CPD requirements by profession

IOSH CPD requirements for health and safety professionals

Last reviewed 15 October 2026

IOSH treats CPD as a condition of holding Chartered status, not a suggestion. The requirement is stated in hours, logged in IOSH's own system, and subject to audit — and failing it has a specific, unpleasant consequence that catches people out.

The CPD year is yours, not January to December

This is the detail most often missed. Unlike bodies that run a calendar year, your IOSH CPD year starts from the date you joined, or from your most recent membership renewal date. IOSH looks for evidence across the preceding twelve months from that date.

The practical consequence: if you plan your CPD around a calendar year but renew in, say, April, your logged activity can be spread across two renewal periods in a way that leaves one of them short. Check your renewal date before you plan.

What IOSH is looking for

IOSH does not simply count hours. Blueprint is built around a cycle — planning, action, recording and reflection — and the expectation is evidence of all four, with a minimum of 30 hours of relevant learning logged in the year.

That matters when you choose courses. Thirty hours of unplanned, unreflected activity logged in a rush the week before renewal meets the number and misses the point, and it reads that way in an audit.

Ethical Practice in OSH

Separate from the hours, Chartered members are required to complete the Ethical Practice in OSH e-learning and assessment. Treat it as a distinct obligation rather than something that can be absorbed into your 30 hours.

What happens if you don't do it

This is the part worth knowing in advance. Members who do not meet their CPD responsibilities risk being transferred to Affiliate membership — and recovering your former grade means going back through all the intermediate stages.

In other words, the cost of a missed CPD year is not a warning letter. It is potentially re-earning a status that took years to reach.

CPD audits

IOSH audits CPD records. An audit is not an accusation; it is a sample check that what you logged is real and relevant. Records that hold up share the same features: each activity says what it was, why it was relevant to your role, what changed as a result, and has evidence attached.

Certificates that state the learning outcomes and the hours do a disproportionate amount of that work. Certificates that say only “attended” leave you reconstructing the reflection from memory.

Where CPD accreditation fits — and where it doesn't

This is the part most training providers get wrong, so it is worth being blunt about it.

IOSH does not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers. Neither we nor any other CPD accreditation body can make a course “IOSH-approved”. Any provider telling you otherwise is overstating what they hold, and members who repeat that claim in a record are the ones exposed if it is questioned.

What independent accreditation actually does is narrower and more useful: it gives members evidence that the learning was assessed against a published standard, with stated outcomes, a justified hour claim, and a certificate anyone can check. When your record is audited, that evidence is what turns “I did a course” into something defensible.

An AssuredCPD-accredited course carries stated learning outcomes, a CPD-hour figure assessed as proportionate rather than self-declared, and a unique verification code. We are explicit in our own rules about what providers may and may not claim — see what you can and can't claim once a course is CPD accredited.

What to look for in a course

Whatever body you report to, the same four questions separate learning that will stand up from learning that won't:

• Are the learning outcomes written down? You cannot reflect on what a course changed if it never said what it intended to teach.
• Is the hour claim justified, or just asserted? An inflated figure is the single most common reason a course fails our assessment, and it is the figure you will be putting your name to.
• Was anything actually assessed? A completion certificate for watching a video is not evidence of learning.
• Can the certificate be checked by someone else? A PDF proves nothing on its own. A reference a third party can verify does.

How the UK bodies compare

CPD requirements are set independently by each body, and they differ far more than most people expect. Across the twelve below, three set no hours target at all; three count records or outcomes rather than time; two require a set share of the total to be verifiable; one fixes nearly half the requirement to named subject areas. Knowing which model you are under matters more than knowing any single number.

Three practical points fall out of that table. First, a figure from one body tells you nothing about another — 40 ACCA units, 35 NMC hours over three years and nine CILEX outcomes are not comparable quantities. Second, several bodies now specify not just how much CPD but what kind: verifiable units for ACCA and the GDC, named themes for CIOB, participatory hours for the NMC, planned outcomes for CILEX. Third, if you hold dual registration you are under both regimes at once, and the stricter one governs your planning.

Five mistakes that cost people their CPD year

These come up across every regime, and all five are avoidable at no cost.

1. Planning against the wrong year. Some bodies run January to December, some from your own renewal or registration date. Diarise your date, not a colleague's.
2. Leaving the interactive part until last. Participatory hours, peer discussions and facilitated sessions all need another person's time. They are the components most likely to slip, and the least possible to do in a hurry.
3. Collecting certificates that prove attendance but not learning. If the certificate does not state learning outcomes and hours, you are reconstructing the detail from memory months later — and under a verifiable-CPD regime you may not be able to count it at all.
4. Recording activity but not impact. Every records-based and standards-based regime asks what changed in your practice. A list of course titles answers a different question.
5. Believing a provider's claim of regulator approval. None of the bodies above approve or endorse external CPD providers. A course advertised as “approved” by your regulator is misdescribed, and repeating that claim in your own record is your exposure, not the provider's.

Common questions

How many CPD hours do IOSH members need?

Chartered members must complete at least 30 hours of CPD per year, recorded in IOSH's Blueprint system. IOSH expects evidence of planning, action, recording and reflection, not simply a total of hours.

When does the IOSH CPD year run?

From the date you joined IOSH, or from your most recent membership renewal date, rather than the calendar year. IOSH looks for a minimum of 30 hours of relevant learning logged in the twelve months from that date.

What is Blueprint?

Blueprint is IOSH's online professional development management system, where members record their CPD activity, plans and reflections.

What happens if an IOSH member does not complete their CPD?

Members who do not carry out their CPD responsibilities risk being transferred to Affiliate membership, and would then have to go through all the intermediate stages again to recover their former grade.

Does IOSH approve external CPD courses?

No. IOSH does not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers or courses. Members are responsible for judging relevance to their role and recording the activity properly.

Do CPD hours from one professional body count for another?

Usually yes, if the learning is relevant to your practice under both, but the arithmetic does not transfer. Each body sets its own requirement, period and recording rules, so the same activity may need to be logged twice in different formats. If you hold dual registration, plan against the stricter regime.

Can any training provider be approved by my regulator?

Generally no. The UK professional bodies covered here do not approve, endorse or pre-authorise external CPD providers or courses. A provider advertising itself as regulator-approved is misdescribing what it holds, and repeating that claim in your own CPD record is your exposure.

What should a good CPD certificate show?

The provider, the date, the hours claimed, the learning outcomes covered, and a reference someone else can check independently. A certificate stating only that you attended is the most common reason people struggle to evidence an activity later.

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AssuredCPD is an independent CPD accreditation body. We are not a government or regulatory body and do not award regulated qualifications. AssuredCPD accreditation is not endorsement, approval or recognition by any professional body named on this page, and we have no affiliation with them. Requirements are summarised from each body’s own published guidance and were checked on 15 October 2026; those bodies change their rules from time to time, so always confirm against the official source linked above before relying on it.