CPD Stars: Scott Ellis CMIOSH

Scott Ellis CMIOSH, group health and safety manager at Eric Wright and vice-chair of IOSH’s Merseyside branch, says keeping his CPD up-to-date has become “a habit”.

Every day is a school day. You never stop learning. And doing your CPD helps you with applying what you have learned to your working life.

My desire to become a chartered IOSH member – as well as a determination to be the best I could be at my job – helped to drive me in keeping my CPD up-to-date.

But progressing to being a chartered member did not mean I could afford to sit back and forget about CPD, nor did I want to. I wanted to keep going and keep learning. In many ways it has become something of a habit because I have got so used to it.

I make sure I have something in my diary at the start of every month; a reminder to log my CPD. It usually only takes me 30 minutes so it’s not an arduous task. But it is an essential part of what I do.

What it does is really get you thinking about what you have learned. The hardest thing about learning is applying it. CPD allows you to reflect and provides structure.

If any health and safety professional – or someone in another profession, for that matter – said to me they do not have time to log CPD or even do not feel it is necessary, that is what I would say to them. It does not take up huge amounts of time, and it is more than worth the little time it does take.

That is why I have members of my health and safety team at Eric Wright keep theirs up-to-date as well. One member of the team is only in his third year but I stress to him the importance of his CPD. It helps with the learning.

After all, it does not matter whether you are in the third year of your career or the thirtieth, systems move on and new ideas emerge. Just because you think you are good at something doesn’t mean that you can’t learn new things. I always like to take a look at myself and review what more I could be doing and what new ways of working there are.

Of course, having an employer who is supportive helps as well. My line manager at Eric Wright supports me in what I do and is always happy to speak about different ways of working.

And it is not just my employer who I get invaluable support from. IOSH paves the way for me to continue learning, providing structure and some fantastic networking opportunities.

This doesn’t just benefit me, of course. It benefits Eric Wright as a company. Our role is to ensure that safe and healthy working practices are the norm. This not only protects employees, it helps to make the business more productive.

You should never stop learning and always consider ways of applying any new knowledge. Having an up-to-date CPD is a great way of doing this.

For more information about completing your CPD, call the IOSH membership team on +44 (0)116 257 3198 or email membership@iosh.co.uk