How I discovered Environmental Health

I had been contemplating work as a biomedical scientist as a potential career, but soon decided that being stuck in a lab all day was giving me cabin fever! This was where I first heard the term ‘Environmental Health’.

I had just finished my second year of a BSc in Human Biology at the University of Birmingham and was spending my summer working in a hospital Microbiology department. I had also been volunteering in the evenings in a hospice kitchen, and after a busy day in the lab, followed by a shift in the kitchen, I returned home one evening and on the television was a programme following an EHO on a food inspection. My dad said, “You could do that”. I come from a family of public sector workers, and have always felt motivated to find a career that allows me to serve the community. With the majority of my family members being current or retired police officers, I had always had an interest in law enforcement. The role of EHO seemed like it would combine my love of science, being out in the community, and enforcement.

Getting qualified

Despite being tired from my long day, a quick internet search revealed that the University of Birmingham offered an MSc in Environmental Health. This could not be more convenient! I could continue to live with my parents in Birmingham and study. After reading more about the full range of areas covered by environmental health, I knew that my new goal was to become an EHO.

After finishing the MSc in 2011, I completed a placement with a local authority to get the experience needed to complete my Portfolio of Professional Practice, interview, written exam, and practical food exam. I was lucky to have many interesting experiences on my placement that meant that I had plenty to write about in my portfolio. On the second day of my placement, I was able to accompany officers to seize sound equipment from an individual who had not complied with an abatement notice requiring him to stop causing a noise nuisance. On the sixth day of my placement, I accompanied an officer to check compliance with some food hygiene improvement notices at a takeaway and discovered an active cockroach infestation which led to the takeaway needing to be shut down. In December 2012, I found out that I had passed all of the elements to allow me to be listed with the Environmental Health Registration Board and begin my career as an EHO.

Where I am now

I enjoyed all disciplines in Environmental Health, but my background meant that I had always had a preference for working in food safety. I have worked in the Commercial Team at Dartford Borough Council since qualifying as an EHO. My role has become more varied as time has progressed. I had imagined that my days would mainly be spent doing food hygiene inspections and dealing with complaints. While this is true, my role is much more varied than that! Some of the other things I do include working with UKHSA setting up monitoring traps for invasive mosquitoes to try to stop these species (who can hitch a ride across the channel on lorries) from becoming established in the UK and spread diseases such as Dengue. I sit on the Council’s Safety Advisory Group, reviewing event management plans to help ensure that the events are safe for everyone.

Dartford has become a fantastically, culturally diverse area to work in. This has provided me opportunities to dust off the knowledge learned for my practical food exam, being able to identify a variety of different fish and more exotic fruit and vegetables. At the end of 2023, my team secured FSA funding to carry out imported food checks at our local retailers. Colleagues identified several illegally imported foods, including duck’s blood from China, which were seized to prevent them being sold. This project also included sending a range of imported foods of for microbiological testing. One of the products, a cured sausage, tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes, and was linked to a confirmed case of Listeriosis. The FSA Incidents Branch contacted the food safety authority in the country the product was produced in so that this could be investigated.

Recently, an interesting incident I was involved in was checking food businesses in our area for uncooked pork and pork products from Romania and Bulgaria. There are currently restrictions on imports of these foods due to an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF). While ASF doesn’t cause disease in humans, if British pigs were to become infected, it could cause damage to the pork industry if the infection was allowed to spread unchecked. Myself and a colleague found 170kg pork and pork products from Romania and Bulgaria in several shops, which were seized so that they could be destroyed by incineration.

When I started my career, I never thought it would be so varied. I distinctly recall meeting the course leader for the MSc before applying for the course. I remember him saying that, “the job is many things, but it is never dull”. I couldn’t agree with him more!

Every environmental health officer has a story to tell, if you’d like to share your experience, we’d love to hear from you. Email our team today to write a blog about environmental health in your community.