Beyond health inspections: Get to know your environmental health officers

Like some of her environmental health colleagues, Amanda didn’t find her career: her career found her.

“After I earned a Bachelor of Science at Vancouver Island University (Malaspina), I was doing surveillance for West Nile virus. I met some health inspectors who were helping me collect a raven from the Gulf Islands. I was interested in what they do and contacted BCIT about their environmental public health program.”

Amanda has now been with Interior Health (IH) for 14 years, and is the team lead for IH’s Environmental Assessment program. She leads a group of specialists who conduct health risk assessments, and respond to emergencies, complaints and referrals such as subdivisions, record of sewage systems, air quality and soil amendments.

Her team collaborates with organizations, including the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, on incidents like spills and algae blooms in lakes. They also handle complex projects such as environmental assessments and contamination of drinking water sources. If someone has contact with an animal such as a bat, they work with IH’s medical health officers to make sure the person is safe and has the information they need.

This past summer, Amanda and her team were fully engaged in emergency response to the wildfires around the Interior. “To say this season’s wildfires were precedent setting doesn’t begin to describe their magnitude and impact,” she says.

Amanda and her colleagues helped out in an emergency operation centre (EOC) – temporary operations set up to manage the local response to the wildfires – to support colleagues from Health Emergency Management BC. Working shoulder to shoulder and on the ground with EOC colleagues enabled Amanda’s team to help provide timely communications support for evacuation alerts and orders, and situations as they arose in real time. “If there’s a risk to people’s health, our job is to assess the situation, and help local governments and operators communicate the right messages to the public,” Amanda explains.

After wildfire orders are lifted, the very challenging work of helping residents and businesses return home or resume operations begins. And the environmental and health considerations are vast: Is food stored in fridges safe to eat? Have water systems like wells and septic tanks been damaged? Are there contaminants in water, like fire retardants? How does someone clean up ash and other fire debris safely?

That’s where the Environmental Assessment team supports local governments and other organizations to provide health risk messaging with education and resources.

Amanda’s favourite part of her work – besides the variety – is knowing she’s contributing to the well-being of our communities. “Being able to be involved and help and support so many people in so many communities gives me great pride,” she says.

She also acknowledges the work her team does during emergency responses. “Our team works very hard. Every season is so different, and you think you have all the resources you need only to find you need more or different types of resources. That takes a lot of energy,” says Amanda. “We watch over each other to make sure everyone remains resilient.”

As an environmental health officer at Interior Health, Christine Sweezey works with establishments that supply water to the public to make sure their water is safe to drink – not only restaurants, but community centres, resort operators and even fire halls.

“I’m not so much an enforcer as an educator. I educate, educate, educate. I love to show people how to make sure their water is safe, potable and reliable, and how to follow and meet the requirements of the Drinking Water Protection Act and associated regulations. There’s a lot of work behind clean water, and it’s extremely important.”

Before her job in Interior Health, Christine was working as a prep cook in Kamloops. Food safety was always on top of her mind. “I always made sure the temperature was right. I would train others on recording temperatures and proper storage,” she recalls.

One day, an environmental health officer came into the restaurant to inspect the premises and their food safety practices. “I thought, ‘That sounds like fun. I do this every day,’” she says.

Though she was in her early 40s at the time, she decided to go back to school to BCIT to earn a Bachelor in Environmental Public Health. Having originally studied geophysics, Christine particularly enjoyed the physics and geology taught in the program. “I loved learning about water – how it moves underground, and how layers protect the water.”

After she wrote and passed the Certificate in Public Health Inspection exam, she landed a job at Fraser Health as a food inspector. A year later, she found an Interior Health job posting for an environmental health officer specializing in drinking water. She jumped at the chance to work in Williams Lake, not far from her hometown of 100 Mile House where her family and friends lived.

Today, Christine says she’s always busy, and conducts regular onsite inspections of the water systems in the area while educating water suppliers.

She’s also excited about helping give a rural community access to safe, potable drinking water, a project she’s working on with a team of health officers and engineers, and the community.

She’s also working for the first time on forest fire remediation. Buildings, homes and other infrastructure that are burned during a fire can leach chemicals into the water supply. Ground that is burnt doesn’t absorb water well, and rainfall can wash chemicals into lakes and aquifers. Health officers help ensure water supplies are safe by inspecting impacted areas, and testing water quality.

