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Making IOSH fit for the future

Find out how we are changing to meet the needs of members and serve the profession

We've reviewed some areas of our governance to make sure we are meeting the needs of our growing and diverse membership. By doing this, we can support an evolving occupational safety and health profession.

What areas did we review?

Council and Presidential team

Our President Stuart Hughes led a full review looking at how to make Council as effective and responsive to our membership as possible.

The review considered:

  • make up of Council and the Presidential team
  • selection processes and terms of office for Council and the Presidential team
  • best ways to attract new members and make sure our governance structure is fit for supporting our membership.

Networks

We conducted a separate review of our member networks. Working with members and volunteers we reviewed the current structure. We wanted to find out what works well for our members in the existing set-up. We also considered what needs to change so our networks can best support occupational safety and health professionals, both now and in the future.

What are the proposals?

The proposals for Council are:

  • reduce its size to 12 members
  • change the selection process for Council from an election to an appointment process
  • make the eligibility criteria the same for Vice-President and President-Elect
  • make Immediate Past President an honorary role.

The proposals for networks are:

  • move to a community-based approach for building networks and volunteering
  • make it easier to get involved in volunteering and encourage diverse participation, including a simple recruitment process
  • increase member engagement and more equal access to benefits for members all over the world.

We want to create a structure that makes it easier for all members to join communities based on their interests, rather than physical location.

This new vision provides a future-focused, sustainable and agile model for our networks. We recognise that they are a main route of member influence. We will remove the administrative barriers for volunteers, including a simpler recruitment process.

Many elements of the vision are innovative. But together they represent an evolutionary process rather than a radical departure. And at the heart of it is to increase inclusivity and diversity.

We need to update the byelaws in our Royal Charter to make all these changes. Our Corporate Members voted to approve two special resolutions at our annual general meeting in November 2024. We can now send a formal request to update these byelaws to Privy Council and await their response.

Why do we want to make these changes?

Hear from our past, present and future presidents on the changes.

We believe there's a wide range of benefits to our proposals. 

    We believe reducing the size of Council can improve the quality and speed of decision making.

    As groups get larger, it becomes increasingly difficult to schedule meetings with full attendance. It's also easy for some voices to remain quiet or get overlooked.

    The benefits of a smaller committee can include shorter and more focused discussions, leading to fast, effective decision-making.

    It's easier to get everyone together and hear each person's voice. Relationships can develop quickly. Individual roles quickly become well defined and understood in the context of the overall goals of the group.

    Our proposal includes ways to manage workload. There's the option of co-opting up to six people onto Council if there's a specific skills gap or need. The Presidential team will still sit on Council (in an ex-officio capacity).

    We want to make all appointment processes fair, balanced and representative of the membership. They need to be transparent at all stages.

    Moving from an election to an appointment process is a chance to do this. At the moment, only around six per cent of eligible members vote in our elections. This is not a fair representation of the membership. We've seen high-quality candidates being consistently overlooked.

    Our Nominations Committee - a sub-committee of Council - has developed a robust and transparent recruitment process for Council, Board of Trustees and Presidential team. We want to make sure the process focuses on finding the best candidates with the skills and competencies required.

    Responsibility for administering the appointment process is delegated to the Nominations Committee by Council.

    For networks, we want to make it easier to get involved in volunteering and encourage diverse participation.

    We want to make sure the way we recruit to our volunteering roles is accessible and encourages a diverse group of candidates. Moving to an appointment process for all networks, Council, Board of Trustees and Presidential team, will make it easier for members to get involved.

    Making the role of Immediate Past President an honorary one is another way of doing this. The Immediate Past President has already given two years in their presidential roles. This is a big time and resource commitment that not everyone is able to consider. By reducing the third year to an honorary role, it's hoped that more people will be encouraged to apply.

    We still expect the Immediate Past President to share knowledge and support when needed.

    We believe that having the same eligibility criteria for Vice-President and President-Elect:

    • ensures the quality of all members of the Presidential team, and
    • expands the candidate pool and makes it more diverse.

    It's important that there is the chance for members to influence our thinking and direction and help develop each other's knowledge. Our ambition is to make it easier for all members to get involved in volunteering activities and to find it a rewarding experience.

    As part of the networks review, we want to make changes that our volunteers have been asking for over the last few years. These include:

    • more virtual services
    • better communication
    • simpler administration and governance.

How did we consult with members?

Council ran a six-week member consultation that included drop-in sessions and a member survey. There was also the chance to provide feedback using an online form. We promoted this on our website, social media channels and email newsletters to reach as many members as possible.

The survey results were supportive of the proposed changes to Council and the Presidential team.

We held focus groups with a range of members from different grades, backgrounds and experience to hear their views. We also gave all members the chance to answer a survey.

  1. Notice of AGM

    In mid-October, we provided notice of our AGM to all members by email or letter.

    This included details of the ordinary and special resolutions for eligible members to vote on.

  2. Voting period

    Voting opened on 23 October and closed on 12 November at 13:00 GMT.

  3. AGM

    Result of votes revealed at AGM on 13 November. 

    Both special resolutions approved.

  4. Apply to Privy Council

    We apply to the Privy Council for permission to update our byelaws.