Environmental health practitioner
Environmental health practitioners make sure that legal standards are met in food safety, housing, public health, and air and water quality.
Also known as: Environmental health officer
- Starter salary£27,000 a year
- Experienced£50,000 a year
- Typical hours35 to 40 a week
What you'll do
As an environmental health practitioner, you could:
- inspect businesses to check health and safety and food hygiene standards
- investigate outbreaks of food poisoning and infectious disease
- collect samples for laboratory testing, for example water quality
- check that buildings are safe for people to live in
- examine issues like noise pollution, odours and mould
- investigate accidents at work
- follow up on reports of spills and contamination events
- enforce environmental health laws and give evidence in court cases
- provide education and advice to community groups and businesses
Working environment
You could work in an office, in the countryside or in a business.
Your working environment may be dirty and you'll travel often.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- analytical thinking skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- legal knowledge including court procedures and government regulations
- active listening skills
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- excellent verbal communication skills
- excellent written communication skills
- maths knowledge
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently
How to become a environmental health practitioner
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
University
You can study for a degree qualification approved by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health .
If you already have a degree in a related subject, you could get into environmental health through an accredited postgraduate course .
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
- a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course
Apprenticeship
You can apply to do an Environmental Health Practitioner Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship.
This usually takes 4 years to complete and combines on-the-job training with academic study at an approved university.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a degree apprenticeship
Work
You may be able to start as an environmental health technician and study for a part-time environmental health degree while you're working.
Restrictions and requirements
You're likely to need a full, clean driving licence for this job.
Career path and progression
With experience you could work as an employee or consultant in:
- local authorities
- government departments
- retailers and hotel chains
- regulators and enforcement agencies
- the NHS
- the armed services
- university research
- charities and international development organisations
You could progress to supervisory or management positions.
You could also work towards Chartered Status , which recognises your skills and expertise in the profession.
Professional and industry bodies
You could join the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health for professional development opportunities.
Guides for this industry
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0