“Every day brings different challenges, as every water system is different,” she adds. “I get to go outside, travel, meet new people, and do some office work with my awesome team. I’m always learning too.

“My job is so rewarding. I just love water – you can hear the enthusiasm in my voice!”

Jason got his start as a health inspector in 2015 in High Level, Alta., a town not far from the Northwest Territories border. “High Level is truly the wild, wild west. But it was a great place to dip my toes into the environmental health waters. I learned a lot,” he says.

He had met a health inspector a few years before and went back to school, enrolling in Concordia University of Edmonton’s program. “This inspector was involved in animal bites, outbreak investigations – all sorts of interesting work. What struck me is his role had a good balance between being in an office and out in the community,” Jason recalls. Environmental health also appealed to Jason’s values and passion for health protection and promotion.

During the pandemic, in 2020, Jason joined Interior Health as an environmental health officer (EHO) in the Nelson and Trail offices. Today, he’s based in Invermere. As an EHO working in a relatively rural area, Jason says he touches on all the pillars of environmental public health – food, drinking water and recreational water.

“We literally cover facilities and operators from the mountain tops to the valleys, and everywhere in between. Next week, I have to fly in on a helicopter to inspect a facility on the edge of Jasper Park,” laughs Jason.

As Jason explains, some people have a preconceived idea of what an EHO does – inspecting restaurants and pools just “scratches the surface.” And while EHOs do write orders, that’s just one tool they use, and far from the first thing an EHO goes to.

“Our first mode of dealing with operators is education. And with education comes relationship building,” says Jason. “When I go to a food operator, for example, I can suggest to them how to set up their food production area so it’s easier to sanitize to reduce their risk of contamination or foodborne illnesses. Knowing that I’m protecting public health, while also being a valuable business partner and helping our community operators thrive, is really awesome.”

Jason also gets a lot of satisfaction from using his risk assessment skills that he learned in school to protect public health. “It’s a really important part of what we do, and what I love,” he says.

His advice to someone considering a career as an environmental health officer? “Talk to a health inspector at your local health authority office like I did. We’re always happy to meet someone who’s interested.”

When Misty Palm saw a job ad for an environmental health officer with the First Nations Health Authority that promised adventure and community building, she knew she had discovered a new career path.

“I had been working in a lab for five years up until then,” says Misty. “I’m analytical, but I’m also a people person. I wanted a job in which I could get out and talk with people. A career as environmental health officer suited my skillset much better.”

After going back to school in BCIT’s Bachelor of Environmental Public Health program, Misty joined Interior Health as a generalist environmental health officer in Kamloops. That was more than 14 years ago – and she hasn’t looked back since.  

Today, Misty inspects establishments that range from tattoo studios to restaurants to pools. “I love the variety,” she says. “I can choose the kind of day I want.”

Sometimes her work takes her to the more rural areas around the Cariboo and southern Interior, where Misty says you have to expect the unexpected.

“I might arrive at an inspection only to find I have to jump on a boat. I once took a helicopter to inspect the restaurant of a heli-skiing operation and it was the only way to get there,” she says. “If you like the outdoors, it’s also an opportunity to explore areas you’ve never been to before. A traffic jam is a cattle drive or wild horses.”

While her main role is to help operators understand and comply with the various regulations and acts under the Public Health Act, Misty sees herself more as a teacher and ally.

“It’s very satisfying to me seeing someone realize their dream. I’ll help a new restauranteur go from an idea, to plan approval and design, to construction, and finally permitting and approval to operate. Along the way, I’m teaching them how to comply with regulations.” she explains. “Seeing the happiness on their face on the big opening day, and knowing all the hard work that went into their business, is amazing.”

Besides being a good communicator, Misty recommends having critical thinking, decision making and analytical skills to succeed as an environmental health officer. “And listening skills,” she adds. “Sometimes situations aren’t always as they appear, and you need to understand the operator’s perspectives.

“It’s so satisfying when I can see the wheels turning as someone starts to understand the risks and how to keep their establishment safe for the public. Then you get to see the positive changes that stick. It’s really rewarding.”