Examples of Council Email Comments 189

Following the September2010 IOSH Council meeting revision were made to the new IOSH Code and guidance as recommended. The document was then distributed by email for further comment by the IOSH Council members. The comments received were organised and evaluated against the IOSH Code and guidance. A selection of relevant comments is given below with discussion to illustrate how they impacted on the new IOSH Code development. The quotations taken from emails are anonymous and Coded as:

CM – Member of IOSH Council

PEC – Member of the Professional Ethics Committee IO – IOSH Officer

The majority of the comments were positive making no additional suggestions for the IOSH Code or Guidance, for example:

I think the revised Code and guidance are both really good. I think they strike the right balance in terms of enough explanation to make the obligation clear while not being over-lengthy. CM6

One in particular related to the application of the Code to professional examinations: Looking at it from a National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) point of view (rather than as an IOSH Council Member) I think it adequately covers situations where IOSH members engage in malpractice related to examinations. CM7  

This was encouraging as we had taken the step of removing additional guidance on education and training that appeared in the existing Code as a result of the benchmarking at Stage 1. The rationale being that it did not add to the Code and may even conflict with it. The suggestion was that the focus for any additional guidance in this area would need to take into account existing ethical guidelines that may be in existence at training organisations or higher education institutions. This was particularly relevant when it came to research as all higher education institutions

have ethics Committees and any guidance needed to be compatible with current thinking on research ethics. As the existing Code was limited to requiring a member to be honest there was a straightforward application of this in case of academic malpractice as may be defined by the institution or examination body without any conflict. In relation to students one Councilmember raised concerns about competence:

Competence 2:1 Ensure they are competent to undertake proposed work -This may put students into conflict - do we need to add anything that will allow students or even chartered members working towards developing competence to be added as a rider? CM8

We had considered this point in creating the Code and had included four separate Code points relating to competence. In addition the one cited here there was also a requirement to:

Ensure persons working under their authority or supervision are competent to carry out the tasks assigned to them. Extract from the Proposed Code of Conduct

Appendix F

As well as Code points relating to completing CPD to maintain competence and notifying your employer of your level of competence to undertake certain types of work, the guidance to the Code point above further outlined the responsibility for monitoring competence that could be applied to students working in a team as advisors. In determining competence we used the standard definition from the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 Approve Code of Practice HSE (2000, p.24) of suitable level of knowledge, experience and education and captured this with an example in the guidance as follows:

Competence is a combination of knowledge, skills, experience and recognition of the limits of your capabilities. Knowledge can be gained or developed by studying for qualifications, but a qualification, by itself, is not evidence of competence. It must be enhanced by skills and knowledge that you develop through experience.

For example, as a health and safety practitioner you will have studied the harmful effects of noise along with prevention and control strategies for noise. You may not, however, have been taught the skills or have had the experience to be competent to undertake a detailed noise survey. In this case you would seek the services of a competent person in noise assessment or attend the appropriate course and gain experience to raise your competence to an appropriate level to undertake the survey. Extract from the Proposed Code of Conduct, Appendix F.

This simple example was chosen to illustrate the issues of competence as it may relate to practice. We considered several examples drawn from our experiences. It was agreed that a single example would suffice and that additional guidance may be added in the form of a separate technical document specifically dealing with competence and capabilities. The phrase capability was not used in the IOSH Code document although it was considered and suggested by a few IOSH Council members. The distinction between competence and capability has been discussed in the literature (Lester 1995 and Cairns and Stephenson 2009). In Cairns and Stephenson (2009) the subject is discussed in some detail as it relates to workplace learning. Competence as a concept can be viewed as a more holistic term than capability. Capability captures the individual’s ability and potential to become competent. In addition to this the Code point relating to informing employers was also supplemented with guidance that tackled exposure to novel situations in health and safety practice. In novel situations prior experience and training may not fully cover the situation in hand. In these situations the obligations would be to inform the employer and keep the situation under review as it progresses. The competency needs may then emerge at which time the appropriate advice could be sought, an extract from the guidance relating to novel situations is given below:

There may be occasions that you are asked to do a specific task that requires specialist skills or knowledge that are beyond the limits of your competence. In these circumstances you should inform the client or employer of the limitations of your competence and consider the following options;

a) Decline the work, indicating where specific competences are required. It is recommended that you identify a suitable person or organisation with such competences to complete the work.

b) Agree to carry out the work, provided it is supervised and/or peer reviewed by another suitably competent person. This maybe the best way to extend your current competences, if you desire that.

c) Agree to carry out the work, but with your initial advice subject to review in the light of wider experience. This option may be appropriate for novel situations for both you and your client or employer, and where the risks to all involved are assessed and acceptable. You should make efforts to avoid such situations and learn how to minimise them, but they may be the only realistic option in certain circumstances.

