James Howe, EHP
What are your main responsibilities?
I work as a generalist officer for Isle of Wight Council covering environmental protection, food safety, and health and safety. A day in the office could include setting a noise limiter in a club, inspecting a restaurant and providing support to improve standards, conducting an interview under caution and attending court, taking samples and collecting data, mapping a private water supply, or monitoring conditions at a large music festival.
Why did you choose environmental health?
I was attracted by the prospect of no two days being the same and engaging with people from all walks of life. I felt that joining the profession offered me a real opportunity to make a difference at the coalface.
How has CIEH membership benefitted your career?
It has provided me with a clear selling point to prospective employers, enabling them to recognise that I have achieved a prescribed standard. I have also benefitted from being connected to a wider community of like-minded professionals, which has enabled me to exchange ideas and experiences and contribute to my department’s development.
What’s the most exciting project you have worked on?
This year, I became involved in the planning phase of a large outdoor music event working as lead officer coordinating environmental health involvement.
How do you keep your knowledge and skills up to date?
I learn a lot from colleagues in the profession and acquaintances in related fields. I attend a variety of courses and conferences. JEHR and EHN also enable me to keep up to date with the latest developments.
What is the best advice you have been given?
‘Accept nothing, challenge everything.’ This advice was given to me during my first week at university and has stuck with me ever since. It has served me well throughout my time, both as a student and in my career.
What are the key challenges in environmental health?
The austere economic climate is hitting local government hard. We have had to reconsider priorities and reinvent the way in which we deliver them. It is vital that we do not lose sight of the importance and long-term benefits of preventative public health interventions. There appears to be a continuing move away from the hands-on work of the original sanitary inspectors to the contemporary role of EHPs as auditors. With continuing budget cuts, no doubt one of the key changes will be a move further in this direction with fewer staff in the field and more auditing of contracted work.
What are your hobbies?
I have an unpaid post as a board member of a local trust port. The board’s role is to manage the port and balance the interests of visiting yachtsmen, local fishermen, the commercial ferry operators and the local community. I also run a small group that provides technical support to local amateur dramatic groups, assisting them with expertise in lighting, sound and stage management.
Sue Blakely, Consultant
What are your main responsibilities?
My company specialises in whole-organisation improvement, programme management, establishing shared services and turning around poorly-performing teams.
Why did you choose environmental health?
I love working with people, problem-solving and making a positive difference to communities.
How has CIEH membership benefitted your career?
Being a CIEH member has given me access to lots of information to inform career decisions. For example, it supported me to become a director responsible for successful services including environmental health.
What’s the most exciting project you have worked on?
I’ve been working with the Local Better Regulation Office, testing some new regulatory approaches to reducing burdens on business while improving compliance. I’m now helping to produce case studies and web-based tools to help local authorities learn from successes in eight pilot areas. The professionalism, commitment and specialist expertise of the people I have worked with has been brilliant.
How do you keep your knowledge and skills up to date?
Attending courses. I’ve just completed a two-day food-law refresher course in Norwich. Also reading, networking, meeting CIEH colleagues and taking on environmental health work through my company.
What is the best advice you have been given?
Understand your personal core values and find organisations that share these to work with.
What are the key challenges in environmental health?
We will see more collaboration across local authorities because there is a strong business case for doing this. Services can be improved when there is greater co-operation across councils. From a professional viewpoint, working in a shared-service arrangement can provide opportunities to staff, too.
What are your hobbies?
Swimming, running, baking and being a mum of three.
Leonard Smikle, EHP
What are your main responsibilities?
I am assistant safety, health and environmental manager at one of the UK’s largest sandwich makers. I assist in raising compliance and improving health and safety behaviour throughout operations.
Why did you choose environmental health?
Environmental and public health have been lifelong passions. On a humanitarian project in East Africa in 2007, I experienced first-hand the effects that poverty, poor standards of hygiene and unsustainable development have on health and wellbeing. I changed career because I wanted to be able to play an active role in improving health, safety and wellbeing.
How has CIEH membership benefitted your career?
CIEH membership has communicated my passion, motivation and drive for personal development, as well as career potential, to prospective employers and has helped me to meet many well-established practitioners who have helped me tremendously.
What’s the most exciting project you have worked on?
My final year at university included researching issues facing EHPs working in hoarding intervention. The issues included prioritisation, case management, health and safety, training, and partnership working. I developed many skills doing this project and I hope to develop it further in the near future.
How do you keep your knowledge and skills up to date?
By reading professional journals and magazines, taking part in a number of groups, networking, and increasing professional contact as much as possible.
What’s the best advice you have been given?
I was told by an established EHP that I should work assiduously on academic pursuits, meet as many professionals as possible, take part in as many professional activities as possible and to seek out avenues of personal and professional development.
What are the key challenges in environmental health?
Spending cuts will put a squeeze on environmental health, with resulting job losses. EHPs should make use of the opportunity to increase partnership working to deliver health improvements locally.
What are your hobbies?
I play tennis with friends and new contacts. I am a passionate athletics fan and participate in forums to keep in touch with other fans, make predictions on track and field events and offer commentary on results.
Penelope Dawson Malone, Director
What are your main responsibilities?
I formed a consultancy, Blue Cloud Training and Consultancy, in 2006 after a local government career. It’s been a fast learning curve on how to develop a business. Having the foundation knowledge from being in environmental health for many years has been invaluable in providing support to my clients on food safety, health and safety, and other environmental health matters.
Why did you choose environmental health?
I was always interested in the environment and used to get involved with environmental issues as a teenager. I wrote to Vidal Sassoon at the age of 18 to find out more about its pump action hairspray, as I realised that the ozone layer was diminishing. Earlier, I had tried to get a petition together at school to save the whales from imminent disaster. My parents guided me onto an A-level pre-nursing course at college but I hated it. In the end, I got a placement at Derby City Council and my career in environmental health was launched.
How has CIEH membership benefitted your career?
I have developed extensive networks of contacts with local authorities in the Midlands and also formed some excellent associates to the business. Being a chartered CIEH member has been fundamental in demonstrating dedication to delivering good services to my clients. Larger commercial enterprises that have received Blue Cloud Training regard CIEH accreditation positively, as it is such a recognised and prestigious affiliation to have.
What’s the most exciting project you have worked on?
Securing CIEH Level 4 Managing Food Safety training for some prestigious organisations, such as Jury’s Inn Derby and Nottingham, Derby City Council and Sodexo. I worked closely with a CIEH colleague delivering this course. All delegates passed and we received some excellent testimonials. The company has also secured some hotel-chain clients and is growing in its client base.
How do you keep your knowledge and skills up to date?
By being on a special interests group and local better regulation business reference panel, and attending Branch CIEH training seminars. I have also organised a couple of Midlands-based seminars: the last one was at Chesterfield Football Ground and chaired by David Kidney. Speakers came from Birmingham and Nottingham Universities. I recently received some CPD from Santia, with which I am now an associate consultant.
What is the best advice you have been given?
Just go for it. If you spend too long thinking about something, you will never do it.
What are the key challenges in environmental health?
Financial cuts are having a big impact on training budgets and how local authorities operate. I am currently working with local authorities on partnership-working, which is very much the way that central government wants business to progress.
What are your hobbies?
Painting. I bought a house with my better half last year and we have spent many hours renovating it. We have restored an original leaded glass front door and a 1930 Minton tile floor. I can’t say it’s enjoyable, until I see the restoration work done. I also go to the gym and love being with my family.