Membership categories

If you’re working in health and safety, gaining a health and safety qualification, or you've simply got an interest in this industry, you can join IOSH. How far you take your qualifications and membership status is entirely up to you.

What happens when you join us?

You'll join as an Affiliate member. This means that everyone has immediate access to all the benefits of membership. Moving to another category of membership depends on your experience, qualifications and, of course, your goals. If you want to work as a health and safety professional, we'll review your qualifications and experience to find out which membership category is right for you.

The six membership categories are:

• Affiliate Member
• Associate Member
• Technical Member
• Graduate Member
• Chartered Member
• Chartered Fellow
  

Want to know more? Find out about our membership categories [57 kb] or have a look at our membership structure.

What qualifications do I need to progress through the membership categories?

With over 35 accredited qualifications on offer, members can choose from a broad range of courses at various institutions to help them progress through our membership categories. Have a look at our list of qualifications and institutions that meet the academic requirements for Technical (Tech IOSH) and Graduate (Grad IOSH) membership, and where these are available.

Changing membership category

If you've recently completed one of the qualifications we accredit and think you may be able to change your category of membership, then get in touch with us. If you have a qualification with an amount of Health and Safety content in it, send in a copy of your certificate along with the official module transcript and we will assess it to see if eligible for a different membership level. When assessing your documents for a different membership category we only look at qualifications as we do not accredit courses. As a guide, we're looking for health and safety qualifications.

We'll need to review:

• copies of relevant health and safety qualification certificates you've recently been awarded
• your current CV, showing what health and safety experience you have.

Send us these documents by:

• email - scan the documents and attach them to an email for our Membership team
• fax - on +44 (0)116 257 9101
• post - to the Membership department, IOSH, The Grange, Highfield Drive, Wigston, Leicestershire, LE18 1NN, UK.
  

Please don't send us training certificates. If you're unsure whether your certificate is relevant, please check the list of qualifications we accredit. If you're still not sure, email us or phone +44 (0)116 257 3198.

What happens next?

Our Membership Audit and Review Panel audit all category changes every other month prior to ratification and transfer. We require all category change requests and documents at least two weeks prior to each ratification date to enable this process to occur. We may also verify the authenticity of your certificates with your educational establishment.