have a tertiary level vocational qualification in health and safety and the required 2 years minimum experience in a health and safety role, you can be graded as a Graduate level member. You will have demonstrated through your vocational study that you have good practical application of health and safety principles. Therefore, once graded as a Graduate member you can enter IPD and will be required to: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Complete 2 years of CPD on the MyCPD system Complete an open assessment Attend a professional interview Once the 2 years CPD and the open assessment are complete, you are required to sit a formal professional interview. This interview will assess your professional approach to health and safety and your professional ethics. Successful completion of the interview will result in the achievement of Certified grade. Pg 13 of 27

14 The Cognate Route through IPD If you have a tertiary level qualification in a subject other than health and safety, but the qualification (vocational or academic) is 60% health and safety (based on transcripts), and you have the required 2 years minimum experience in a health and safety role, you can be graded as a Graduate level member. Once graded as a Graduate member through the cognate route you can enter IPD. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Complete 2 years of CPD on the MyCPD system Complete a skills development portfolio Complete an open assessment Attend a professional interview Once the 2 years CPD, the skills development portfolio and the open assessment are complete, you are required to sit a formal professional interview. This interview will assess your professional approach to health and safety and your professional ethics. Successful completion of the interview will result in the achievement of Certified grade. Pg 14 of 27

15 Continuous Professional Development (CPD) We hear the acronym CPD time and time again. CPD is not a new concept. You are probably doing it already. CPD is the process of learning and developing your skills, knowledge and experience throughout your working life. For Health and Safety Practitioners it is the process of actively seeking to improve your abilities in areas you know you are weak maintaining your ability in other areas and learning about new developments and issues in the field of health and safety and beyond for many years. The NZISM CPD process formalises this into an auditable and peer reviewable record. The benefits of professional development The real test of CPD is not whether you have attended a particular course or read a particular book; nor is it to supply evidence to meet the professional institute s membership criteria. It is whether the CPD actually improves your professional competence and adds to the achievement of your personal career objectives. Fowler, A (1996) "How to manage your own CPD," People Management. Effective professional development acts as a practical record of your learning over your career. The system allows you to structure your development, and reflect on your abilities as a whole, to test the limits of your competence. It is about recognising that you always have more to learn and shows others what you are learning. CPD helps to maximise your potential by linking learning to actions and theory to practice. It is therefore integral to your development. It empowers you to take responsibility for your own professional growth. It is an easy way of setting objectives; enabling you to manage your Pg 15 of 27

16 own performance in a way that can easily be fed back to your organisation. CPD asks you to set goals, plan activities in advance, and then reflect on those activities after completion. Constantly reflecting on your experiences will help you to apply learning to your role. This learning can be reviewed at a later date and many organisations link their practitioner s professional development activities with staff performance appraisals. By completing a professional development record you will be able to: Build confidence and credibility in your skills Earn more by showcasing your achievements Achieve your career goals by focusing on your training and development Cope positively with change by constantly updating your skill set Be more productive and effective by reflecting on your learning and highlighting gaps in your knowledge and experience. Pg 16 of 27

17 Recording Professional Development To begin the process of recording your development, you will need access to the MyIOSH, MyCPD database. Access to the online database for recording CPD When you are notified of your membership assessment result following assessment, the NZISM Secretary will advise IOSH of your new membership level. The Secretary will send IOSH a copy of your application form and membership level within 5 days of your assessment result. IOSH use the information provided to load you onto their database system. To do this they enter you into their system as an eaffiliate member of IOSH. The e-affiliate membership does not entitle you to use any IOSH post-nominals after your name. Being an e-affiliate is purely to allow you access to the IOSH database, and does not mean you are a member of IOSH, or that you are able to access any IOSH services. Once loaded onto their system, IOSH will send you an e-affiliate card that you can use to register on their online database MyIOSH. The database will then give you access to start recording your development activities. Further information about how to use the database can be obtained from your branch CPD coordinator. CPD database access costs Once graded, you will be charged an administration fee + GST every year. The fee is available from the National Secretary on request. This fee covers the IOSH charge for the administration of the MyIOSH, MyCPD database, and for the auditing of professional development records. Maintaining your membership To maintain your professional membership level you will be required to pay both your individual (general) member subscriptions and the Pg 17 of 27

18 CPD access cost every year. If you cease paying your subscriptions or the CPD access costs, your professional membership will be cancelled, IOSH will be requested to remove you from their database, and you will lose your CPD record. If after this you would like to re-establish membership with NZISM, you would have to reapply for assessment from the beginning of the process. You must complete any CPD or IPD processes again and would not be able to re-join at your previous membership level automatically. Pg 18 of 27

