Public Health Sanitarian Technician (Public Health Sanitarian Tech)
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including HealthDescription
Support registered sanitarians by conducting inspections, sampling, and field tests in food, water, housing, and recreational environments. Collect and prepare environmental health samples, document findings, and assist with education, code compliance, and enforcement under the direction of public health professionals.
- • Assist in implementing surveillance and monitoring programs for foodborne illness, pools, housing, and vectors.
- • Assist in evaluating proposed facility changes for sanitation and health impacts; recommend mitigation steps.
- • Support medical waste, sharps, grease trap, septic, and backflow prevention compliance programs.
- • Investigate spills, complaints, and suspected outbreaks; collect and transport samples safely.
- • Coordinate sampling schedules and field teams; ensure adherence to SOPs.
- • Help develop, update, and follow inspection and sampling procedures and checklists.
- • Record inspection, sampling, and test data; prepare reports, summaries, and charts.
- • Collect food, drinking water, recreational water, surface, air, soil, or vector samples for analysis.
- • Provide technical assistance and public education on sanitation, food safety, and environmental health.
- • Calibrate and maintain thermometers, chlorine meters, pH meters, noise dosimeters, and other test instruments.
- • Recommend or enforce corrective actions to abate nuisances and code violations under supervision.
- • Inspect sanitary conditions at restaurants, mobile food units, pools, spas, childcare centers, schools, lodging, and shelters.
- • Prepare swabs and samples, complete chain-of-custody, and submit to approved laboratories.
- • Calculate disinfectant residuals, pool chemistry, ventilation rates, or other exposure metrics.
- • Initiate notices of violation, embargoes, permit holds, or closures under supervisor direction and per health code.
- • Determine appropriate disinfectants or pesticides and application rates per protocols.
- • Discuss inspection findings and corrective timelines with facility operators and managers.
- • Maintain inspection, permit, complaint, and sampling databases; update facility maps and equipment logs.
- • Perform basic statistical analyses and trend reviews of inspection and illness complaint data.
- • Deploy equipment to monitor indoor air quality, radon, noise, or vectors at facilities and events.
- • Process and issue permits, placards, or remediation plans and track compliance milestones.
- • Inspect workplaces and public venues for hazards such as mold, lead, asbestos, pests, noise, or lighting.
- • Measure field parameters such as temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorine residual.
- • Screen samples for contamination using approved field kits or microscopes; prepare photomicrographs as needed.
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
