Many of the Council’s officers belong to professional bodies so when the chief executive of your body takes a personal interest in your work that can be incredibly uplifting.
In late April the newly appointed Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), the professional body for environmental health officers, did just that. It also helps that he lives locally in Burntwood so knows the area.
Phil James made contact with James Johnson, Senior Environmental Health Officer at Cannock Chase Council, to set up a visit. James has also been leading on the work of the Council’s Covid Support Team during the pandemic.
In Phil’s own words, in a blog he has written A grand day out - CIEH, he describes his visit and adds how meeting the team behind the Environmental Health service is now helping him to shape the priorities of the CIEH. It is fair to say he was taken aback by the scope of work undertaken and the dedication shown to serving our residents and businesses alike.
Fly tipping, animal welfare, food hygiene, health and safety in the workplace including dealing with recent fatalities, education and outreach programmes, running the public mortuary in Cannock and COVID-19, of course, as the biggest public health issue in living memory with the service helping to enforcing compliance with the restrictions and then supporting businesses to be safe coming out of lockdown, were all covered during his visit.
Many of these responsibilities feature heavily in the Council’s communications work and often draw large responses on social media sites.
This is the nature of life as an environmental health officer – never a dull day – making an important contribution to the way we live our lives, safe in the knowledge there are council officers supporting health and safety at work, when we eat out and buy our food and drink, if we want to buy that new puppy dog, or want to be spared from the ugliness of fly tipping when we are out and about.
Environmental health is a fascinating career choice. You can find out more on the CIEH website at professional development.
In addition, our local university in Wolverhampton is offering Graduate Apprenticeships for environmental health practitioners as well as a stand-alone BSc degree in Environmental Health. More details at Graduate Apprenticeships and degree course.
The Cannock Chase Council service includes two recently qualified EHOs (as environmental health officers tend to be called), both of whom took the University of Wolverhampton degree course, and who are now practising what they learnt as they embark on their careers.
Last Updated: 01/06/2021