What is CPD?
CPD is Continuing Professional Development. It’s the process of logging the knowledge, skills and experience you gain as you work and a record of what you experience, learn and apply.
CPD is a way of investing in yourself and your career. By logging your CPD, it will help you to assess what you’ve done, plan your further development and convert your learning into practice. It can help you to keep your skills up to date. It can help strengthen your professional credibility and can speed up your career development. It will allow you to apply for Chartered status if you are a Registered Member or Fellow.
If you’re serious about your career, then CPD is a vital tool to help you advance.
What counts towards CPD?
Anything that helps you to meet your development objectives counts as CPD, as long as you have learnt something from it and it has the potential to add real value to your work. Some examples are:
– Continuing education leading to qualifications
– Attending seminars, courses, workshops or webinars
– Long term research or practical projects (6 months+)
– Attending conferences and exhibitions
– Attending networking events e.g. Regional Group events
– Staff training
– Preparation of training materials
– Work shadowing, secondments, on-the-job training
– Coaching or mentoring
– Writing articles for publication
– Presentation of papers at conferences
– Private study – reading journals, books, on-line research
– Keeping up with current affairs within your sector
– Submitting responses to CIEHF member consultations
– Active voluntary participation in CIEHF committees or groups
You should also consider all the work (paid or unpaid) you have done and the gains you have made in your knowledge, skills or competences across any of the following areas:
– Complementary professional knowledge domains: integration is key to ergonomics, so knowing aspects of other professionals’ worlds and our touch points help us to deliver.
– Business and management skills: those things that help you deliver your service, from marketing to project and people management.
– Professional competencies: those skills that can help you be a better professional.
Look out for the CPD logo on this website highlighting CPD opportunities.
What do I record and how do I do it?
You should record, alongside the activity, what you learned from it and how you can use it to become a better professional. You should be reporting against targets set in the previous year, work done in this year, and a plan for next year. Record your CPD using the Institute’s form or alternatively, you can use your employer’s form provided it allows you to document all the information needed. Then submit it through the members’ web portal, MyIEHF. Please DO NOT email your CPD return to the Institute. Contact us if you experience difficulties using the web portal.
How much detail do I need to record?
You should record enough detail to make it clear what you did, what you learned and how you can apply it. We currently have two criteria for assessing CPD records:
1. You should ensure your CPD activities have appropriate scope and variety for your current role and your own identified objectives, and your records show this.
2. You should ensure your CPD activities have substantial depth and quality and your record of them demonstrates this. Assessment focuses on outcomes and results, rather than time spent.
When should I submit my CPD?
You can submit your CPD at any time throughout the year. Submissions are assessed quarterly in batches. We will randomly assess 20-25% of CPD submissions as it’s impossible to assess them all. If your CPD return is not assessed, you will automatically receive confirmation that the submission was successful. If your CPD return is selected for assessment, you will receive an email informing you that either it was successful, raised concern (with specific feedback), or rejected – with rationale as to why.
Where can I find out more?
A presentation was made at the CIEHF’s annual conference a few years ago which included more information about CPD, its significance, and the assessment process. Download the presentation here as a PDF.
Questions you might have
Do you have any example forms?
Yes, you can download them here.
What about anonymity and commercially sensitive information?
Having your name on the form is not essential, as long as the office has a unique identifier (such as your membership number) that allows them to attribute the return to your membership record. Most CPD assessors are practising ergonomists and in a small community such as ours, it is inevitable that sooner or later an assessor may be asked to review the CPD return of somebody they know. Assessors are required to declare any interest in a CPD return they have been asked to assess and an alternative assessor will be found. All assessors have signed a non-disclosure agreement with us.
If there is any concern that the work undertaken is commercially sensitive then the CPD return can be made as generic as required. Ultimately almost all the projects undertaken, and the tasks carried out can be categorised in terms of standard human factors tasks / domains (e.g. anthropometry, physiology, environmental assessment, vehicle ergonomics etc.), the specific client is largely irrelevant, although a little context is always helpful for the assessor.
Can my CPD submission be aligned with my company's internal review processes?
If you have an annual performance appraisal then no doubt you will already be carrying out a process similar to our CPD process. Our CPD form is our preferred method of receiving information as it standardises the process for the assessors. If you wish to submit the information in any other format, the assessors will do their best to review it against the same criteria but they may need to ask you for further information.
What if I have difficulty doing CPD due to personal circumstances?
If there are unique personal circumstances that means you can’t submit a CPD return, please contact the office and we will be happy to advise. Common factors such as career breaks and maternity leave are all manageable.