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Environmental Health Officer

Environmental health officers assess registered premises (such as food outlets, hairdressing salons), ensure their compliance with regulations, and grant licences to them. They also investigate environmental problems that could endanger public health, including monitoring noise control of industrial sites, overcrowding in housing, contaminated water, air quality and rubbish accumulation.

Tasks & duties

Environmental health officers may do some or all of the following:

monitor and manage potential health risks to the population
investigate infectious diseases, such as salmonella, and advise people how to prevent their spread
investigate health nuisances
monitor food safety in food premises
advise on the health requirements on building consents
take samples from sites to test for environmental pollution
take legal action against serious breaches of environment-related laws and regulations
teach people about public health
work with the media to educate the population about public health matters
work on policy development at regional and local levels
research environmental problems affecting public health and report on them
report on resource consent applications
report on liquor licences and inspect licensed premises as required by regulation
report on Land Information Memorandum (LIM) applications

Specialisations

Health protection officer

Someone qualified as an environmental health officer could also be employed by a district health board as a health protection officer. Their focus is regional health and involves food safety, disease control, public health issues as well as researching, educating on, and developing policy.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority and Ministry of Health also employ environmental health practitioners to provide policy advice to central government and to develop guidance for the food industry.

Other specialisations

There are other specialisation areas for environmental health officers:

Independent food safety auditing agencies employ environmental health practitioners who then receive auditing training for auditing food safety programmes.
There are specialist opportunities at environmental and noise monitoring consultancies, which measure and provide noise solutions.
Some councils have specialist positions to deal with issues related to noise levels.
Drinking water assessment roles are available with local councils and some private companies

Skills & knowledge

Environmental health officers need to have:

knowledge of environmental and health issues, and related regulations and standards
knowledge of Acts of Parliament that relate to public health, such as the Resource Management Act, the Food Act and the Health Act
knowledge of practical applications of microbiology
knowledge of food industry processes and technology
technical skills for taking water samples, and using noise and light-measuring equipment
research and analytical skills for infectious disease investigations and complex nuisance complaints
skill in analysing information
problem-solving skills
good written and oral communication skills

Entry requirements

To become an environmental health officer, you need to have a Bachelor of Applied Science (majoring in environmental health or health protection), or a Graduate Diploma in Environmental Health (in addition to a Bachelor's degree in a related area). These qualifications are available at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) or Massey University.

After getting a job with a local authority or other government agency, you will receive the appropriate designation or warrant.

Entry requirements for specialist environmental health officer roles include:

Food Act officer – risk assessment papers (done as part of the normal Bachelor's course mentioned above), or short courses that the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) provides.
Quality controller (food manufacturing) – food technology paper (done as part of the normal Bachelor's course mentioned above) or a Bachelor of Science in Food Technology.
Work at district health boards or policy work in an organisation involved in public health work – Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health.

Secondary education

A tertiary entrance qualification is required to enter further training. Useful subjects include English, maths, chemistry, biology and science.

Training on the job

Many skills are gained on the job, and environmental health officers are expected to attend specialised courses in areas such as food quality assurance and noise control.

Environmental health officers need to keep up to date with new legislation, the introduction of new foods and new technological systems. For example, the growth in the olive-growing industry means the noise made by bird-scaring devices on olive orchards must now be monitored. This has raised issues concerning olive oil extraction and bottling processes.