Environmental Health Specialist

The Environmental Health Specialist position at Gila County, AZ, involves ensuring public health compliance by inspecting food establishments, wastewater systems, and public facilities. Responsibilities include conducting inspections, responding to public complaints, educating food workers, monitoring foodborne illnesses, and issuing permits. The role may involve occasional supervisory duties but does not manage budgets. The job is based in Globe, AZ, indicating it is not a remote position.
The purpose of this job is to protect the health of Gila County citizens, their families and visitors to the County by conducting compliance and complaint inspections of food establishments, new/revised onsite wastewater systems, swimming pools, hotel/motels, children’s camps, day care centers, schools as well as investigating public health nuisance complaints to ensure compliance with State and Local health codes and ordinances.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position occasionally assigns activities to other employees.

Provides recommendations on scheduling work hours of employees.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

TIME SPENT
• Inspects restaurants, hotels/motels, food stores, food manufacturing and storage facilities, food vending machines and other permitted facilities for appropriate refrigeration temperature, signs of pest infestation, cleanliness and proper food protection; reviews and instructs employees on proper hygiene and food handling/processing techniques; inspects food service operations at schools, daycare centers, mobile food vendors, and temporary food operators. Reviews the design of the new septic system and conducts progress and final inspections for conventional and alternative septic systems; conducts new well approval inspections. Reviews soil evaluations and PERC tests for each new septic system.

20%
• Responds to complaints to the public regarding garbage, debris, sanitary problems, vermin and related issues; makes on-site visits to validate the nature of the complaint; follows-up with enforcement activities as required; issues notices of violation as required.

10%
• Inspects dwellings, mobile home parks, schools, day-care centers, organized camps, public/semi-public swimming pools, family care centers and public buildings for conformance with public health codes; issues citations as required and provides information for mitigation or improvement; conducts inspections and/or responds to environmental complaints regarding homes, wells, water tankers, stores and pet shops. Inspects septic hauling pumper trucks.

10%
• Provides education and information to food establishment owners, operators and food workers relating to food handling processes and health codes.

10%
• Monitors and investigates potential/actual food borne illness complaints and outbreaks; and ensures compliance with environmental regulations, ordinances, laws and standards.

10%
• Identifies hazardous foods and environments; examines biological specimens.

10%
• Issues permits for operation of food establishments, bars, cafes, food processing operations, butchers, mobile vendors, temporary booths for special events, stores, pet shops, hotels/motels, onsite wastewater systems, and swimming pools; and provides information to enforcement personnel regarding environmental standards; advises government, industrial and individual owners regarding community health and vector control.

10%
• Conducts vector borne disease surveillance activities including mosquito trapping and monitoring for West Nile virus.

10%
• Prepares and maintains environmental documentation, records and files; submits required reports; maintains accurate records and files related to area(s) of assignment.

10%
• Performs other duties as assigned.

BUDGET RESPONSIBILITIES

This position has no responsibility over any types of budget.

PROJECT RESPONSIBILITIES

Provides project research support on process improvement projects.

ORAL COMMUNICATION DUTIES

This position trains colleagues, explains County procedures or processes and negotiates and persuades.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION DUTIES

This position creates or edits documents, internal memos, emails, press releases and reports.

INTERACTIONS WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Interacts regularly with the general public, external contacts such as vendors, bankers, attorneys or other professionals, and other Institutions, over the telephone, by email, and/or in person.

INTERACTIONS SPECIFICALLY WITH CUSTOMERS

Frequently (More than 25% but less than 40% in a year)

MINIMUM EDUCATION REQUIRED

Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Health or Public Health Administration or related field.

Incumbents in this position are required by State Law to have a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree, however, the Incumbent in this position is also required to become a Registered Sanitarian. The Incumbent cannot test for Registered Sanitarian Licensure without at least one (1) year experience working as a Sanitarian in a Health Department.

MINIMUM YEARS OF DIRECTLY RELATED EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Two (2) years directly related experience; or equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS REQUIRED/PREFERRED

Arizona Licensure as a Registered Sanitarian, National Incident Management System (NIMS)/Incident Command System (ICS) 300 certification and Pest Control Applicator License.

Must possess and maintain a valid Driver’s License.

KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED

Food production; hazardous materials (handling & disposal); public safety regulations; public health management, environmental health sciences. Biology; Chemistry; database management; food production; Public Health Management.

SKILLS REQUIRED

Analytical thinking; analytical writing; customer service; analyzing training needs; developing training strategies; problem solving; analyzing operations and quality control analysis.

ABILITIES REQUIRED

Solve problems with inductive reasoning; categorize and group data; make sense of multiple information; maintain mental response and quickness; read and write at professional level.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS
• Occasionally stands to present, routinely stands to attend to customers.
• Regularly sits to complete report or program; rarely sits to operate special equipment, to attend to reception areas, to perform watchmen duties; occasionally sits to attend to other duties.
• May be required to lift work related materials, or equipment up to 75 lbs.
• Rarely requires dexterity for tools, special gadgets and special machines; constantly requires dexterity for keyboard operation.
• Incumbents in this position may be required to walk to and from work sites, bend, stoop, crawl, kneel and twist.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Incumbents in this position constantly spend time in office environment and in field when conducting health inspections; spends time in lobby environment; spends time in classroom(s); and routinely spends time in outdoor areas.

SAFETY RISK EXPOSURE

Incumbents in this position may become exposed to telephone verbal abuse by customers or citizens; individuals with high level of emotional distress; physical danger; mechanical hazards; chemical hazards; electrical hazards; bloodborne pathogens; communicable diseases; fire hazards; respiratory hazards and extreme temperature.

PROTECTIVE GEAR & SAFETY MANUALS

Incumbents in this position are required to constantly follow written safety procedures and manuals relevant to the division or department. Regularly requires the utilization of biosafety gear and occasionally requires eye protection devices.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERROR

Potential errors can have legal ramifications, loss of funding, loss of organization’s credibility.