Remember that stopping or delaying work to consult others with appropriate competences is also a safe option in most cases. Working outside your competence area may have legal implications to you and the employer, and also to your continued membership of IOSH. Extract from the Proposed Code of Conduct Appendix F

Competence is a phrase widely used in health and safety literature, legislation and IOSH documentation. Its continued use in the IOSH Code was therefore felt to be appropriate. The distinction between the terms competence and capability is not widely understood among members and therefore capability is implied through the example provided in the guidance. The concept of capability is however worthy of further investigation as it relates to health and safety practice. In particular the Stephenson (1998, p.4) diagrammatic representation of capability in Cairns and Stephenson (2009, p12) provides a useful paradigm model that may have implications for ethical capability.

Figure 7.1: Capability Learning Plane (Stephenson 1998, p.4)

In Stephenson’s model the ‘Y’ segments represents an area perhaps where the person is competent whereas segment Z requires judgement, continual review and a certain amount of risk taking. Cairns and Stephenson (2009, p13) refer to what Stephenson termed ‘independent capability’ for those operating in this segment. The same paradigm could be applied to ethical competence in identifying those situations where a health and safety professional may be confidently capable in zone ‘Y’ or more uncertain in zone ‘z’ requiring more deliberate evaluation of the situation and application of ethical decision making models, reference to the Code or other ethical case studies to develop familiarity. Initial education on professional ethics would develop ethical capability that through experience and reflective practice lead to ethical competence.

One IOSH Council member addressed the issue of members belonging to several professions: Familiar Context Unfamiliar Problem Familiar Problem

Y

Z

Under Integrity - would it be reasonably foreseeable that where members are members of several professional institutions there may be conflicts of interest or conflicts of professional Codes? CM9

This raised an interesting question that was relevant to members. On the PEC alone the majority of members had memberships of other professions some of which were chartered professions. When discussed with the Committee and the EPM it was decided that the professional activity would be the defining characteristic in determining which Code of Conduct applied in any given circumstances. The problem would arise however where the professional activity involved an overlap between professions, for example ergonomics and safety or perhaps occupational hygiene. The feasibility of having a combined Code was considered however this was seen as a possible prospect at the current time but should be considered as a future ambition to avoid conflicts of this nature. The scope of the Code was also commented on:

Perhaps we should be looking at a Code that promotes good citizenship and “upright behaviour” in addition to “protecting the workforce”. I think Integrity in particular goes far beyond standards of professional activity as does respect. Leaving only service and competence as being world of work related as they are perhaps more firmly rooted in professional activity. CM10

This was an interesting comment in complete contradiction to comments raised at the IOSH Council meeting in which members felt that the IOSH Code should be limited to the professional activity. Examples of serious criminal activity were given to counter this argument in illustrating how IOSH could be brought into disrepute through such criminal activities as possessing and distributing child pornography. This is perhaps more subtle as it describes the concept of good citizenship and upright behaviour. As Koehn (1994) and Freidson (1994) imply professions are not limited to their technical area in gaining the public trust, there is an implied requirement for professionals to be examples of high moral standards as well as experts in their fields. It would seem appropriate therefore not to limit certain aspects of the IOSH Code in particular those elements concerned with character and behaviour to the professional activity. To

achieve this we re-worded the foreword to capture the scope of the IOSH Code as follows:

In scope, the Code applies principally to the activities of members as health and safety professionals. Members owe a primary loyalty to those at risk and should seek to ensure professional independence in the execution of their duties. In a profession, it is essential that members demonstrate integrity by being honest and acting fairly. Members must also avoid departing from the standards of integrity, competence and respect in their private lives in any way that could undermine public trust and confidence in the profession. Extract from the Proposed Code of Conduct Appendix F

To ensure that the obligations are at the right level of compulsion, base level modality language was required. Friedman (2005, p110) who suggests phrases such as shall, must or will are used. These were seen as slightly draconian by the PEC and IOSH Council and similar to legal obligation being somewhat threatening. The option of a single phrase over each principle area was discussed which was agreed would avoid the repetitiveness that was evident in the draft. The EPM suggested an alternative to the single verb shall by creating a verb and adjective phrase ‘are required’. This was implemented into the subsequent draft for presentation back to the IOSH Council.