Environmental Health Officer
What you'll do as an environmental health officer
Day-to-day tasks
In your day-to-day duties you may:
inspect businesses for health and safety, food hygiene and food standards
follow up complaints and investigate outbreaks of food poisoning, infectious disease or pests
collect samples for laboratory testing
enforce environmental health laws
investigate accidents at work
advise community groups and give educational talks
give evidence in court
write records and reports
advise employers on all environmental health matters
Key skills for environmental health officers
You'll need good communication skills along with an ability to work as part of a team. Other essential qualities and skills include:
interpersonal skills to explain legislation and procedures to people from all backgrounds
close attention to detail
the ability to analyse and solve problems.
What do I need to do to become an environmental health officer?
To become an environmental health officer, you’ll need to study either an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been approved by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH). You will then need to complete a period of work-based training and pass a series of professional exams.
To do an environmental health degree you will usually need five GCSEs (A-C) and a minimum of two A levels. Check with universities for exact entry requirements – vocational courses are acceptable for some degree courses.
A levels in a science or technology subject may be required for some courses.
Level 3 vocational courses linked to science would be relevant for this work. Check with universities about acceptability.
For more information on entry:
https://www.cieh.org/what-is-environmental-health/how-do-i-become-an-ehp/#
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