Committee member communications

Recipients will receive the message in their inboxes, but won't be able to reply to your message directly. Any email addresses or websites in your message must be approved and authorised by IOSH. This service is available to current IOSH communities committee members.

Guidance
Guidance
Subject line
Keep this short and informative (ideally less than 40 characters). It should tell members what to expect from the message and include any key details. If you want members to take an action (for example, join an event or take a survey), highlight this in the subject line.
Examples:
• Join us on [date] to learn more about [event topic]
• Let us know what you think, answer our survey on [topic]
Email body:
Keep the email short (between 100-200 words). The first sentence should make it clear what the email is about.
Include a key summary of what action you want members to take at the end of the email (this is the call to action). If this is an event, you can say ‘register for your place’ or for a survey, you can say ‘take the survey’. This should be a reminder of the action words you used in the subject line.
Wherever you can, use bullet points to separate information, e.g. for topics covered in a meeting. It’s always a good idea to link to where a member can find more information so that there isn’t too much included in the email.
It’s best to include at least three reasons why members should take the action that you’re asking. For example, if it’s for an event, make sure you include at least three things that members may benefit from attending. Be specific about what the members can hope to gain and avoid generalities. For example, ‘you can learn more about [topic] from [speaker]’, rather than ‘valuable speakers’.
Links
Add these at the end of your message so it’s clear what action you’d like members to take. Don’t include any links to speaker’s LinkedIn profiles.
Spelling and grammar
It’s important to make sure this is correct to make your message clear and easy to understand for members. Make sure you check your email using an online tool.
Contact details
Make sure you don’t include any personal details or contact information for anyone in the email.
Features and limitations of committee mailer
• The tool allows simple message creation and submission.
• Our team reviews messages before approval and release.
• All messages use a standard corporate template.
• Members can unsubscribe from emails via a link in the email footer.
• The system supports hyperlinks to IOSH pages but does not allow images or documents to be sent.
Committee member communications policy
Committee member communications policy
This outlines the process for IOSH community committee members to send communications to their members. It ensures that messages are sent to the intended recipients, comply with data protection regulations and are professionally branded.
Terms of use
Communications should:
• be relevant to Health and Safety and align with IOSH’s strategic aims
• be sent by a committee member on behalf of the committee
• be professionally written in plain and concise language
• support IOSH messaging, organisational objectives, and decisions
• be sent only when appropriate to avoid being considered “spam”.
• only one message per IOSH community in each calendar week to be sent
• avoid conflicts of interest, such as canvassing for personal votes or promoting non-IOSH products/services
• not contain or request personal information
• not include anything defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal
• contain an official IOSH email address for return communications
• be reviewed and approved by the committee before submission
Responsibilities
Our team will:
• review and action each message within three working days
• ensure messages meet the IOSH Terms of Use before sending
• update distribution lists as required
• send messages within the requested timescale where possible
• inform committees promptly if a message cannot be sent and propose alternatives.
IOSH community committee members will:
• ensure the message adheres to the terms of use
• refer to the guidance on writing messages
• submit via the communications tool to be sent out by our team.