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CPD Stars: Shermin Shali Tech IOSH

Published on: 31 Mar 2020

CPD stars

Shermin Shali Tech IOSH is occupational health, safety and environment (OHSE) manager at Tebodin in the Middle East (UAE). She says CPD has played a crucial role in progressing her career to date.

CPD

Being in this profession, you are required to promote safety and health in workplaces, to all employees and across all job functions. Hence safety and health professionals are crucial in any organisation and should be up-to-date, to the best possible manner.

Every day across the world people are putting effort into continual improvement. Having a specific job title, holding a certification to do certain types of work or attending training do not alone make you a competent professional. In other words, it is essential to sharpen your skills to be competent in your profession. It is an ongoing process and continues throughout a professional’s career. This is where CPD comes in.

I strongly believe CPD accelerates my passion and enthusiasm to help to achieve my future goals and thereby excel in my profession.

I have been engaged in the profession since 2003, initially starting in the construction industry. In 2013 I moved to Tebodin in the UAE, an engineering and consulting firm, with a workforce of 100% so-called white collar workers specialising in diverse industries like chemicals, oil and gas, industrial buildings and infrastructure. Design safety, management of other contractors and stakeholders are some of my key attention areas.

In order to progress well in my career, I had to understand the gaps in my knowledge and act on this. CPD helped me a lot to track my progress and improve my core skills. When I look back, I feel proud that my efforts have also contributed to winning Tebodin’s global Safety Award in the UAE three years running since 2014. 

Setting up CPD is generally easy. But monitoring the progress is where it matters and I believe this is vital for the best results.

The Outlook email programme can be used as an effective CPD track recorder. For me, it is an excellent way to manage my CPD. I used it to set my monthly goals, both organisational and individual, every first working day of the month. I assess my performance against my previously-set goals and see how I can improve further. By integrating my individual goals with my organisational goals, both the organisation and I benefit.

For instance, last year Tebodin launched ten lifesaving rules and I needed to cascade this to my colleagues. I captured this as my CPD plan, which is now completed, from which I have learned new professional skills. The development on acquiring this set of new skills is updated in my CPD records.

IOSH’s CPD team has been a huge assistance. They have always been there for any doubts, clarification and assistance. Even though I am based in the UAE, I receive extensive support.

Despite having advanced my career through CPD, I still want to continue to learn. I know many people may feel like they don’t have the time to keep it up-to-date and simply don’t believe it is a priority. However, I would suggest it is crucial.

CPD is about your skills, knowledge and expertise, and reflecting on what you’ve gained or achieved. Having an up-to-date CPD gives a strong message that you are serious about keeping your skills and experience fresh and fit-for-purpose.

After all, who doesn’t like to excel in their career?

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