How to record CPD when confidentiality conflicts and sensitivity issues arise

Keeping a record of your CPD while working on confidential projects is not a complicated task, says Ministry of Defence employee Michael Doyle

Michael Doyle is a mechanical engineer in the Ministry of Defence, and as such works on restricted sites and on numerous confidential projects. For some, recording CPD without revealing sensitive information may be an insurmountable task, but Michael has come up with a simple way to avoid these issues.

“I have two separate logs that I run concurrently,” he says. “One of those I submit to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers through their CPD tools website, and the other record I keep for myself in a hard-copy form with more detail in it and specifics of the actual task so I can refer back to it myself.

“The CPD tools website is handy for this, because if I do something relevant it allows me to quickly capture the information, and then I can come back to that record if needed.”

Michael says that the record he files with the Institution is much more focused on his own personal development and how CPD events have helped improve his as an engineer, rather than what the task actually was in practice, helping to alleviate any concerns around confidentiality or commercially sensitive information being revealed.

“I try and focus on what an auditor would need to see from a CPD record, rather than the specifics of what you were talking about or working on,” he says. “It is more about the reflective part of the CPD process, and what you learnt from that activity or discussion that is important.”

There are also some CPD events that are vital for any record of professional development but don’t have the confidentiality issues common to other areas of his work.

“Any conferences or formal lectures will definitely be recorded, and I am also a STEM ambassador and do a lot of STEM outreach work,” he says.

“I also record any formal visits I go on, such as a recent visit to the new aircraft carrier the HMS Queen Elizabeth, as they are often intended to broaden my knowledge and improve my skills, [so lend themselves very well to the reflective nature of CPD].”

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