Initial Grading Process

Copyright © 2015, NZISM, all rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

1 NON-GRADED MEMBERSHIP .............................................................................................. 3

1.1 Non-Graded Membership..........................................................................................3
1.1.1 Affiliate membership ....................................................................................3
1.1.2 Student membership ....................................................................................3

2 GRADED MEMBERSHIP....................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Graded Membership ..................................................................................................4
2.2 Graded Membership Levels.......................................................................................5
2.2.1 Technical membership level .......................................................................5
2.2.2 Graduate membership level .......................................................................5
2.2.3 Certified membership level .........................................................................5
2.2.4 Why become Certified? ..............................................................................5
2.2.5 Certified Fellow membership level .............................................................6
2.3 Pathways ......................................................................................................................6
2.3.1 Academic/Cognate ....................................................................................7
2.3.2 Vocational .....................................................................................................7
2.3.3 Recognition of Prior Learning ......................................................................8
2.3.4 Reciprocal .....................................................................................................8
2.4 Appeals.........................................................................................................................8
2.5 Initial Grading Process Summary ...............................................................................8

3 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................... 9

This document and the information in it, is the property of NZISM. No part of this publication may be used or
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, except with the written
permission of a representative in the employment of NZISM.

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The following supporting material serves as a basis for a member seeking

accredited graded membership for the first time.

This process applies to members that want to progress from Affiliate or

Student Membership to an accredited grading level.

The main focus of NZISM is to encourage and improve the health and safety
profession as it relates to New Zealand and New Zealanders. For this reason
we encourage New Zealanders operating both within the New Zealand scene
and the external international health and safety industry to join our
organisation. We also encourage international H&S practitioners and
professionals who are operating within New Zealand to join and gain the
benefits of local membership.
We do however see little benefit of membership to those international H&S
operators who operate only on the international stage. For this reason we
encourage these people to join a health and safety professional organisation in
the countries in which they operate or to join IOSH (UK).

1 Non-Graded Membership

1.1 Non-Graded Membership

When a member first joins NZISM they are automatically recorded as a non-
graded Affiliate Member. The only alternative the member can have as a non-
graded member is to be a Student Member.

1.1.1 Affiliate membership

This level is for all members who pay subscription fees to NZISM. It is for those
with an interest in health and safety or those who have yet to attain a
qualification or experience in a health and safety role.
Affiliate members and those practitioners who are not part of the accredited
membership pathway are not entitled to use the NZISM logo or any NZISM
post nominals.

1.1.2 Student membership

To be a Student member evidence must be provided to show that the member
is in full time study on a health and safety programme acknowledged by
NZISM.
Student members pay a reduced subscription fee and have the same benefits
as an Affiliate member with the exception of voting at AGM meetings.
Student members and those practitioners who are not part of the accredited
membership pathway are not entitled to use the NZISM logo or any NZISM
post nominals.

If the member decides to join as an accredited graded member then the Initial
Grading Process occurs.
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2 Graded Membership

2.1 Graded Membership

The Initial Grading Process occurs when a member first decides they wish to
be a graded member. This may occur when the person first joins NZISM or
may happen after the person has been a non-graded member for a while.

The Initial Grading Process assesses a member's qualifications and work

experience then rates them accordingly on the NZISM Membership Table. Four
graded membership levels exist; Technician, Graduate, Certified, and Fellow.
Each membership level has qualification and experience requirements as seen
in the table below.

The foundational qualifications and experience criteria is described in detail in

NZISM Qualification, Evaluation, and Verification Measures document.

The Graduate to Certified Membership process is described in detail in NZISM

Progressing from Graduate to Certified Membership document.

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2.2 Graded Membership Levels

2.2.1 Technical membership level

This level is for members who have at least one year of experience in a health
and safety role, and a health and safety qualification at around NZQA level 4.
All Technical members need to maintain a CPD record.
Members at this level may use the post-nominal TechNZISM

2.2.2 Graduate membership level

This level is for members who have at least two years of experience in a health
and safety role and a tertiary level academic qualification at a minimum NZQA
level 6 diploma with a total of 90 credits in OH&S subjects (for full details see
the ‘Initial Grading Process’ document .
Members at this level will generally want to progress to Certified membership
level. All Graduate members need to maintain a CPD record.
The highest membership level you can achieve at initial grading is Graduate -
this is because Certified membership level is our flagship level, and the criteria
to achieve it are necessarily strict.
Members at this level may use the post-nominal GradNZISM
Graduate Membership is the membership level for recognition on the HASANZ
Register as Practitioner.

2.2.3 Certified membership level

This is our flagship membership level. Practitioners at this level have
demonstrated their knowledge and practical application of that knowledge,
experience and professional ethics. Employers know that when they work with
a Certified Health and Safety Practitioner, they're dealing with someone who's
at the top of their profession. Our Certified Members also have the respect of
their peers – other professionals know that they've been through a rigorous
process to become Certified and have met the high standards. This
membership level is for those practitioners who are in senior roles. All Certified
members need to maintain a CPD record.
Certified Membership is the membership level for recognition on the HASANZ
Register as Professional.

2.2.4 Why become Certified?

Businesses, employers and recruitment consultants are already well used to
working with and hiring Certified professionals. They recognise Certified status
as shorthand for 'best in class' and they know they'll get the highest
professional standards from a Certified individual.

