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What Is a Health Inspector and How to Become One

Written by 糖心vlog官网观看 Staff 鈥 Updated on

Discover the work you may perform in health inspector jobs, the average health inspector salary, and how to become a health inspector in Canada.

[Featured Image] Two health inspectors dressed in white lab coats, gloves, hair nets, and face masks hold clipboards as they inspect packages of vegetables in a supermarket.

Health inspector is the general term for jobs where professionals monitor and regulate health and safety aspects of various public and private settings. To become a health inspector, you鈥檒l generally need a bachelor鈥檚 degree and relevant certification from the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors. In this career, you鈥檒l research, inspect, and evaluate the health status of communities, businesses, the environment, or industrial facilities.听

Job description of a health inspector聽

As a health inspector, your responsibilities can vary depending on the location and focus of your work. Most health inspector jobs involve conducting investigations of potential health hazards or educating the public about health and safety issues.

The duties of a health inspector vary. Here are some examples of what you may do in the role:

  • Conducting investigations: When a possible health hazard exists in a community, you will investigate to determine whether there is a need for concern. For example, if there's an outbreak of influenza (flu), COVID-19, or hepatitis B, you will investigate.

  • Performing onsite inspections: You may visit restaurants, grocery stores, factories, and many other settings to ensure they follow safe practices. You may check food handling practices, equipment sanitation levels, waste disposal procedures, and hazardous chemical use among your many duties. These inspections often occur without advance notice, so health inspectors can see what's happening in an establishment during regular business hours under normal working conditions.

  • Consulting with and educating businesses: You may liaise with local companies and public health operators to guide them on complying with rules and regulations.

  • Preparing reports and summaries: You may prepare inspection reports, summaries, and complete documentation.

Types of health inspectors聽

The title of health inspector is a general term for various jobs investigating health and safety in society. Health inspector roles are often classified and named by the focus of the job. You'll find three main types of health inspector jobs widely advertised.

Public health inspector聽

As a public health inspector, your primary concerns are the health and safety of the community. You may work for a government agency and inspect facilities providing services to large groups or the wider community. For example, a school may hire you to inspect all schools in the area. You may also investigate when a contagious disease outbreak occurs.听

Safety and sanitary inspector聽

As a food or restaurant health inspector, you inspect restaurants and other food service establishments to ensure they comply with food safety and preparation regulations and laws. This includes checking for cleanliness, pest control, proper temperatures for storing food, employee hygiene, and proper food handling and preparation. As a food health inspector, you also must keep up to date with new regulations.

Environmental health officer

As an environmental health officer, also called environmental public health officer (EPHO), you鈥檒l investigate situations that may threaten the environment and public well-being. You may ensure that companies dispose of waste properly to avoid polluting water supplies or dumping toxic materials into landfills.听

Environmental health inspectors enforce health and environmental laws. Many inspectors work for government agencies and local bodies that regulate environmental policies, standards, and laws.听

You may also come across health inspector jobs classified as:

Occupational health and safety inspector

As an occupational health and safety inspector, you must ensure that employees practicing particular occupations have adequate protection from physical and psychological risks, such as loss of limb or life, personal injuries, and abuses arising out of the nature of their work. This role may also be referred to as an occupational health and safety specialist.

Food inspector

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors inspect food, animal, and plant products at restaurants, businesses, and facilities to ensure compliance with regulations. Some issues a food inspector deals with include animal disease, pests, food labelling, food safety hazard prevention, food recalls, and microbiological and chemical sampling.

Animal and plant inspector

Animal and plant health inspectors examine animals, plants, plant products, or byproducts for diseases, parasites, or infestations that may cause harm to animals, crops, or humans.

Desired skills of a health inspector

You need the following technical and workplace skills to be a health inspector:

Technical skills

The technical skills needed to be a health inspector vary depending on the job and specialization. You need to have a good understanding of various technical aspects of the job, such as:聽

  • Knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics, geology, and other sciences as they apply to health and safety

  • Knowledge of arithmetic and statistics, including algebra and geometry

  • Experience with a wide variety of software for reporting, statistical analysis, and project management

  • Understanding of environmental health issues, such as pollution and waste management

  • Expert knowledge of food and water-related public health issues

  • Understanding of nutrition and basic human physiology

  • Experience with handheld and laboratory data collection and analysis equipment

Workplace skills

Workplace skills are just as critical as technical skills when you are a health inspector. As a health inspector, you鈥檒l collaborate with colleagues and other agencies. You may need to provide training sessions or seminars and present inspection findings to senior staff or law enforcement agencies. You鈥檒l need these skills:

  • Ability to apply the law when inspecting food premises or gathering evidence for prosecution purposes

  • Administrative skills for writing reports, maintaining records, and meeting deadlines with accuracy

  • Analytical skills for investigating the root causes of incidents, getting to the truth of how a problem happened, and figuring out how to prevent it from happening again

  • Effective oral and written communication skills, even under pressure or in a busy environment

  • Ability to work well with others as you鈥檒l often work in teams, including teams made up of representatives from different agencies or departments.听

Where do health inspectors work?

As a health inspector, you may work in an office, in the field inspecting businesses, or on riverbanks analyzing water pollution levels. You may have a varied role incorporating lots of work settings. Your employer could be public or private. Here are some places where health inspectors often work:

鈥 Health care organizations

鈥 Public health and environmental protection agencies

鈥 Private companies whose activities may pose a risk to people or the environment

Salary and job outlook

According to the Government of Canada Job Bank, the job outlook for health inspectors is fairly balanced and expected to remain so for at least three years [].

The average salary for a health inspector is $76,869 CAD per year []. On average, a food inspector in Canada earns $62,450 CAD per year [], a public health inspector makes $80,906 CAD per year [], and environmental health inspectors earn $94,563 CAD per year [闭.听

How to become a health inspector聽

To become a health inspector, you must complete specific education and training requirements. This includes earning at least a bachelor's degree or college diploma in occupational health and safety, public health, environmental science, or a similar field. You might choose a degree with coursework that maps to the role you want.听

For example, to focus on building site health and safety, look at an occupational health and safety course. If you focus on working as an environmental health inspector, consider an environmental health science degree.听

You may also need to be certified by the Board of Certification of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors or the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP). Different provinces have job application criteria for health inspector roles, so check for the educational level you鈥檒l need.

Getting started in public health

Ready to start learning about being a health inspector? You can learn more about the job and build your resume by completing the Foundations of Public Health Practice Specialization, offered by Imperial College London. This Specialization offers a broad overview of the public health system and the field of public health. It may help you gain entry roles that can put you on the path to being a health inspector.

Article sources

1.听

Job Bank. 鈥, https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/outlook-occupation/22680/ca.鈥 Accessed November 11, 2024.

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