About the Goals And Objectives Of Environmental Health And Safety Workers

Introduction

Environmental health and safety workers keep the environment healthy and livable for all living organisms. These workers are employed by various industries and government agencies to ensure that appropriate health and safety guidelines are followed to protect the public health, the safety of employees, the safety of food, and so on. Environmental health and safety workers specialize in many areas, including water quality, health care safety, retail and/or wholesale food safety, and occupational health and safety. While some people—particularly those who run businesses or work in industries subject to inspection—may think that environmental health and safety workers have a goal of putting them out of business or making their lives difficult, the concern of the people who work in environmental health is to ensure a safe environment for everyone, including business owners, employees, and consumers.

Overview

Environmental health and safety workers often work for local, state, or federal regulatory agencies such as county health departments, state health departments, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Environmental health and safety workers, who are sometimes called Environmental Health Specialists, work in areas such as vector control (control of disease-carrying animals and insects), zoo safety, food safety and sanitation, public water supply safety, mine safety, and safety in acute and long-term health care facilities, i.e., hospitals and nursing homes. No one environmental health and safety worker would do all of those jobs. The field of environmental health is broad, with many different types of jobs available.

Some environmental health and safety workers do not work for government agencies but instead work for private industry as health and safety consultants. This group of environmental health and safety workers can work as either independent or in-house auditors and inspectors. Independent inspectors work for private auditing and inspection firms that specialize in working with regulated industries. An independent food safety consultant may start his or her own business or work for a company that conducts regular auditing and inspections of retail and/or wholesale food establishments. Independent consultants usually conduct auditing inspections on a regular basis, such as annually or quarterly. An in-house inspector or auditor is an employee of a regulated industry. His or her responsibilities would be to be sure that the employer is in compliance with applicable health and safety regulations every day.

Features

It stands to reason that the goals and objectives of an environmental health and safety worker may vary depending upon the specific area of environmental health and safety the person works in. While environmental health and safety workers may work in a variety of jobs with many different duties, the goals of their work include:

• Protect the public from environmental health and safety threats
• Ensure safe working environments for miners, agricultural workers, factory workers, and other workers
• Ensure the safety of the food and water supply
• Ensure the safety of products such as chemicals, medicines, food, cosmetics, and manufactured goods
• Ensure that health care facilities provide safe and hygienic environments for their employees and patients

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