A Day In The Life of Louise Brown- Environmental Health Your Career Opportunity

A DAY IN THE LIFE
October 2, 2008 by Louise Brown Basildon

My name is Louise Brown, I am 26 years old, and I work for Basildon Council as an Environmental Health Officer (EHO). I didn’t know about the range of work EHO’s do until I did a two-week work experience placement in November 1998 (when I was in Year 11). I enjoyed my two weeks so much that I decided I wanted to train as an EHO myself, and so after my A-Levels (in Biology, Food Technology, English Language/Literature) I did a BSc in Environmental Health in London. I did the degree ‘full time’, which meant I was at uni studying for the first, second and fourth years and I spent the third/‘sandwich’ year working. Six months had to be spent at a local authority/council Environmental Health department, and I spent the other half of the year working at the Hilton London Metropole, the biggest conference and banqueting hotel in Europe, as a Health and Safety Assistant. The experience was amazing, and it really opened my eyes to the diversity of work I would be qualified to do when I graduated.

When I finished my degree I started work as an EHO at Basildon in July 2005. There are three main teams within the department, Pollution & Housing, Licensing and Food & Safety. The Pollution & Housing team deals with noisy neighbours, blocked drains, filthy and verminous properties, contaminated land, air quality, overcrowding, housing standards and grants, Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) …and lots more! The Licensing team deals with taxi’s, pubs, clubs, bingo halls, theatres, etc, etc. I work in Food and Safety and so my job is to inspect businesses and check whether they are complying food safety and health and safety law. However, day-to-day I deal with a wide range of enquiries, which means that every day is different and I can never predict how a day will pan out. Days are varied and exciting and these are the types of things I do…

Most days I go out and about inspecting food businesses. I have an ‘inspection programme’ and I am responsible for all food and safety issues in a district in Basildon. I visit anything from newsagents and greengrocers, to restaurants and take-aways, to nurseries, schools, residential care homes, etc, as well as dealing with concerns that members of the public might have about food businesses. I give advice to new businesses on how to comply with the law and avoid legal action. Some businesses are a pleasure to inspect, where everything is clean and well managed, but others don’t have a clue and it is my job set them on the right track!

Yesterday I was in the Magistrates Court listening to a case that I have been involved in. I was with another officer doing evening inspections of take-aways when we came across very poor standards at a local kebab and burger shop. The owner is now being prosecuted for eleven offences and the maximum fine for each is £5,000.

I am really glad Basildon decided to launch a ‘Scores on the Doors’ scheme back in April this year because it means that the public can find out what the hygiene standards are like ‘behind the scenes’ in food premises. The star ratings are published on the internet (www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk) and are between 0 and 5, where zero is very poor and five is excellent. This is a very effective enforcement tool for EHO’s, because businesses want to get good star ratings. When we launched the website I organised a big promotional event which business owners, local press and Councillors were invited to.

This weekend I am working at the local boot fair, inspecting the mobile food vehicles. Lots of people assume that these traders have low standards, but they have to comply with all the same laws as restaurants, etc. I will be going along with another EHO and together we will speak to people selling food, e.g. sweets, cakes, dry goods, and people providing catering, e.g. serving cooked breakfasts, burgers, fish and chips, jacket potatoes, doughnuts, etc. Our job is to make sure that the food being served is safe to eat, and so we focus our checks on hand washing facilities, cleaning chemicals and temperature controls. Last weekend we found someone selling curry and rice out of saucepans in her car boot! We had to tell her to stop serving people immediately and advised her on how to set up a business properly.

I get a variety of complaints about strange things in food. This week I dealt with a complaint of ‘fluff’ found in a microwave curry. A member of the public brought the contamination and the packaging into the Council offices for me to look at and so I had to contact the shop where she bought it and the manufacturer. All sorts of food complaints are brought into the office; recently we have had a dried mouse in a box of muesli and a cigarette butt in peanut brittle. Food complaints are really interesting to deal with because they involve liaising with the Head Offices of big supermarkets and international manufacturers. It can sometimes involve quite a bit of detective work!

Working in the Food and Safety team I am also authorised to enforce health and safety legislation. When I inspect food premises I sometimes have to do health and safety inspections at the same time. I have to look for hazards and tell employers about their duties towards their staff. In addition to inspections I investigate accidents in the workplace. If someone has an accident at work, e.g. they slip and break their leg on a wet floor; it is my job to carry out an investigation. If the employer is found to be at fault, EHO’s at the council have a range of enforcement options including warning letters, legal notices and prosecutions.

As this type of work could potentially be saving someone’s life at work, it is important that I am fully trained. That’s why the council is paying for me to do a Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety. I am really enjoying the course and it will help with my long-term career plan to work in the private sector, maybe as a Food and Safety Consultant working in the Hospitality sector, i.e. in hotels in the UK and abroad.

Tonight I am working on the Noise Patrol. Over the summer Basildon Council operates an ‘out of hours’ Noise Patrol between 9:30pm and 2:30am on Friday and Saturday nights. We go out in pairs and respond to calls about noisy parties, loud music and dogs barking. Although this is mainly a job for EHO’s in the Pollution team, I like to keep up with what they are doing because my degree trained me in all aspects of Environmental Health.

Being an EHO is a really rewarding job. Everyone buys food and eats out, and everyone goes to work. My job involves making sure that when people buy food it is safe to eat and when they go to work, their workplace is a safe environment. Every day is different and every evening I go home with a sense of achievement and a smile on my face.

Posted in A Day In The Life of A Public Health Officer | October 2, 2008 by Louise Brown Basildon Council