We have often found that students or career changers joining the profession first hear about environmental health as a career choice from a parent or relative, or someone they met through the course of their job.
Whoever it was, it was invariably that person’s compelling enthusiasm for their job, its breadth and the positive impact that they can have on a daily basis that encouraged them to seriously consider environmental health.
There has never been a better time to think about a career in environmental health. Environmental health professionals have played a major role during the pandemic and the important work they do to protect people’s health, support businesses and safeguard communities has finally started to be recognised.
There is also an urgent need for more environmental health professionals in local authorities and businesses across the country. Our recent workforce survey found that 56% of local authorities reported that they had vacancies in their environmental health teams that were left unfilled for six months or more. These figures will only be worsened by the effects of the UK’s exit from the EU and the ongoing response to COVID-19.
How you qualify as an Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP) has also had a recent refresh. Our new route to becoming professionally registered has now been launched and offers three categories with supporting pathways for each, depending upon your career aspirations: Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, Registered Environmental Health Practitioner and Registered Food Safety Practitioner. We hope that these, along with the introduction of Level 6 apprenticeships in environmental health, will offer both employers and candidates flexible and practical routes into the profession.
With all these changes and the urgent need for more qualified EHPs, our ongoing campaign to encourage people to #ChooseEnvironmentalHealth is more important than ever. We want to encourage both members of CIEH and the wider profession to act as career ambassadors or simply champions of environmental health. If you have a connection with a school, college or community group, perhaps you could get in touch with them and see if they have any opportunities for you to come in and share your experiences as an environmental health professional? They will likely welcome you with open arms!
Should you accept or create an opportunity to talk to a group, we can’t be there with you, but you won’t be on your own. We’ve created a suite of resources for you to use including videos, posters, flyers, and even a PowerPoint presentation. These have all been designed with flexibility in mind so that you can use as many of them as suit your needs and personal style, because we know the most powerful thing we have is the enthusiasm of our members for their vocation.
There is no standard format, no prescribed method and no right or wrong answers - simply sharing your infectious passion for your profession is enough. We want to make people aware of, and excited about, a career in environmental health. As career choices go, there are few more that have a real impact on their community and environment. The only thing we ask is that you direct them to the careers section of our website, and then let us know how it went via our feedback form.
The CIEH is a member of the British Cleaning Council. The views of Council members are their own.
About the contributor
Alana Briggs
Network manager
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH)