Description
Inspect and evaluate community environments—such as food service, housing, pools, drinking water, and waste facilities—to prevent disease or injury from chemical, physical, and biological hazards. Implement programs to control environmental health risks, investigate complaints and outbreaks, collect samples, and enforce public health codes for agencies or private entities.
- • Order closure or suspend operations that pose immediate public health hazards.
- • Recommend corrective actions to eliminate unsanitary or hazardous conditions.
- • Investigate outbreaks, incidents, or complaints to determine causes and preventive measures.
- • Evaluate ventilation, sanitation, water quality, lighting, noise, or other factors affecting public health.
- • Develop or maintain environmental health programs (e.g., food safety, pools, vector control, lead/asbestos).
- • Inspect food establishments, public facilities, housing, pools, and water/waste systems for code compliance.
- • Collaborate with public health officials, laboratories, engineers, and code enforcement on hazard abatement.
- • Provide education and training to operators and staff on sanitation and regulatory requirements.
- • Conduct permit and pre-opening orientations for new facilities.
- • Collect food, water, air, soil, or surface samples for analysis.
- • Respond to and investigate health-related complaints; verify compliance with public health laws and regulations.
- • Coordinate public notification and right-to-know communications for hazardous substances or advisories.
- • Maintain and update environmental health emergency response plans and procedures.
- • Monitor and document surveillance data for environmental exposures, outbreaks, and compliance trends.
- • Verify presence and condition of required safety and sanitation equipment (e.g., backflow devices, handwashing stations, pool rescue gear).
- • Conduct inspections at hazardous waste sites, landfills, or industrial facilities for environmental compliance.
- • Collect or arrange collection of hazardous material samples during inspections.
- • Review hazardous materials and waste inventories and tracking records to ensure proper handling and disposal.
- • Oversee proper packaging, labeling, and transfer of hazardous samples or wastes in accordance with regulations.
- • Perform field measurements and rapid tests (e.g., chlorine residuals, pH, temperature) and coordinate laboratory analyses.
- • Analyze inspection, sampling, and incident data to identify trends and priorities.
- • Prepare inspection reports, notices of violation, and enforcement documentation.
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