Certified status will help:

 improve ability to influence decision-makers
 work on an equal footing with other professionals
 increase future employability
 Certified equates to Professional on the HASANZ Register

Members at this level may use the post-nominal CertNZISM

Certified Membership continues recognition on the HASANZ Register as
Professional.
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2.2.5 Certified Fellow membership level

Fellowship of the Institution is awarded only to Certified Members of at least
five years' standing who can demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the
health and safety profession. Fellows go 'above and beyond' the call of duty
and are the 'ambassadors' of the Institution. Applicants must satisfy the
Institution that they meet this definition. Specifically, we look for evidence that
the applicant has:
 carried out outstanding service on local, national or international
professional committees
 produced peer-acclaimed contributions or improvements to the
public understanding of occupational safety and health
 been involved in the development of occupational safety and health
through work in NZISM at any level (branch, group, standing
committee and so on)
 helped to develop and influence the careers of others, including less
experienced occupational safety and health professionals
 actively researched, developed and applied original work or
expertise in occupational safety and health including activities begun
as a work requirement that they’ve taken beyond that requirement

Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and applicants do not have to meet
all these criteria.

As a Fellow of NZISM, you're entitled to use the designation Certified Fellow

Health and Safety Practitioner and the designator letters CFNZISM. All
Certified Fellows need to maintain a CPD record.

From the descriptors above it is seen that there is a high focus on the Graduate
and Certified Memberships; Certified membership because that is our flagship
membership level and Graduate because this is obligatory before a member
can seek Certified membership. Either of these are mandatory requirements
permitting listing on the HASANZ Register.

2.3 Pathways
There are four pathways that members can take to graded membership. There
are requirements around each, so not all options may be open to all members
seeking graded membership. Graduate is the highest level of membership that
can be attained at initial grading and the pathway by which you attain Graduate
status affects the path you take in promotion from Graduate to Certified
membership. Please read COM06 Graduate to Certified Process to find out
how your initial grading pathway effects the options available for Graduate to
Certified.

The four pathway options are:

 Academic/Cognate
 Vocational
 Recognition of Prior Learning
 Reciprocal

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2.3.1 Academic/Cognate
Academic
If you have a tertiary level academic qualification in health and safety that is
recognised by NZISM and the required 4000 hours of experience in the last 5
years in a health and safety role, you can be graded as a Graduate level
member.

Cognate
Along with having the required experience as above you can apply for
Graduate level with a Cognate qualification. For a cognate qualification to be
accepted it must be:

 A minimum NZQA level 6 diploma

 An allied qualification e.g. Engineering, Sciences, Chemistry &
Environmental Health
 Have at least 90 credits from occupational health and safety (OHS)
related papers

OSH refers to the multi-disciplinary approach to effectively managing the

safety, health, and welfare of people at work. The identification and control of
risks arising from physical, chemical, and other workplace hazards in order to
establish and maintain safe and healthy working environments is central to the
OSH concept. Although not an exhaustive list, papers that cover the following
topics are likely to be acceptable as OHS related papers:

 Risk identification, assessment, and management

 Incident investigation and management
 Requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and
supporting regulations
 Hazardous substances handling and storage
 Specialised topics such as asbestos management
 Issues in occupational health including exposure and health monitoring
of workers and others
 Workplace health and safety leadership practices
 Worker engagement
 Emergency planning and response
 Establishing and monitoring health and safety systems and processes
 Health and safety management systems.

Transcripts must be provided for review in all cases.

2.3.2 Vocational
If you have a vocational qualification that is recognised by NZISM and you
have the required 1 years minimum experience in a health and safety role, you
can be graded as a Technical level member.

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2.3.3 Recognition of Prior Learning

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a pathway expressly designed for those
who have over 10 years of solid experience in health and safety but have no,
or very few, qualifications to show for it. The programme is worked in
conjunction with Capable NZ's (Otago Polytechnic) Graduate Diploma in
Professional Practice (GDPP). The RPL route takes one year to complete and
starts with a quick online assessment of the applicant’s current qualification
and experience. If found to be meeting the parameters for the RPL process a
more thorough assessment occurs of the member's current health and safety
knowledge and work experience. If the assessment results indicate that you
will gain from completing the RPL programme the process then proceeds to fill
any gaps in knowledge resulting in the issuing of a GDPP (OHS). Following
successful completion of the programme you can apply to be graded as a
Graduate level member and can then proceed to Certified level as per the
standard grading process of completing 2 years CPD at Graduate level. You
will need to complete a Skills Development Portfolio and also a Peer Review
when progressing from Graduate to Certified
If during the initial assessment for the GDPP (OSH) you are deemed to meet
the requirements for Technician level you may apply to be upgraded from
Affiliate to Technician member while completing the programme.

2.3.4 Reciprocal
NZISM holds a reciprocal arrangement with the Institute of Occupational Safety
and Health (IOSH). If a member of one of IOSH wishes to join NZISM we will
transfer their level of membership directly to our equivalent membership (or as
close as possible). The reciprocal arrangement also works the other way; if an
NZISM Graduate went to work in the UK IOSH would accept the member into
their membership at IOSH Graduate level.
The reciprocal arrangement is the only exception where the maximum grading
of Graduate on initial grading can be exceeded. An IOSH Chartered Member
will be accepted at NZISM Certified Member and an IOSH Charted Fellow
would be accepted at NZISM Certified Fellow.

2.4 Appeals
Members who have been through the Initial Grading Process and are not
satisfied with the conclusion of the grading have an appeals process that can
be implemented. This process can be read in the COM02 Initial Grading
Appeals Process (0C02) document.

2.5 Initial Grading Process Summary

The Initial Grading Process has been made a multipath process to meet the
varying levels of academic and practical experience seen in the New Zealand
workplace. The route taken at initial grading has consequences on the pathway
options between Graduate and Certified. A flowchart of the pathways and
memberships can be seen in Appendix 1.

For a description of how the initial grading occurs in practice please read the
separate document NZISM Member Applications: Materials Supporting.

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3 Appendices

A.1 PMD05 - Initial Grading Process (Overview)

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