Safety Officer continuing professional development

Continuing professional development (CPD) is a commitment by individuals to continually develop and enhance their abilities in order to remain professionally competent.

It can:

• ensure skills and knowledge are kept up to date, and
• strengthen professional credibility.

In essence, CPD is an investment in an individual and their career.

The importance of CPD is highlighted in Supplementary Guidance 03: Event Safety Management and the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds (Green Guide), which states:

“once an appointment is made, it is equally important that the management encourages and facilitates continual professional development on the part of the Safety Officer”.

This document is Annex A of SG03: Event Safety Management.

It is intended to provide further details on CPD for Safety Officers at venues. Alongside examples of what CPD can entail, it also provides a template for the tracking and recording of activities.

The ultimate outcome of well-planned CPD is that it protects the public, the employer, the Safety Officer and the Safety Officer’s career.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) provides further details about CPD, including the stages of the CPD cycle.

CPD elements

How much CPD should take place?

There is no set amount of CPD an individual should carry out on an annual basis.

Some professional bodies require a minimum number of hours each year to maintain membership/registration. For example, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) requires 20 hours of CPD activities each year.

Where a Safety Officer is not part of a professional body, and therefore not subject to CPD requirements, the SGSA recommends around 20 hours of CPD should be undertaken each year.

At a minimum, Safety Officers should aim to carry out 10 hours annually.

What counts as CPD

The CPD Certification Service outlines three types of learning:

a. Structured CPD / active learning

This covers participatory-based studies, and is generally the more common form of CPD. Activities for Safety Officers could include, but not be limited to:

1. training courses and e-learning
2. working towards qualifications, such as postgraduate degrees
3. attending conferences and seminars on safety
4. delivering presentations at conferences and/or seminars
5. coaching and mentoring of safety team, operations staff or stewards – either as a coach/mentor, or as the recipient
6. work shadowing (either shadowing someone yourself, or having someone shadow you)
7. peer reviews
8. peer group discussions; for example, via a membership body, such as the Football Safety Officers’ Association
9. delivering training to others
10. writing research reports
11. becoming the lead in a particular area; for example, facilities management, safeguarding or accessibility.

b. Reflective CPD / passive learning

This is a more one-way, directional approach to learning. Activities could include, but not be limited to:

1. listening to relevant podcasts
2. watching relevant television programmes / web series
3. following relevant accounts on social media channels, such as LinkedIn.

c. Self-directed CPD / unstructured learning

This covers all unaccompanied CPD activities. This could include, but not be limited to:

1. reading and/or reviewing relevant books, journals and articles, either in print or online
2. research of relevant topics or developments
3. voluntary work.

Recording CPD

The most effective way for Safety Officer’s to keep a record of CPD is to maintain a chronological list of all activities completed within a relevant time period.

This record should also be included in the Operations Manual, as part of the (S)
factor assessment.