Address The role of the Environmental Health Manager (Environmental Health Officer) is to provide advice with respect to strategies by which hazards to health may be controlled.
Responsibilities
Environmental Health Managers are responsible for the planning, identification, evaluation, and recommendations for control strategies designed to minimise the adverse health impact of the environment and the workplace, on personnel. Areas of responsibility of Environmental Health Managers include, but are not limited to, the following:
Water safety
Food safety
Epidemiological studies
Occupational hygiene
Waste management
Vector control
Emergency management
Workplace assessments and
Radiological assessments
Areas of Employment
Environmental Health Managers are normally employed in health support environments; however, their duties necessitate assessments of Defence work areas and processes that take them to all areas of Defence operations, both locally and overseas.
Environmental Health Managers with prerequisite operational skills and knowledge may be employed in a number of operational roles. These duties would normally be carried out in the field during exercises and operations but could also be in higher headquarters as part of the planning for such activities. Environmental Health Managers will be required to develop the specialised Ground Defence skills and knowledge to perform their duties in an operational environment.
In the field, Environmental Health Managers are responsible for ensuring that Environmental Health and sanitation are of the highest standards within the constraints of the operational context. This may include not only providing the advice but at times actually physically implementing control strategies (pest control, construction and maintenance of field hygiene facilities, etc). Environmental Health Managers can also be employed in the area of disaster support, providing Environmental Health advice and support not only to the deployed forces but the affected populations.
In most cases Environmental Health Managers are required to carry out their duties with minimum supervision.