19 Writing a Development Plan The first step to your professional development is planning. When you first log in to MyIOSH MyCPD, the system will prompt you to create a development plan. The development plan is your roadmap. It should contain an honest assessment of where you are in your career and how you plan on moving forward. When planning development, we recommend that you look at least three months ahead as we recognise that plans and circumstances can change. Consider and review the nature of your current practice and career path, and evaluate past goals and achievements. Useful questions to consider include: Do I have sufficient skills in areas other than health and safety? What are my current main duties and responsibilities? What knowledge, skills and expertise am I expected to demonstrate? What are my career objectives? Which skills, or areas of expertise or knowledge do I need to update? Do I need any formal training? Are there any foreseeable circumstances that may affect my ability to carry out CPD? Which development activities do I need to concentrate on? Where do my strengths and weaknesses lie? Review and update your development plan on a regular basis to check that it is still fit for purpose, and update if required. No matter how long you spend planning your development, it is likely that unplanned activity will form a significant part of your professional development in any year. The important thing is to recognise this for what it is and capture it as you go along. Pg 19 of 27

20 Identifying and Completing Development Activities Once you have completed your development plan, you will need to identify the activities that you are going to undertake. Remember: An activity is anything you undertake that you feel updates or maintains your skillset, or provides you with knowledge The activities you undertake should work towards the goals set out in your development plan; unplanned events should provide an important development. Professional development isn t all about receiving new training and attending conferences. There s a large variety of different activities you can include, such as: Familiarising yourself with new or existing H&S legislation Contributing to a consultation process Reading Safeguard articles Researching for, and presenting at a meeting or seminar. You can even include activities that don t relate to health and safety, but are vital to your career development nonetheless, such as: Managing budgets Building communication, presentation and negotiation skills Managing the performance and development of others Building technical skills in related areas. Once you have undertaken an activity, you are required to reflect on it and review how effective it is in achieving your goals. It is this reflective statement that forms the greatest part of professional development. Pg 20 of 27

21 Writing Reflective Statements When you record or update a completed activity, a reflective statement must be added to the notes section of the record to outline what you have learned from the activity. Self-reflection is a very personal attribute; there is no correct or incorrect way to undertake this type of exercise. Reflective practice can help you to gain a valid insight into why something went well, or was unsuccessful. The act of reflection helps you to maximise the benefit you get from development activities and recording those reflections provides evidence that development has taken place. When writing a reflective statement you should consider: Your professional objectives in undertaking the activity Your approach and the reasons for it Details of the completed activity, including where relevant, the contribution of others The results of the activities and the extent to which your objectives were achieved An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken, and learning points for the future An explanation as to how you think it may impact your future role as a professional Health and Safety Practitioner. Take time to organise and structure your writing. There is no set length for a reflective statement, but it should be proportional to the size of the activity and what you have gained from it. Tip - Reflection is best done before you forget the critical details. Pg 21 of 27

22 Allocating Points to Development Activities After you have reflected on your development activity, you are required to allocate a number of points to it. You currently need 30 points per 3-year cycle with 3 points allocated to the development plan. There can be a maximum of 3 points for each activity. The rough guide is 0- Not useful 1- Business as usual 2- Moderately useful 3- Extremely useful This reflective approach means that two people undertaking the same activity, or attending the same event may derive different value from it and score it accordingly. It is important that the number of points you allocate accurately aligns with your reflection statement. If you undertake a course that is more than a day you may choose to break this down into component parts and treat each as a separate development activity. It is important to remember that the principle is for you to develop your skills and knowledge not to accumulate hundreds of points. Pg 22 of 27

23 Auditing of Online Professional Development Records If you are on the professional pathway, you might be selected for audit: 1. As part of a random rolling audit once every 3 years, 2. If you are about to attend a Peer Review Interview for assessment at Certified level. Before you can book an interview for assessment at Certified level, NZISM and IOSH will need to see evidence that you are maintaining and improving your skills and knowledge. If you are selected for audit, your development record will be audited by IOSH. They have trained auditors who are Chartered Safety and Health Practitioners. IOSH auditors will be looking at both your development plan and activities, so it is important they are up to date and accompanied by meaningful reflective statements. Due to the high volume of audits, IOSH auditors can t provide detailed feedback on members CPD audits. The reason for professional development checks Ensuring practitioners are undertaking professional development is one way for NZISM to safeguard the health and safety profession by raising the standard of practice. It enhances NZISM s standing as a professional body by demonstrating that our members are keeping on top of their skills and knowledge, as required by the NZISM Code of Conduct. IOSH will notify you if you are selected for audit. What happens if I fail? If you fail a CPD audit, you will be re-graded to affiliate level (the level at which CPD is not a mandatory requirement). You will be contacted and provided with an opportunity to rectify your record prior to being re-graded. If you are re-graded, you will have to reapply for assessment from the beginning of the process, and complete any CPD or IPD Pg 23 of 27

