|
What is an environmental sanitarian?
You may have heard the term, seen a job announcement, or read an article describing someone working as a "sanitarian." Many people assume that sanitarians are the folks who collect the garbage every week, or make sure that public buildings are kept clean. While these jobs are a very important part of proper sanitation, a sanitarian is a person who is an expert in public health and sanitation.
Back in 1855, a man named John Snow proposed the revolutionary idea that a cholera epidemic occurring in London might be related to a contaminated drinking well. Authorities were reluctant to believe him until they put a lock on the well and the cholera epidemic went away. Since that time Snows idea, that maintaining a healthy community can directly affect the incidence of disease, has become a founding principle of public health. Sanitarians are the modern-day John Snows, working to prevent you from getting sick because of your environment.
Today public health is an integral part of our lives, affecting things such as the water you drink, the food you eat, and the cars you drive. In Maryland, "environmental sanitarians" protect the public health by enforcing compliance with Federal, State, and local health laws. Sanitarians also perform a variety of functions related to the control of environmental hazards. Through their work, sanitarians ensure your health and the health of the environment. In 2002, there were approximately 610 registered environmental sanitarians in the State, most working in the public sector. In 2006, 27 environmental sanitarians were employed by the Harford County Health Department. (Maryland General Assembly Senate Bill 490, 2002).
|
What do environmental sanitarians do?
You probably already have some idea of what an environmental sanitarian does, but you may call them h ealth inspectors." In the media, environmental sanitarians are usually shown inspecting restaurants for pests, rotting food, or food service workers with poor hygiene. Most of the day-to-day inspections are not always as dramatic. While environmental sanitarians do look for the things shown in the media, they also make sure that restaurants store and prepare the food properly and take time educate food service workers about food safety. (The same food safety principles are also important in your own home. Check out the Food Control/Consumer Food Safety section of our website for more information about what you can do to ensure your food is safe.)
While food protection is one of the most well-known functions of an environmental sanitarian, there are many other parts to the job. Environmental sanitarians are involved in so many things there is simply not enough space to cover all of it here. A great overview was provided in a report by Johns Hopkins University when they examined Environmental Heath in Maryland. The following is an excerpt from their report:
Local environmental public health (EPH) practitioners are responsible for a comprehensive and diverse set of services and activities. Larry Gordon, the former president of the American Public Health Association (APHA), defines the practice of local environmental public health in this way:
"Environmental public health practitioners are involved not only in inspections, but perhaps more importantly in surveillance, warnings, permitting, grading, developing compliance schedules and variances, risk assessment, risk communication, public information, exposure evaluation, seeking injunctions and other legal remedies, embargoing, sampling for analyses, education, consultation, community networking, problem prioritization, policy development, marketing the values and benefits of environmental public health, plan and design review and approval, and epidemiology."
As Larry Gordon states, the true day-to-day practice of environmental public health covers an extremely comprehensive and diverse set of services and activities. In Maryland, each county is unique and practices environmental public health in very different ways. Due to variations in EPH programs from county to county, for the purpose of the assessment, the Profile project was organized into ten major EPH program divisions as listed on the Sanitarian Services document (taken from the Profile of Maryland Environmental Health Practice, THE JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE February 2005) on the top right side of this page.
In Harford County, the Bureau of Environmental Health provides many of the services outlined in the Hopkins report. The Bureau is divided into two sections, Consumer Protection and Resource Protection. The Consumer Protection section ensures the wellbeing of the populace through inspection of food service facilities, investigation of foodborne and waterborne outbreaks, implementation of rabies and vector control programs, housing surveys and nuisance response. The Resource Protection section has responsibility for protection of groundwater through water sampling and monitoring, percolation testing, on-site sewage disposal system oversight, air quality control and solid waste complaint investigations. To find out more about the services each of these programs provide click on the links on the left side of this screen.
How do I become an environmental sanitarian?
In Maryland, anyone who is interested in working as an environmental sanitarian must be approved by the Maryland Board of Environmental Sanitarians with the Maryland Department of the Environment (http://www.mde.state.md.us/WorkwithMDE/Public_Service/Sanitarians.asp).
The Board reviews applicants for their education and experience. The minimum education requirement is a baccalaureate degree (any major) from an accredited college or university that includes:
· at least 30 semester credit hours in the physical, biological or environmental sciences
· at least one laboratory course and two of the following: chemistry, physics or biology
· a course in mathematics.
After the Board has approved an applicant to work in Maryland, a certificate of eligibility is issued verifying the Board s approval. The applicant may then apply for a position with the State (or any other company seeking to hire environmental sanitarians). The Maryland State Application, Form MS-100, must include a copy of the certificate of eligibility issued by the Board. Once the State has received the completed application and a copy of the Board certificate, the applicants name is placed on an eligibility list from which counties recruit when positions become available.
If you are interested in working for the Harford County Bureau of Environmental Health, you should follow these steps:
1. Obtain a certificate of eligibility to be licensed as a Registered Sanitarian from the Maryland State Board of Environmental Sanitarians (1800 Washington Blvd. located at Montgomery Park within, the Maryland Department of the Environment, 410-537-3597);
2. Submit all required application materials to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Human Resources Recruitment & Selection Div., P.O. Box 22330, Baltimore, MD 21203-4330; and
3. Submit a professional resume to:
Harford County Health Department
Office of Human Resources
120 South Hays Street
P.O. Box 797
Bel Air, MD 21014
Attn: M. Balderson
Or
e-mail at:
mbalderson@dhmh.state.md.us
Click on the following links to download applications or view the State s employment page:
Board of Sanitarians - Application for a Sanitarian License
State of Maryland - Employment Application form (MS-100)
State of Maryland - Job announcement for an Environmental Sanitarian Trainee
- Back to Environmental Health Main Page - |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
** Information adapted and used with permission from the Howard County, Maryland Government website.
|