24 processes again to re-establish your previous membership level. Frequently Asked Questions: I have a tertiary level qualification but I have been graded as an affiliate why? Our professional pathway is for Health and Safety Practitioners. That means that we have set standards in relation to the level of knowledge and experience that we expect a rounded Health and Safety Practitioner to have. A tertiary level qualification in chemistry, biology or nursing for example does not, of itself, provide us with evidence that you have a good rounded knowledge of occupational health and safety. All qualifications, academic or vocational must be health and safety related. A cognate degree or qualification will be accepted, but only where it is 60% occupational health. We follow the IOSH assessment system, and this is also one of their requirements. What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)? Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is about testing the limits of your competency and recognising that you have more to learn. It gives you the opportunity to create a structured career path and safeguard your professional status. By using a framework to identify your skill gaps technical or personal and then creating an action plan to refresh or expand your knowledge and experience, you can make a real difference to your professional effectiveness. Which categories of member must record CPD? If you're a Certified Fellow, Certified Member, Graduate or Technician Member, CPD is mandatory. Other categories of membership are welcome to use CPD in order to record and support your development. Why do I need to record CPD? Keeping up with and recording your professional development lets you show that you're always striving to improve as a professional. It's also a requirement of our membership structure becoming a Certified Safety and Health Practitioner, Graduate Member or Pg 24 of 27

25 Technician Member will give you greater status, but this comes with a responsibility to show that you're keeping on top of the demands of your job. CPD isn't a burden it's really just a case of thinking about what you're doing and planning your next steps. I'm an Affiliate Member can I still record CPD? Yes, but it's not mandatory I'm not very comfortable with the Internet - do I have to record my CPD online? If you don't want to spend too long on the Internet, you could type your CPD information into a Word document and copy and paste it into your CPD record the next time you log into CPD Microsite. How safe is it to update my CPD record online? Completely safe. The system has plenty of built-in security features, which means it's also safe when you make online bookings and payments. I'll be on maternity leave for the next year what should I do about my CPD? You can record the time that you're on maternity leave on the system. Just enter it in your development plan and add an activity for the amount of time you have been off work. You can then continue to record any activities that undertake while on maternity leave, for example when preparing to return to work. I've been on long-term sick leave and have been unable to do my CPD for 18 months what should I do? You can log the period that you haven't been able to work in your CPD record and this will be taken into account. Do this by building your absence into your development plan and adding an activity for the period of time that you have been off work. I've been undertaking a higher level of study how do I tell you about this in my CPD record? When you undertake any form of study, you need to break it down Pg 25 of 27

26 by modules or subject area. If you break the information down this way you'll be able to fully record it in your CPD record. You may want to name the first activity Module 1 Health and Safety, Module 2 Risk Assessment and so on. I've been made redundant and haven't updated my CPD for some time what should I do? If you're not able to work, let us know by recording this in your development plan. You can also record activities around applying for jobs, attending career fairs, updating CVs, researching organisations etc. as part of your development over this time. I m an IOSH member. Do I have to go through NZISM assessment? Yes. But you will only need to complete the application form and send us a copy of your IOSH card. We don t require copies of your qualifications or CV because this will have already been assessed by IOSH. Your IOSH card will be required every year so that we know you are in the CPD programme, and you need to pay your subscriptions to NZISM if you want to use the NZISM post nominals and attend our events. We reserve the right to contact IOSH about your CPD status, and to request from you a copy of your CPD cycle completion certificate from IOSH. Why haven t I got access to MyIOSH or MyCPD? If you have been graded by NZISM, then it could be that either: 1. IOSH haven t loaded you onto the system 2. You have stopped being a financial member of NZISM Contact the NZISM Secretary for assistance. Why hasn t the entire assessment process been rolled out yet? We are reviewing the entire process to check that it is fit for purpose. The next stage is very resource intensive, and it is important that the NZISM roll this out in a robust way so that the Pg 26 of 27

27 system has integrity. You can still maintain CPD during this process. Pg 27 of 27

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